Gaudet finds his way to NCAAs

Growing up in Burlington, Mass., Chad Gaudet often watched former Virginia stars like Doug Knight and Chris Rotelli on television and allowed himself to dream about what it would it be like to play lacrosse for tradition-rich UVa. “When I watched the Final Fours, they were in it like every other year,” Gaudet recalled.

Well, Gaudet is practically living his dream now.

The 6-foot, 201-pounder had to take a circuitous route to Klockner Stadium — but you won’t get any complaints out of him. Everything is panning out perfectly for the fifth-year senior.

On Sunday afternoon, Gaudet will play in his first-ever NCAA tournament game when Virginia hosts Villanova in a first-round matchup.

“It really is [a dream],” Gaudet said. “I guess I sort of lost sight of it in high school when I started playing football, but to come full circle and get an opportunity like this — almost a second chance — is pretty unbelievable.”

A few years back, the thought of Gaudet being a meaningful contributor for Virginia wouldn’t have been fathomable.

Gaudet wasn’t at UVa. He wasn’t even playing lacrosse.

He was a running back on the Dartmouth football team.

However, during his sophomore year, Gaudet sustained a serious knee injury that forced him to quit. He decided to give lacrosse, a sport he hadn’t played since high school, another shot.

Gaudet played two years for the Big Green, then, after realizing he still had another year of lacrosse eligibility that he could use while in graduate school, he gave Virginia coach Dom Starsia a call.

“I didn’t really look at any other schools,” Gaudet said. “This is where I wanted to be and it just worked out.”

Nobody is happier that it did than Starsia.

This season, Gaudet — who is in the McIntire School of Commerce — has been an important member of the team in his role as a faceoff specialist. He’s won 54 percent of his faceoffs, but, perhaps more importantly, given the team a physical presence.

“It’s way beyond whatever I expected it to be,” said Starsia, when asked about Gaudet’s contributions. “I didn’t really know what we were getting.

“He’s just a great kid and a really hard worker. I made a joke to the team earlier in the spring. I said, ‘Are we going to let an Ivy Leaguer be the toughest guy on the team?’ He brings that component to us. He’s an animal in the weight room and works his tail off on the field.”

Virginia senior co-captain Danny Glading called Gaudet a “huge addition.”

“He just brings a toughness factor to the middle of the field,” Glading said. “It’s kind of an intangible that you can’t really go out and recruit. It just showed up on campus for us and has been a huge help.”

Initially, Gaudet said there was an adjustment period to playing at, arguably, the top lacrosse program in the country.

“Here, every single guy is an amazing athlete and has a pretty impressive resume,” said Gaudet, a longstick midfielder. “You really can’t take a day off or a play off or you’re going to get smoked.”

But Gaudet knew what he was getting into when he made his decision, since Virginia had beaten Dartmouth handily two consecutive seasons.

Three weeks ago, Gaudet got to turn the tables when he faced his former teammates. A little frazzled by going up against some of his best friends, Gaudet didn’t play one of his better games — but Virginia still managed to pick up the win.

Now, Gaudet hopes Virginia can get rolling in the tournament. After all, he has to match the NCAA championship hardware that his younger brother, Ross, picked up as a member of the Boston University hockey team this past season.

“I told him I’m not coming back home unless we come up with one, too,” Gaudet joked. “I just won’t be able to walk around the house.”