Virginia, Maryland deal with tragedy

BALTIMORE -- For Virginia and Maryland, the winding road to Monday's NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship game went right through the intersection of sports and life.

"I feel like the real world has stuck its face into our little fantasyland over some period of time" is how Virginia coach Dom Starsia described the Cavaliers' recent travails.

The same thing applies to Maryland. "When the journey is harder, it's that much more rewarding," Terps coach John Tillman said.

For both schools, it's been a journey that at times has seemed to be much more about life than sports.

Last spring, Virginia made it to the Final Four even as one of its players, George Huguely, was accused of murdering a UVA women's lacrosse player, Yeardley Love.

Huguely was indicted on felony murder charges last month. Several of his teammates remain on the 2011 squad that faces Maryland at 3:30 p.m. Monday at M&T Bank Stadium.

Additionally, in the middle of this season, the Cavaliers had to transform their team when two stars, midfielders Shamel and Rhamel Bratton of Huntington, were suspended for violation of team policies.

Of course, the latter episode was a mere inconvenience, not a genuine tragedy. Maryland has had one of those. Maria Young, the mother of Terps leading scorer Ryan Young (Manhasset and Chaminade), died of pancreatic cancer April 17 after a three-year battle.

"Life's not fair. Life's not easy. As educators, we have to teach them how to deal with it," Tillman said.

Young, who told Newsday last week that lacrosse served as a useful "distraction" that allowed him to have some normalcy in his life between weekend visits to Long Island to be with his mother, did not share the severity of his mother's condition with teammates.

"Ryan kept that to himself," said defenseman Dan Burns, who is Young's roommate. "We didn't know how bad it was, so when Maria died, it was a surprise and it was very sad for all of us. It definitely became a rallying point. To know what he was going through all that time and still give us 100 percent on the lacrosse field. We'd say, 'You think you've got it tough? Look at what Ryan went through.' "

In both cases, off-the-field tragedies provided on-the-field unity.

"It's unlikely that this team would be here, so it's pretty special," Starsia said. "But scars are a pretty good way to measure character. When you think of all the things [Maryland] had to go through -- and the same for us. That's noteworthy. The great opponents make the great champions."

According to Burns, Young didn't say much before Saturday's semifinal, a victory over Duke and his twin brother Kevin, a reserve who did not play.

"But after the game, knowing he could share the moment with his grandmother and his uncle, who were in the stands -- you could see that big smile," Burns said. "He doesn't have a big family, but he knows he has 50 teammates and coaches supporting him. We're his extended family."

Reflecting on what both teams have experienced to reach a national championship game on Memorial Day, Burns said, "If you think about it, all of that is what got us to this point."