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Before Rob Kavovit and Ric Beardsley were teammates at Syracuse, they were high school rivals in Yorktown, New York. Lakeland versus Yorktown High School was always the game of the year, and during the matchup in 1991, Beardsley was clearing the ball up the sideline as Kavovit checked his stick, trying to break the ball free. 

“I kept saying ‘Come on little boy, come on little boy, come on little boy.’ And then, on the last check, he nearly broke my elbow,” Beardsley said of Kavovit’s toughness as a competitor. “I remember saying to myself, ‘That little boy almost broke your elbow. You better shut up next time.’”

On March 16, Kavovit died at age 45 in his home in Florida. Former teammates did not comment on the cause of his death. Kavovit was a three-time All-American attack at SU and a pivotal player during the Orange’s 1995 NCAA Championship and four Final Fours. Former teammates remember the Syracuse lacrosse legend as a humble, witty person and one of the best players on the championship team.

“I hated playing against him because he was so goddamn good, and I loved having him on my team because he was so goddamn good,” Beardsley said.

Many former teammates said Kavovit was a sneaky good player. He played alongside Casey Powell and Roy Colsey — who won National Midfielder of the Year — but Kavovit provided a “common presence” for the team, childhood best friend and teammate Paul Carcaterra said. Kavovit was never the flashiest player, but he led the team in assists three of his four years and sits seventh on Syracuse’s all-time assists list. Then-assistant coach John Desko called Kavovit one of the most important players during his time at SU. Kavovit brought the locker room together if the team was down, re-energizing everyone he spoke to, Beardsley said.

The 1995 team lost just two games during the regular season, one of which was an eight-goal blowout against Virginia in the Carrier Dome. When Syracuse was set to rematch Virginia in the Final Four, Kavovit was the “catalyst,” Beardsley said.

Syracuse blew out the Cavaliers 20-13 and advanced to the championship game behind Kavovit’s three goals and five assists.

“The bigger the moment throughout his career, the better he was,” Carcaterra said. “I think about the biggest games that we ever played in — he was always at his best. He never was rattled, never was nervous. He was always in control.”

In the title game against Maryland, everyone knew to feed Kavovit. Syracuse used a middie-based offense during the regular season, but Kavovit had an “aura” that made him unstoppable, Beardsley said. 

Kavovit was guarded by Paal Elfstrum — a former teammate from Yorktown who theoretically could guard him well. But the matchup didn’t shake Kavovit, who scored four goals and seven points en route to a 13-9 championship win. 

“In those games, if you don’t have a guy step up and do the things that he did, you just don’t win,” Beardsley said. “You have to have a guy that’s your Carmelo Anthony, the guy that drops 30 in the national championship … You just don’t win those big games without a superstar. Rob was our superstar that year.”

“I was just so proud of him because I think everyone knew how good of a lacrosse player he was, but he etched his name in NCAA history with that performance,” Carcaterra said.

Kavovit’s 18 points in the 1995 tournament are fourth all-time in a tournament run for Syracuse. In 1996, he started all 15 games and was Syracuse’s leading scorer. From that point, it became “Kavo’s team,” Beardsley said.

Carcaterra and Kavovit were teammates for over a decade. The two played together on their lacrosse team in elementary school, won three straight state championships at Yorktown and started at Syracuse simultaneously. At both schools, Carcaterra and Kavovit played on the same attack line, making them closer on and off the field. Kavovit was a high school All-American and is third on Yorktown’s all-time scoring list.

The two were “old-school boys,” Carcaterra said, exploring wooded areas in their town during free time when they were younger. When Kavovit got his driver’s license before Carcaterra, they made a habit of going to their favorite pizza place, Maria’s, nearly every Friday night. 

“We spent so much one-on-one time together (in) every kind of step in the game of life,” Carcaterra said. “We were always kind of there for each other.”

Beardsley wasn’t as close with Kavovit growing up in Yorktown, but their parents knew each other. Even though Lakeland and Yorktown were rival high schools, Beardsley still kept in touch with Kavovit in their small town. 

About nine years ago, Kavovit moved from New York to Florida with his wife, Marion, and their two kids. He had a physical therapy practice and was coaching high school lacrosse. Carcaterra, who is also an ESPN analyst, said that Kavovit would watch games he was calling and would text him with his own analysis. They recently discussed Syracuse’s current season. 

When Kavovit died on March 16, Beardsley said 50 or 60 people texted him to offer their condolences. People he barely knew reached out to say how much they looked up to Kavovit and to share what he meant to them as lacrosse fans and players.

Syracuse players will wear a No. 15 sticker on their helmets this season in honor of Kavovit. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA Today Sports

Syracuse players will wear a No. 15 sticker on their helmets for the remainder of the season in honor of Kavovit. Mitch Wykoff said honoring Kavovit was important because the Syracuse jersey represents everyone in the SU lacrosse community. 

Days after Kavovit’s death, the Orange scored 15 goals in what goalie Drake Porter called “fate.” 

“He was such a big part of my life that my heart will always have a void to fill,” Carcaterra said. “When I think of those critical years of my life, he’s in all of them.”

 

Published on March 28, 2021 at 10:19 pm

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie