To the naked eye, the 9-0 Virginia men’s lacrosse team seems to be clicking on all cylinders, but UVa senior Garrett Billings sees room for improvement.

Now, the fun begins for Dom Starsia.

In the end, No. 1-ranked Virginia — behind three goals apiece from Shamel Bratton and Steve Giannone — overcame a one-goal halftime deficit to down No. 4 Cornell, 14-10, at Klockner Stadium.

The Virginia men’s lacrosse team is on top of the heap. But don’t tell coach Dom Starsia that.

Tonight at the Carrier Dome, roughly eight months later, Syracuse and Virginia — the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country — square off again.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia didn’t even want to hear the end of the question. On a chilly Tuesday night against Mount St. Mary’s at Klockner Stadium, an irate Starsia didn’t have time for it.

UVa, behind three goals from Brian Carroll, two goals from freshman Steele Stanwick and great play in goal from Adam Ghitelman, cruised to a 10-4 matinee win.

Last spring, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team could practically taste the program’s fifth NCAA championship.

In the aftermath of his team’s double-overtime loss to Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Saturday, Virginia coach Dom Starsia became a tad emotional when asked about two of his seniors, Ben Rubeor and Bud Petit.

Virginia senior Ben Rubeor is arguably one of the top two or three players in the country. So you can imagine how he felt back on March 1 when he wasn’t able to play like it.

The first start of Garett Ince’s career came against Duke in front of 8,000 fans at Klockner Stadium on April 12. “I was pretty nervous,” recalled Ince, Virginia’s freshman faceoff specialist, “but it’s one of those things where you have to get your feet wet.”

When Saturday’s quarterfinals game of the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament crept into overtime, only one team was smiling.

Beware of Ben Rubeor, Virginia’s star goal producer on a Cavalier lacrosse team headed back to the Final Four.

There’s a note that’s been sitting on Dom Starsia’s desk for almost two years, one of his keepsakes from the 2006 national lacrosse championship that Virginia won under his direction.

When sixth-ranked UMBC, billed as the hottest lacrosse team in the nation with 11 straight wins, came to rain-soaked Klockner Stadium on Sunday, needless to say Virginia was ready.