Haunted by tragedy, embattled by controversy and written off by pundits and fans across the country, the Virginia men's lacrosse team achieved a glorious redemption by besting Maryland, 9-7, in the NCAA National Championship at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore May 30.
Senior midfielder Colin Briggs, honored as the game's Most Outstanding Player, bagged five goals to pace the No. 7-seeded Cavaliers (13-5) as they claimed the program's fifth NCAA Championship - and first since 2006.
The title-clinching win against the rival Terrapins proved surprising - and especially satisfying - for myriad reasons, among them the fact that Virginia entered the final hoping to become the first championship squad with five losses and a seed of seven or lower.
"The game today epitomized the kind of season that we've had," coach Dom Starsia told reporters after winning his fourth title at Virginia.
While Virginia's 2006 championship team took the lacrosse world by storm with a perfect 17-0 record that exemplified season-long dominance, these 2011 Cavaliers struggled to find their on-field form for much of the regular season's second half.
After a 7-1 start, then-No. 2 Virginia dropped four of its next five contests - including back-to-back losses to hated rival Duke - and briefly slipped outside the top 10 in the men's lacrosse rankings.
"No, that was a walk in the park in terms of this one," Starsia said of comparing his 2006 and 2011 championship seasons. "That was a wonderful team, but this moment right now is particularly gratifying when you consider everything that we have had to go through to this point."
In addition to inconsistent and underwhelming play during the final five weeks of the regular season, the Cavaliers clearly carried the added weight of the intense scrutiny that accompanied the program's first season following the May 2010 death of Virginia women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love.
According to The Washington Post, the revelation that eight Virginia men's lacrosse players - including George Huguely, who was indicted April 18 on murder charges in connection with Love's death - had been arrested for alcohol-related events prompted the team to adopt a new, stricter alcohol policy for the 2011 season.
The Post reported that new alcohol rules - established by vote of the players - exacerbated the squad's late-season setbacks when Starsia announced the dismissal of midfielder Shamel Bratton for his third violation of team policies and the indefinite suspension midfielder Rhamel Bratton for his second violation.
The twin brothers - who reportedly refused to comply with the team's stricter alcohol policy and unsuccessfully urged teammates to soften the rules - both were suspended for the Feb. 26 win against Stony Brook, and Shamel Bratton also was suspended for the April 2 loss against Maryland. Rhamel Bratton did not take the field for the remainder of the season.
Starsia also suspended two other starters for key games due to seemingly similar violations of unspecified team rules. Goalie Adam Ghitelman missed the Feb. 19 season opener against Drexel, and Briggs was held out of the May 28 NCAA semifinal against Denver.
"I was definitely disappointed in myself," Briggs told reporters, "but I just thought to myself that I would come back [for the championship game] and I was able to get some opportunities."
Despite boasting a roster loaded with All-American talent at season's start, this collection of issues on and off the field seemed destined to doom Virginia during the NCAA Championships.
The Cavaliers did little to dissuade their naysayers after squeaking past an upstart Bucknell team with a 13-12 overtime nail-biter during the first round, but quietly gained momentum after a 13-9 upset of No. 2-ranked Cornell in the quarterfinals.
Virginia then flexed its lacrosse blueblood muscles against the Cinderella story of the tournament, Denver, for a suffocating 14-8 semifinal victory before finally dispatching Maryland, making history and ending an undoubtedly trying season in truly spectacular fashion.
"Being here after a lot of rough times, especially through this roller coaster ride that we had ... I couldn't ask for a better class," Briggs said.
At least one other Cavalier player admitted that Virginia's championship chances seemed far-fetched during the latter half of such an up-and-down season.
"I don't know [if I expected Virginia to win the title], probably not to be honest," senior attackman Steele Stanwick said. "I always had faith in this team, but I don't know if I thought this would have been the end result. It really shows what this team is all about and everyone bought into the whole team philosophy."
Stanwick, a team captain who led Virginia with 70 points and 38 assists, added more hardware to his haul June 2 when he became the third Cavalier to accept the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top NCAA men's lacrosse player.
Starsia also received due recognition for leading the Cavaliers from one of the program's deepest valleys to the peak of the college lacrosse world. However, the nominee for Best Coach/Manager at the 2011 ESPY Awards and the winningest coach in Division I men's lacrosse history quickly credited his squad's teamwork and resiliency as integral to one of the most gratifying victories of his stellar career.
"The fact that we are here right now [as NCAA champions] is a credit to the team and my family and the people at Virginia," Starsia said. "We had to reconfigure ourselves midway through the season; they had to decide that it was important enough to pick themselves up and get going again ... I am very proud of these guys and what they have done"
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