Syracuse, NY -- The incredible continues.

The No. 1 Syracuse University men's lacrosse team, feeding off the buzz of a Carrier Dome crowd of 14,340, rallied from an 8-7 halftime deficit to defeat No. 2 Virginia 12-10 Friday night. In the process another chapter was written in what is college lacrosse's closest, and arguably its best, rivalry.

The teams have now played 24 times since 1994. Each has won 12 games. Each has scored 326 goals. How about that?

“It’s kind of a wild game, to be honest,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “And it’s a joy to be a part of it. You might think that as a coach I would prefer to be in control every minute, but I like seeing the kids go up and down the field making plays.”

“I guess we really didn’t expect anything else,” Syracuse coach John Desko added. “A run-and-gun, up-and-down game against the Cavaliers. I thought both groups came out very excited to play in the game.”

And each displayed that excitement and love for up-tempo lacrosse from start to finish, the kind of breath-taking action that has made the rivalry between two giants who have won nine of the last 17 Division I NCAA championships an early season classic.

Friday was no exception, even as a game of scintillating offensive runs in the first half evolved into an intense defensive battle in the second. That is when SU’s veteran defense imposed its will on Virginia’s explosive offense, setting the stage for junior attackman Tim Desko’s heroics and the Syracuse seniors’ first regular-season victory over the Cavaliers (4-1).

“It’s an experienced defensive team,” Starsia said of an Orange D that returned the bulk of a unit that led the nation in goals per game allowed (7.4) last season but yielded more than that in the first half alone Friday. “I thought they came out and tightened things down a little bit and probably showed their experience at that end of the field. Give Syracuse credit. That may have been the difference.”

The Orange (3-0) and star longstick midfielder Joel White never quite solved UVA’s electric senior midfielder Shamel Bratton, who scored four goals, but it shut out the rest of the potent Cavs’ offense the entire second half, quite the feat. UVA entered the game averaging 16.8 goals.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete, the fastest kid I’ve ever played against,” White said of Bratton. “He can stop on a dime and go back, as you saw, me getting beat a couple times there. I think he won that battle, but I think our defense stepped up and our team stepped up. It was a classic Virginia game, high scoring and high powered, but our defense made some stops when we needed them.”

The defensive stand was complemented by Desko, the junior attackman who began the season by drawing an opponent’s third-best close defender due to the notoriety of teammates JoJo Marasco and Stephen Keogh. Five days after scoring a career-high three goals against Army, Desko pumped five past Virginia senior Adam Ghitelman, three of them during SU’s decisive second-half rally.

“Basically, the defensemen were ball-watching a little bit,” Desko said, “so when they turned their head I just cut behind them and was wide open. I haven’t played any better, so . . .”

So Desko will enter the Face-Off Classic vs. Georgetown at 11 a.m. in the Face-Off Classic with eight goals in his last two games and a team-leading 10 overall. He was the lone SU player to consistently solve Ghitelman, who made no saves while yielding six goals in the first quarter and then stood on his head with 15 stops over the next three. Foes will likely pay more attention to Desko from here on out.

Two of Desko’s goals were assisted by senior midfielder Jeremy Thompson, who made a great look inside to Desko for a goal that put Syracuse on top for keeps at 10-9 with 3:26 left. Thompson then did himself one better, making an incredible face dodge to get past one defender, squeezing through two others and dumping a shot past Ghitelman early in the fourth for a two-goal cushion.

“It was just exciting playing here in front of that crowd,” he said. “We were feeding off their energy.”

Thompson’s goal, with 13:17 to play, proved to be all the Orange would need, remarkable considering the intensity of the end-to-end action and the scoring opportunities that seemed to abound, leaving the fans on the edge of the their seats until the final horn blew.

The fourth-largest crowd to ever witness a regular-season lacrosse game in the Dome certainly got its money’s worth. Again. And in the process it made things challenging for the Cavs.

“It feels a little like a fire drill,” Starsia said. “It feels a little bit like it’s sort of careening out of control. On both sides the kids are determined to make plays. They’re going really hard. You can’t get any communication from the sideline out onto the field in this atmosphere, so you’re really not as much help as you would like to be.”

As tough as it was for the Cavs, it was that much of a charge for Syracuse.

“I think our guys just fed off it,” John Desko said. “The Dome is great for lacrosse. When you put a crowd in here, this is better than playing in the Meadowlands. This is better than playing in Ravens Stadium when you get this kind of crowd in here. It’s louder. I think the seats are better to watch a game, and it’s a better experience for the players.

“There is no place like the Carrier Dome.”

Not on Friday night. Not with Virginia in town. The incredible continues.

Game summary.