Virginia wins M. Lax championship

Runner-up Syracuse was one of four 1999 Penn foes that made it to the tourney. Virginia freshman attackman Conor Gill and senior midfielder Henry Oakley scored within 21 seconds of each other in the fourth quarter on Monday to lead the Cavaliers to their first NCAA men's lacrosse championship since 1972. Virginia (13-3) held off a late rally by Syracuse (12-5) to post a 12-10 victory before 24,135 fans at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. The Cavaliers took a 10-4 lead after sophomore midfielder Hanley Holcomb scored his third goal of the day with 13:28 left in the final period. The Orangemen scored five consecutive goals to cut the lead to one, but the Gill and Oakley scores put the game out of reach for Syracuse. Syracuse, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, was one of four Penn regular season opponents to make the 12-team tournament field. Navy, Princeton and No. 6 Delaware -- all Quakers' foes in 1999 -- were also invited. "It speaks to the quality of scheduling," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "If you're not going to be there, you always want the teams you've played to be represented there." Syracuse trounced Penn, 16-7, on April 24, but the Quakers played the other tournament invites close. Princeton only beat Penn by one goal, 8-7, while the Quakers stayed within five goals of both Navy and Delaware. In addition to having faced four of the tournament teams during the regular season, Penn is also linked to the champion Cavaliers through Van Arsdale. The Quakers head coach served as assistant coach at Virginia for six years before being hired by Penn in 1996. The Cavaliers were led by Gill, who was named outstanding player of the championship game. The Timonium, Md., native dished out three assists and contributed the crucial fourth-period goal that halted Syracuse's comeback. Oakley, junior attackman Drew McKnight and senior midfielder Michael Leahy scored twice for the Cavaliers, who had lost their four previous title game appearances. Junior attackman Ryan Powell led Syracuse with two goals and two assists. The Orangemen, who were bidding to become the first No. 8 seed to win the NCAA tournament, took an early lead on a Brian Solliday goal 1:17 into the game. But Virginia scored the next five goals and would never relinquish its lead. The Cavaliers held Syracuse scoreless for 18 minutes and 59 seconds through the second and third periods. Josh Coffman ended the Orangemen's drought, firing a shot past Virginia goaltender Derek Kenney with 1:12 left in the third period.

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