Rubeor ready for ’Cuse

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.

Rubeor was just coming back from a knee injury that had caused him to miss the first three regular-season games. The competitor that he is, Rubeor wasn’t about to sit out Virginia’s game against Syracuse in the Face-off Classic.

“I think it’s become of those rivalries that people look forward to seeing,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia, “and I know the participants greatly look forward to it.”

Virginia wound up defeating the Orange 14-13, but it was obvious Rubeor wasn’t at full strength.

“Even though he did some things in that game for us,” Starsia said, “I thought he wasn’t able to assert himself.”

“I wasn’t 100 percent,” confessed Rubeor on Thursday. “I was a little rusty coming off a decent amount of time without practicing.”

It’s taken a little while, but Rubeor has finally regained his form and is once again looking like one of best players in the land.

That’s bad news for Syracuse, Virginia’s opponent in this afternoon’s NCAA Tournament semifinals at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

“I’m looking forward to this game,” said Rubeor, a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist who scored the game-winner against Maryland last weekend, “but I also think they’ve improved throughout the season, especially on the defensive end. They have some guys who are playing really well.”

In the first meeting, Virginia won on an overtime goal by Brian Carroll.

However, both teams have changed a lot since.

In addition to having a healthy Rubeor back, Virginia has a much different defensive unit. Fifth-year senior Bud Petit has replaced freshman Adam Ghitelman in goal and defenseman Ryan Nizolek has taken over for the injured Tim Shaw.

Starsia says the switch from Ghitelman to Petit, which occurred after Virginia’s regular-season loss to Maryland, gave the team some much-needed swagger.

“He’s an emotional linchpin for this team,” Starsia explained, “and having him in more of a key role gives him more of a leadership role and has helped us come together a little more defensively.”

Third-seeded Syracuse (14-2), which is coming off an 11-9 win over Notre Dame last weekend, has its usual assortment of talented snipers.

“Offensively, they have a lot of weapons,” Rubeor said. “They create opportunities and shoot really well and create a lot of transition for themselves.”

After close tournament triumphs over UMBC and Maryland, Starsia feels his team hasn’t come close to peaking. If second-seeded Virginia (14-3) can get by Syracuse, it would play the Johns Hopkins-Duke winner on Monday for a shot at its second NCAA title in the last three years.

“I still feel like our best game is still out there,” Starsia said, “but we’re getting awfully close to the end here. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find it.”

Groundballs

This will be the eighth time that Virginia and Syracuse have met in the NCAA Tournament. UVa has won the last five meetings, including a 17-10 win in the 2006 semifinals. …Virginia leads the all-time series, 12-11. Each team has scored the identical number of goals (310) in those 23 games. …This is Virginia’s 31st appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Only Johns Hopkins has more (37).