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n many ways, it had been a typical Virginia-Syracuse game, especially since 1994 when the two teams commenced this recent heated rivalry. That was an NCAA semifinal game in which Virginia rallied from a five-goal deficit in the fourth quarter, as Doug Knight tied it and Michael Watson delivered the winner in the second overtime.

In this 2008 national semifinal, it was Syracuse’s turn to rally from a five-goal second half deficit with Tewaaraton winner Mike Leveille scoring the winner. Virginia goalie Bud Petit had been brilliant in the second half of the season and made 16 saves in his final college game. Virginia had hit the post twice in OT — Danny Glading at the end of the first period and senior captain Ben Rubeor immediately prior to Leveille’s heroics. Syracuse went on to beat Hopkins in the NCAA final, and for Virginia, 2008 was the middle of a seven final four appearances in nine-year run.

It does not take long for coaches to turn the page from one season to the next. Frankly, win or lose the final game, we are quickly re-grouping in anticipation of the ensuing effort. When we won our first championship on Memorial Day in 1999, we celebrated in the parking lot at College Park and returned later that evening to Charlottesville. I was up early the very next day and drove eight hours to Coyne Field in Syracuse for the Tuesday afternoon high school state regional quarterfinals. I did not consider it odious nor extraordinary; it was simply part of the process of being a successful college lacrosse coach.

I am sure that it was some time during that drive that I first considered a letter I wrote soon after returning to the office. That 2008 team had an outstanding attack unit that included Glading, Rubeor and our Canadian sniper, Garrett Billings. Danny was one of the outstanding attackmen in the country, and for three years, he played at X for us between Garrett and Ben. Garrett was a right-handed wing, and Ben, a two-time Tewaaraton finalist, played primarily on the left side. Danny and Garrett were both juniors and Ben, a senior.

Ben’s replacement in the starting lineup was likely to be one of the two outstanding young attackmen who would be arriving in Charlottesville that fall. There were two copies of that letter I wrote. I sent one each to Chris Bocklet, from John Jay HS in Katonah, N.Y., and Steele Stanwick, from Loyola HS in Baltimore. I mentioned to them that the obvious vacancy on the attack would be on the left hand side opposite Dan and Garrett. Any time they could spend with the stick in their left hand (both are primarily right-handed) that summer would likely help them find their way in to the lineup and help the team.

I do not recall having any expectation about how that competition might play out. I just knew we needed to fill that spot. On a good college team, having an efficient left-handed finisher on the attack is an integral piece of the offensive puzzle. There are a disproportionate number of scoring opportunities that wind up in the hands of your left-handed attackmen. It’s like the bottom of a well; the ball just finds its way there.

It was the first practice of fall lacrosse in 2008. Any former Brown or Virginia player will be familiar with our “pre-practice” routine … Coach VanArsdale takes the shooters at one end, Coach Wright has the goalies at the other and I am working with the long sticks in the middle of the field. When we have a goalie or two ready, we generally gather at one end and do some unsettled work that emphasizes stick work and live shooting. 

On this particular day, we began with a 3-v-2 drill that came off the endline. I do remember Steele pushing his way to the front of the left-handed line. The ball moved and found its way back to him with some space out on the wing. I may be exaggerating to say it was the first time I ever saw him shoot a ball, but he dropped the head of his stick and ripped one in to an upper corner (not an easy shot with your off-hand). It is likely an exaggeration to say that he looked over at me with a smile, as if to suggest “no problems, Coach, I am going to take care of this for you.” 

But, that is almost exactly what happened. We returned to the NCAA semifinals that year. Steele had 36 goals and 22 assists, with likely 30 of those goals coming with his left hand.

The “Legend of Steele Stanwick” goes back to the YouTube videos and mythic tales about that brick wall in the garage of the Stanwick house on University Ave. in Baltimore. I am quite sure that Steele’s mental discipline and manual acuity was forged during those solitary workouts, and it may have been in excess of 10,000 hours (Malcolm Gladwell’s principle that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class).

You do not shoot a basketball like Stephen Curry, hit a baseball like Mike Trout or handle a lacrosse stick like Jeff Long, Scott Hiller, Conor Gill, Ryan Brown, Brian Wood, Steele Stanwick and others without having spent long hours at your craft. At the same time, it may be “Trumpian” of me to say I just have a hunch that in 10,000 years of practice, I would not have developed the supple dexterity in my hands that distinguishes these players.

In my unscientific extrapolation, they took a gift, a genetic pre-disposition, combined it with a joyful work ethic and made themselves in to the magical players they became. In Chris Bocklet’s defense, he had no chance.

DOM STARSIA, A NATIONAL LACROSSE HALL OF FAMER, IS ONE OF THE WINNINGEST COACHES IN NCAA HISTORY AND A MEMBER OF THE LACROSSE ADVISORY BOARD OF THE PREMIER LACROSSE LEAGUE (@DOMSTARSIAPLL). HE WAS A TWO-TIME ALL-AMERICAN DEFENSEMAN AT BROWN AND PLAYED FOR THE U.S. TEAM IN 1978. His Book, “I Hope You Will Be Very Happy,” is available on Amazon.