FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Hanging in the upper-left corner of the wall in the hallway to the Cornell locker room is a brown cardboard sign with ‘I will give my all for Cornell’ written in black ink.

The sign, made by senior Tommy Schmicker, is a replica of the one hanging in the Cornell locker room in Ithaca, N.Y. As the rest of the lacrosse world counted Cornell out before Saturday’s contest against No. 1 Virginia, the sign served as a reprise to the team.

‘We just wanted to make this place feel like home,’ senior defender Matt Moyer said. ‘And a lot of people have been counting us out and wanting us to feel like we didn’t belong here, and we wanted to make sure we feel right at home.’

The way Cornell played Saturday afternoon, Gillette Stadium certainly seemed like home for the Big Red.

Cornell dominated top-seeded Virginia, 15-6, Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd 36,594 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., to advance to its first championship game since 1988. No. 5 Cornell will take on No. 2 Syracuse Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. Cornell never trailed in the contest, as Virginia was sent packing in the semifinals for the second-straight year.

‘We talked about all week about that there is nobody that thinks we can win except the guys inside this locker room and that’s really all that matters,’ Moyer said. ‘The guy’s inside here and that’s how we went out and played so we’re not surprised at all.’

When Cornell and Virginia met earlier this season on March 8, the Cavaliers (15-3) disposed of the Big Red (13-3), 14-10.

Moyer said Cornell talked all throughout the week about Virginia having great athletes and being a good team, but the Big Red wanted to be a ‘better family’ and play for each other in a unified manner. Saturday, Cornell did not give the favored Cavaliers any chance to even approach that mark.

Cornell jumped out a quick 3-0 lead on the Cavaliers behind goals from Chris Finn, Jonathan Thomson and Ryan Hurley. By the end of the first quarter, Virginia trailed 4-1 and found itself in a deficit after the first quarter for just the fifth time all season.

‘We knew we needed to get off to a strong start against Virginia,’ Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni said. ‘We talked a lot about believing in our guys. We heard from a lot of the media about how we weren’t supposed to win this game and I think by starting strong early our players could believe in themselves and play at such a high level.’

Virginia tried to respond, but could never get on the run it needed. With the Cavaliers trailing 6-2, Shamel Bratton turned the ball over on the Cornell side of the field, and Cornell quickly made it 7-2 on Rob Pannell’s goal. Pannell, a freshman, had six points on three goals and three assists.

The Cornell defense never allowed Virginia to get the score within two. Anytime Virginia would cut the score back down to five or six goals, Cornell would add another for insurance.

Virginia also couldn’t seem to beat goalie Jake Myers, either. Myers had eight saves in the contest, and never allowed consecutive goals by the Cavaliers. He even had to do jumping jacks during the game to stay warmed since he went such long stretches without seeing a shot at points during the game.

‘It was great getting those first couple of saves,’ Myers said. ‘I fell into a rhythm from there and as a goalie it’s always good getting the first save. And the defense did a great job today and helped me out getting shots I could see, and all around just a great team win.’

While Cornell celebrated by rushing the field after the game, for Virginia it was another sad conclusion to a season with such promise. Despite being ranked the top team in the nation for most of the year and getting the top seed in the tournament, the Cavaliers could not live up to the expectations.

At one point in the season, Virginia was 12-0. But in its last six games, Virginia went just 3-3 and will leave Foxborough empty-handed once again.

‘I apologized to my team on the field afterward for not doing a good-enough job preparing them to play today,’ Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. ‘They have distinguished themselves in so many ways throughout the year, and it’s shame that this is how our season ended out here today. But again, I give a lot of credit to Cornell for how things went out there.’

The Cornell locker room, meanwhile, was almost too quiet after the game. After such a big win, hardly a peep could be heard from behind the double doors. But then it came – a roar of explosion, signifying a job well done.

But the sign? Well, that won’t be leaving Gillette Stadium anytime soon.

Said Moyer: ‘I think we’re going to bring that with us to the championship game.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on May 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm