O'Reilly at his best when it counted

When opportunity knocked, Nick O’Reilly made the most of it.

After watching from the sidelines as the University of Virginia kept its lacrosse season alive with a furious come-from-behind victory over Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the sophomore attackman from Rockville Centre played a large role in the seventh-seeded Cavaliers’ unlikely run to the national title.

O’Reilly’s career-high five points (one goal, four assists) and Colin Briggs’s five goals led Virginia to a 9-7 win over rival Maryland in the national championship game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Memorial Day. The Cavaliers (13-5) became the lowest seed and the first five-loss team to ever win the crown.

“I’ve attended national championship games and always wondered what it would be like to play in one,” said O’Reilly, who had four goals and six assists over the squad’s last three games and earned all-tournament honors. “It was pretty awesome to contribute as much as I did. It was a dream come true.”

Before the tournament, most observers described Virginia’s season as a nightmare, and didn’t give head coach Dom Starsia’s team much of a chance to advance. Down the stretch, high-scoring midfielders — and twins — Rhamel and Shamel Bratton were suspended, and defensive standout Matt Lovejoy was lost to injury.

“Nobody has us winning anything six weeks ago,” said Starsia, a Valley Stream native who leads Division I with 329 career victories and has four national championships. “We reinvented ourselves out of necessity and had the right personnel to carry out the plan.”

Without the Brattons racing to the cage or Lovejoy locking down scoring threats, the Cavaliers became more deliberate with their possessions — making sure playmaker Steele Stanwick touched the ball every trip downfield — and switched to a zone defense. They lost the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in convincing fashion to Duke, 19-10, and O’Reilly said they entered the NCAA tournament with something to prove.