Nate Kenney was holding court with reporters on Wednesday, and his teammates helped humble the SU midfielder, informing him why he was all of a sudden a media darling. Senior Greg Rommel ran over and tossed Keeney a gray shirt embroidered with a Virginia lacrosse logo.

Kenney, a UVa transfer, and senior midfielder Joe Yevoli, also a transfer from Virginia, will have a homecoming on Saturday when SU plays the Cavaliers at 3 p.m. at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.

Both Kenney and Yevoli won the 2003 national championship at Virginia. The Orange and the Cavaliers – perhaps the two most storied programs in lacrosse history – are longtime rivals. Considering two former Wahoos are now on SU, the rivalry will be intensified on Saturday.

‘Pretty much every year I’ve been in college except for last year, whoever won this game won the national championship,’ Yevoli said. ‘It’s a big game for both teams. I’m happy it’s against my old school. It’s going to be fun.’

Yevoli’s transfer was held up in a squabble about the regulations of his release from Virginia. UVa head coach Dom Starsia would reportedly only release Yevoli on the condition he didn’t transfer to schools on Virginia’s 2006 schedule. Yevoli appealed the release to the university president and was eventually allowed to transfer to a school of his choice. It turned out to be SU.

Kenney’s in SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he’s a graduate student majoring in television, radio and film.

Both Kenney and Yevoli sat out the 2005 season. Both sounded eager about returning to their old turf.

‘I know a lot of people down there, Kenney said. ‘It’s like going to the scene of the crime a little bit.

‘I used to work at a bar down there. I was a bouncer down there, believe it or not. I’m going to go back down there and say what’s up to them, say hello to the old heads.’

While Kenney said most the players left on the Cavs were too young for him to get close with when he played – Kenney called himself the ‘older brother’ – Yevoli said he’s still friendly with many of his former teammates.

Yevoli said more than anything else this weekend he’s eager to see those friends he left. He wanted to stay the entire weekend, but he couldn’t find a ride back to Syracuse. He’ll spend his free time in Charlottesville meeting up with old classmates.

But come gametime, he says he’ll be ready. It’ll feel a bit eerie, though.

‘I say the hardest part is going down there and be in the other locker room,’ Yevoli said. ‘That’s what’s really going to wake me up when I go down there. But they’re my friends off the field, but I’ll try to forget that I know them on the field.’

Yevoli was one of the most talented players on UVa for three seasons, and he became comfortable with the program’s loyal fans. While he’s not concerned with his old teammates’ reactions – he said this game would have created venom in the fall, but now, it’s just another game – he’s worried about the reaction of his old fans.

‘That’s one thing I’m not looking forward to; I don’t want them to boo me,’ Yevoli said. ‘That’ll be disappointing. But you have to expect the worst and hope for the best.’

Published on March 2, 2006 at 12:00 pm