Lacrosse star Barrow’s death stuns U.Va.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- About half the team had left town to start Thanksgiving break early, but the other University of Virginia men's lacrosse players were still in Charlottesville when they got the shocking news Saturday.

Former U.Va. standout Will Barrow had been found dead at his apartment.

"Stunning," Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said last night. "Absolutely stunning."

Charlottesville police have declined to disclose the cause of death, but they do not suspect foul play. Starsia said Barrow's funeral is likely to be held on Long Island, N.Y., this weekend. Barrow was 22.

"I know Will," Starsia said. "He didn't want to cause this much pain for everybody. This is not what he wanted. I feel horrible that things got to this point."

Barrow, who helped U.Va. win the NCAA title in 2006, exhausted his college eligibility last season, then joined the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse. But he was enrolled at U.Va. as a part-time student this semester and remained close to the team, regularly attending fall practices.

The players and coaches in Charlottesville consoled each other Saturday night at midfielder Max Pomper's house. They gathered again Sunday at Starsia's home. George Barrow drove out there that night for an emotionally wrenching meeting with his son's former teammates.

Barrow played on the defensive midfield -- not the most glamorous position in lacrosse -- but was impossible to miss, a 6-0, 185-pound blur. At Baldwin High on Long Island, Barrow had starred in football, too, and he turned down opportunities to play Division I in that sport.

For many lacrosse fans, their enduring memory of Barrow will be the breathtaking goal he scored against Syracuse early in last season's NCAA semifinals. (To see it, go to YouTube.com and search for "Barrow takes on the entire Cuse defense.")

"That play may define his career as much as anything," Starsia said, but there was much more to Barrow's game than that.

"There were few middies in the game that could dodge Will Barrow," Starsia said. "He probably was the single best short-stick defender in the game."

Contact Jeff White at jwhite @timesdispatch.com.