Focused Petit saves Cavs’ title challenge

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Published: April 25, 2008

Virginia’s players claimed they blocked any thoughts about Duke from their minds all week leading up to this weekend’s ACC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. First, the Cavaliers had to deal with Maryland, a team that had beaten them soundly a month ago at College Park.
With that mission accomplished on Friday night — an 11-8 triumph over the Terps at Klockner Stadium — the Cavs can turn their attention to Duke for Sunday’s ACC championship.
Getting by the pesky Terps was the first step. Maryland had manhandled Virginia physically in the previous slamdance, a 13-7 upset that knocked the Cavs off their national No. 1 perch and ended a nine-game winning streak. Virginia head coach Dom Starsia talked to his team all week about answering the bell when Maryland became physical in the rematch.
This time, the Wahoos listened and responded.
It was UVa that jumped to an early lead and played physical lacrosse, which allowed the Cavs to dictate the pace, the greyhound tempo that Starsia prefers and Maryland disdains.
A big part of the plan was keeping Maryland’s shooters silent, and not only did Virginia’s defense play tough, so did fifth-year goalie Bud Petit.
The 6-foot-4 goalkeeper held the Terps at bay as Virginia bolted to leads of 3-1, then 6-3 at halftime and even 9-5 as the evening progressed. His eight saves were key in keeping a comfortable cushion.
Petit did not play in the first meeting with Maryland but gained the starting job immediately after the Terps proved too much for freshman goalie Adam Ghitelman to handle. Petit has been in goal ever since, except for a while against Duke in that 19-9 debacle a couple of weeks ago when the Blue Devils cut the Wahoos to ribbons in the second half in front of a record crowd of 8,000 at Klockner.
“This was Bud’s best game of the season overall,” said a pleased Starsia after the semifinal win. “He was one of the keys, Bud on one end, Ben [Rubeor] on the other end. Bud stepped up for us. We got a big save from him every time we had to have it.”
Those words were music to the Midlothian native’s ears.
“I thought I played pretty well,” Petit said. “I don’t know how many saves I had. I don’t really worry about that as long as we win.”
Petit said he only focused on stopping the next shot, then moving on. He was so focused on that one thought that he didn’t even look to see the halftime score.
“Just stop the ball,” he said. “I didn’t want them to get a couple early on me. I think I made a save or two, I don’t remember.”
Yes, indeed he did, big saves that helped prevent the Terps from jumping on the Cavs as they did at Byrd Stadium and kept them from gaining confidence.
Certainly having a comfortable lead made the last quarter a more pleasurable experience for the goalie, too.
“It’s a little more relaxing in there under those circumstances and my heart wasn’t beating as hard at the end,” Petit chuckled. “If you start thinking a little bit, sometimes that’s a negative in a goalie’s mind.”
Petit may not have that luxury against the Blue Devils, ranked second nationally, but probably rated higher than that in the Cavaliers’ collective minds after that lopsided defeat that still is lingering in their dreams, or rather their nightmares.
A second chance is what UVa wanted and now it has earned a shot at redemption.
“I want the game to start right now,” said a fired up Petit. “We had a second chance against Maryland, now we get a second chance against Duke. I didn’t get to finish against them last time because my leg was a little hurt.”
If anyone knows what Virginia can’t afford to let happen against the Devils, it’s the goalie. Duke shredded the Cavaliers’ defense in the last meeting, bolting away from a 9-9 deadlock to a 10-goal runaway.
“We can’t let them get going like that again,” Petit said. “Once they get comfortable, they start being Duke. They know how to beat a team down when they’re on top. They have no mercy. We’ve got to stay in there and keep within a goal or two because they can put up 10 in five minutes.”
That’s Petit’s challenge on Sunday. He has to gobble up everything coming his way, and he knows it’s easier said than done.