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.
JOE VARELLO AT THE BUZZER!! @navymlax tops @CuseMLAX 13-12 at the Carrier Dome. On a day where he faced off against his brother, Varello wins the faceoff and scores the game-winner with 0.2 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/QlTZ8Au2Ug
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 21, 2018
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.
Navy started with the early momentum, scoring the first two goals (Casey Rees, Dave Little). David Jones and Jack Ray added two more after a Syracuse goal to go up 4-1.
The Midshipmen maintained control until, up 6-3, the Orange rallied off three straight goals to tie the game at 6-6 going into halftime. Brendan Bomberry, Nate Solomon and Ryan Simmons each had a goal in the run.
Coming out of the break, Navy scored twice before allowing three straight Syracuse goals to make it 9-8 in favor of the Orange with 13:48 left. Bradley Voigt and Bomberry scored twice in a two-minute span to give the home team an 11-9 lead with 5:36 left.
Less than three minutes later, the game was tied again after two Midshipmen goals. Syracuse freshman Tucker Dordevic scored what many thought would be the game-winner with 58 seconds left, making it 12-11 in favor of Syracuse.
The Orange had the ball and the lead, but a triple-team on the Navy defensive side of the field caused a turnover, and the Midshipmen cashed in with nine seconds remaining on Ray's goal. Joe Varello won the ensuing faceoff and the rest is history.