There are two things that truly captivate fans during a college tournament: a Cinderella story, and a team so good it seems unstoppable.
The NCAA men's lacrosse Tournament featured both of these this year, and as fate would have it, the two teams met in the championship game at Lincoln Financial Field before 47,062 eager fans.
In the end, Virginia -- the top-seeded squad in the field -- was able to wrap up its perfect 17-0 season with a 15-7 triumph over unseeded UMass.
The weekend was somewhat of a catharsis for the collegiate lacrosse world after seeing one of its top programs -- Duke -- have its season cancelled due to allegations of sexual assault against several team members.
"I just think that this was a fitting end to a little bit of a tumultuous regular season, and hopefully people can walk away from this weekend thinking, 'There's college lacrosse,'" Cavaliers coach Don Starsia told The Associated Press.
And the record crowd on Monday certainly got their fair share of action.
UMass came into the postseason via an at-large bid and faced fourth-seeded Cornell in the opening round. The Minutemen pulled off the 10-9 upset, though, and went on to beat No. 3 Hofstra in overtime and second-seeded Maryland 8-5 at 'The Linc' to earn a matchup with the undefeated Cavaliers.
Virginia, who led the nation in goals per game and scoring margin, cruised to victories over Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Syracuse in the earlier rounds.
And when the rubber met the road in the championship game, the Cavaliers showed that the hype surrounding them was well-deserved. They took a 4-1 advantage at the outset and nursed a small lead throughout most of the first three quarters.
The Minutemen rallied to tie the game at 5, but after the score was pushed back to 7-6 in favor of the Cavaliers, Virginia scored six unanswered goals to put the game away.
For the last two years now, the national champion has gone undefeated for the entire season. Johns Hopkins -- who knocked Penn out of the postseason in the first round three weeks ago -- did it last year.
And despite having to yield the spotlight to the more notable programs, the Division II and III championships provided some excitement for their small contingents on Sunday. Cortland State beat three-time defending champion Salisbury on a last-second overtime shot for the D-III crown, and LeMoyne defeated Dowling 12-5 in D-II. Those two games drew almost 900 more fans that last year's did.
Just as important as the on-field dramatics were the implications of the event for the city of Philadelphia.
"We knew that the Philadelphia product would lend itself perfectly for this event," said Philadelphia Sports Congress executive director Larry Needle in a statement after the city won its bid to host the event.
In the short run, the economic effects were felt throughout the city, as roughly 10,000 overnight stays and $25 million worth of economic benefit were generated by the tournament.
Those involved in the event's planning and organization, including those from Penn, the host institution, seemed satisfied with the outcome of their work.
In particular, officials praised the efforts of the many groups that worked out the nuts and bolts of the weekend before higher-profile administrators became involved.
"The NCAA [is] in charge of the whole event and responsible ultimately for everything that goes on," said Dan Flynn, the Penn athletic department's head of Marketing, Promotions, and Community Affairs. "But at the same time, they are just coming into town the week of the Tournament [with] a few meetings along the way. They have so many other championships that they put on."
And according to Flynn, that placed a burden on Philadelphia-based agencies to ensure that everything ran smoothly.
"The Eagles couldn't have been a bigger pleasure to work with," Flynn said. "I couldn't speak any more highly of their professionalism." He went on to praise the Sports Congress and the NCAA, among other groups.
And though, like Tournament Director Lee Stevens, Flynn was disappointed with the amount of media coverage, he thinks that the attention brought to Philadelphia could be a huge asset to the venue's potential years from now.
"During the weekend it never went smoother than it did [this time]," he said. "A lot of that has to do with some of the same people working on it for a long time."
"There is just a better trust and understanding of the way I'm going to do something, and what I expect from them."
