Once during Dom Starsia's illustrious tenure at the University of Virginia -- in 1997 and '98 -- has his lacrosse team failed to advance to the NCAA tournament's final four in consecutive seasons.

For that to remain the case, the Cavaliers must win today at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Second-seeded Virginia (13-3) meets No. 7 seed Maryland (10-5) at noon in an NCAA quarterfinal. The second game of the doubleheader matches No. 5 seed Johns Hopkins (9-5) and unseeded Navy (10-5) at 3 p.m.

In 2006, U.Va. won its fourth NCAA championship -- its third under Starsia, who replaced Jim Adams as coach after the 1992 season. A season ago, however, Delaware ousted second-seeded Virginia in the first round. Starsia and his players were spectators during the final four, a role to which they don't want to become accustomed.

"In our sport, there's such a disproportionate amount of attention paid [to the final four], and it's really important for all programs to be part of it," Starsia said this week.

"If you miss out on it one year, it's not the end of the world. If you miss out on it for two years, it means something, I think."

In 2005, when Starsia's current seniors were freshmen, the Wahoos lost in overtime to eventual champion Hopkins in the NCAA semifinals.

"It would be a great honor to make it there three out of four years here at Virginia," said senior Will Barrow, a starter on the defensive midfield. "I think the attitude this week is that we think we should walk away with a win against Maryland. I think anything less than a final four appearance would definitely be a huge disappointment for us."

Virginia and Maryland have split their two meetings this season. The Terrapins romped 13-7 in College Park, Md., on March 29, after which Collegiate School graduate Bud Petit took over as the Cavaliers' starting goalie. With Petit in the cage, U.Va. beat Maryland 11-8 in an ACC tournament semifinal April 25 in Charlottesville.

Facing the Terps a third time, Starsia said, makes "the preparation a little easier, in that we don't have to watch eight films to get a handle on a team."

Maryland-Baltimore County was one such opponent. Even after extensive preparation, U.Va. barely beat UMBC in the first round, rallying for a 10-9 victory at Klockner Stadium last weekend.

"Winning the first round for higher-seeded teams, it used to be something you could take a little for granted," Starsia said. "I don't think that's the case anymore. Are you ecstatic when you win? No. It's just a relief."

The other two NCAA quarterfinals are tomorrow at Cornell. Top-seeded Duke meets unseeded Ohio State at noon, and No. 3 seed Syracuse and No. 6 seed Notre Dame follow at 3 p.m.

The NCAA semifinals are May 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., with the championship game there two days later.
Contact Jeff White at (804) 649-6838 or jwhite@timesdispatch.com.