The Varello family sat near the 50-yard line at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome with shocked expressions on their faces. It was a special, and even historic, day for the Varellos, who got to see Navy faceoff man Joe Varello battle his little brother, Danny, at the X all game long.
That was the storyline entering Saturday’s matchup between the No 15 Midshipmen — one of the hottest teams in the country — and the No. 10 Orange, who were wrapping up nonconference play with another tough matchup.
Joe Varello won the battle with his little brother, taking 16 of 27 faceoffs for Navy. But that might not be what he remembers most about the Midshipmen’s first regular season matchup with the Orange since 1983.
Jack Ray scored the game-tying goal for Navy with nine seconds remaining in regulation. At 12-12 with seconds left, the Varellos met again, this time with the game on the line.
Joe Varello beat his brother out, grabbed the ground ball, and rushed toward the Syracuse cage. After losing the ball momentarily, Varello picked up the groundball and fired home the game-winning goal with 0.2 seconds left.
After the ensuing celebration for Navy's 13-12 win, its biggest of the season, the brothers met at midfield for an embrace that was years in the making.