The hatred runs so deep, it’s sort of an unspoken commodity. Nobody involved really understands it, but it’s there, deep inside anyone associated with Virginia and Syracuse lacrosse. All the while, it produces legendary games and bragging rights until the next meeting.

We’re talking about the biggest rivalry on this campus and the biggest in all of college lacrosse. There’s no love lost between these two squads. But blood may be.

‘Since I’ve been here, it’s the biggest,’ said junior defender Sol Bliss, who will travel with the rest of the No. 2 Orangemen to fifth-ranked Virginia tomorrow for a 3 p.m. game at Klockner Stadium. ‘My (redshirt) freshman year, they beat us in the championship. That’s just something I’ve hated them for ever since.’

Five years. That’s how long it’s been since Virginia toppled Syracuse during regular-season action. But that means little when Bliss and the rest of his comrades think back to 1999. John Desko took over the Syracuse program that season, and the team struggled to a 9-4 regular season record before avenging three defeats (Princeton, Loyola and Georgetown) in an epic postseason run.

Staring across the sideline in the final were the Cavaliers, a team SU already dispatched, 14-12, in the regular season. That day, when UVa held the championship trophy, since-graduated goalie Rob Mulligan declared that moment the worst of his entire life.

Rivalries will do that to you. And that loss is something the senior Orangemen haven’t forgotten, even three years later.

‘I still think it’s the biggest rivalry in college lacrosse,’ said Princeton coach Bill Tierney, whose Tigers have quite a rivalry of their own with the Orangemen. ‘There’s a lot of history in that game. It promises to be something every year.’

That’s how it’s been since UVa coach Dom Starsia, coming off his 100th victory at Virginia last weekend, decided Syracuse simply needed to be added to Cavs’ schedule. Take, for instance, the last time Syracuse traveled to Charlottesville, in 2000, escaping in overtime with a 13-12 victory. Or the 1997 shootout in the Carrier Dome, where Syracuse topped the Cavaliers by one goal and the teams combined for 43.

Then a high school junior, Josh Coffman watched that game from the stands. He knew instantly the impact of the rivalry on both programs.

‘I still remember a 22-21 game in the Dome against Virginia,’ Coffman said. ‘It’s developed into one of college lacrosse’s best rivalries. Everybody looks forward to it.’

The rivalry runs so deep that rivalries exist within it.

John Glatzel has guarded Conor Gill for as long as he can remember, even before high school. So it’s only natural the two chose Syracuse and UVa, respectively, to carry on the matchup.

Gill gained the upper hand in the championship game three years ago. Glatzel has since reigned supreme, prompting Coffman to say, ‘I think John’s got his number.’

But Gill exploded for seven assists in the Cavaliers 20-5 trouncing of Drexel last week, and the matchup still promises to be the most intriguing on Saturday. There’s a little extra motivation, too.

‘I remember last year one of the (SU) associate athletic directors came to me and saying how, in the press conference, Conor said that he outdid me that day,’ Glatzel said. ‘I didn’t really think he did, but he’s entitled to his own opinion, I guess.’

Then there’s John Christmas, a UVa freshman from Lower Merion High School — Kobe Bryant’s alma mater — whom Syracuse coveted. Christmas scored Virginia’s first goal against Drexel, and Bliss and Desko will have their eyes on him Saturday. Coffman is particularly interested in Jared Little, a UVa freshman from Carthage who spurned his town’s tradition of stocking the Syracuse cupboard by opting to play for SU’s most hated rival.

All subplots aside, though, Starsia believes his sophomore goalie, Tillman Johnson, could make the difference. Virginia’s team is the greenest thing this side of Drumlins golf course, but goalie is the one place it truly owns an advantage. SU starts redshirt freshman Jay Pfeifer, while Johnson started every game last season. Desko compares Johnson, emotion-wise, to Mulligan.

‘He didn’t really get tested last week,’ Starsia said. ‘He might have gotten a couple of the goals he let in, but he was standing there for a long time. It’s awkward. We’re young on the offensive end, and we’re counting on him holding down the fort. He gives us a source of comfort back there.’

They’ll need it as this epic rivalry continues down south, where the last three meetings have been decided by two goals or less. And the weather — predicted freezing rain and frozen surfaces not suited to either athletic offense — certainly could provide the perfect backdrop for a scene filled with hatred.

‘Once the game starts, there will kind of be a hatred there,’ Coffman said. ‘What else would you expect?’

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Published on February 28, 2002 at 12:00 pm