They read about the tears pooling in Navy coach Richie Meade's eyes in the post-game news conference as he invoked the memory of Navy graduates now serving their country in Iraq. They read about the unified Navy team playing for themselves and for "the men and women in uniform" who eagerly await scores from their games.

"Steve (Vallone) just read the article in the Baltimore Sun, the Navy article, and he said, 'Geez, I almost want Navy to win,' " SU attackman Mike Powell said.

Vallone interrupted to make a clarification.

"Almost," he said.

This is what SU is up against this afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium. The fourth-seeded Orange take on second-seeded Navy today at 2:30 p.m. At stake is the national Division I lacrosse championship. SU (14-2) has won eight of them, two in this decade. Navy (15-2) lost the only title game it played, a 20-13 defeat to Maryland in 1975.

Today is Memorial Day. Our nation remains locked in conflict in Iraq and soon, several senior Midshipmen will be deployed to training facilities to prepare them for battles involving weapons more lethal than lacrosse sticks.

During Saturday's semifinals, several Midshipmen showed up wearing dress whites. An American flag fluttered on their sideline. Navy's Annapolis campus is located about 45 minutes away from Baltimore. Every time Navy scored or made a significant play, the 46,923 in attendance roared their approval.

"When Princeton scored," said SU defender Dan DiPietro, "like six people clapped."

The Orange expect more of the same today. SU, never popular here partly because of Baltimore's sense of lacrosse entitlement, anticipates a hostile crowd for the final. Meade has perpetuated this theme of patriotism at every NCAA news conference. And SU players are getting the idea that a victory over the Naval Academy would be tantamount to treason.

"It's kind of weird," Vallone

said. "We've never been in a situation like this, where we're kind of like the Evil Empire going against our own government. It's crazy playing against a team that everybody's rooting for."

"I don't really know what to say here," said Powell, who is seldom at a loss for words. "It's not like we're not going to play our game. I plan on winning the game. I don't want to be a traitor. I don't want to beat them because I'm going against our country. It's just a lacrosse game."

It involves two teams that scrimmaged last February in the Carrier Dome, when Syracuse won 10-8. Powell missed that game to attend his sister's wedding. But even if he had played, he likely would have few memories of the contest. Vallone said Sunday he hardly remembered it and doubted many of his teammates did either.

Both coaches conceded their teams have changed dramatically since that winter scrimmage. The Orange has grown up dramatically on defense. SU inserted new packages specifically for Johns Hopkins and limited the dangerous Blue Jays to just nine goals in Saturday's semifinal win.

Navy presents a different challenge. The Midshipmen rely on two Upstate New York products for much of their offense. Attackmen Joe Bossi (Skaneateles) and Ian Dingman (Carthage) form the fulcrum of Navy's offense. Bossi leads his team with 42 goals. Dingman, a 6-foot-3, 248-pound immovable object, leads his team with 58 points (34 goals, 24 assists).

In their last two NCAA Tournament games (6-5 over Cornell and 8-7 over Princeton), the Midshipmen have gritted out victory in game's with deliberate pace. But SU coach John Desko knows Navy can win other ways too. The Mids have put up 15 or more goals five times this season.

"They've just done a great job adjusting," Desko said. "We've seen them play in games that are low-scoring and the tempo's slow. And they've played in games when the tempo's upbeat, there's fast breaks, there's aggressiveness. They've been able to play both sides of lacrosse."

The SU offense showed its own patient side against Hopkins and still managed to register 15 goals. The Orange played its most complete game this season on Saturday. Aside from a few failed clears, SU coaches had very little to complain about.

The Orange badly wanted to beat Hopkins, a team that humiliated it in its last two outings. Now, with that mission accomplished, could there be a tendency to let down against Navy?

SU players say it won't happen.

"This is the championship game," DiPietro said. "How can you not get up for the biggest game of the year and the chance for the senior class to go out with another ring?"

To do that, SU must beat a team that has crafted a charmed season. Last year, the Mids finished 6-7 and did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. This season, they've won 15 games, the most in school history. And today a crowd of more than 40,000 will root for them to win one more.

"After the game, we'll shake their hands and wish them the best," DiPietro said. "But what it comes down to is we're here for a championship too."

The forecast for today calls for intermittent thundershowers, which could wreak havoc with the game. College lacrosse games press on in every meteorological condition except thunder and lightning.

The field turf at M&T Stadium should absorb most of the moisture, unlike last year when the natural grass was reduced to a muddy mess. SU players have raved about this year's playing surface.

And Navy coach Richie Meade almost invited wet conditions.

"We're in the Navy, so we like water," he said. "It's going to be what it is: The forecast for tomorrow is lacrosse."

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.