During his 10 years as Virginia men’s lacrosse coach, Dom Starsia has helped produce 39 All-Americans — 15 on the first team, 13 on the second and 11 on the third. Of those players, 18 were attackmen, 11 were midfielders and 10 were defensemen. The one conspicuous absence from that list is the position Starsia calls the most important on the field: goaltender. The Cavaliers have had plenty of good goalies over the years, but the lack of a dominant stopper likely has kept Starsia from winning more than one national championship. “The goalie is the single guy who can really turn around a game,” Starsia said. “There have been years when people have said, ‘If you only had a goalie…’ I don’t think anyone is going to say that this year.” No, probably not. In junior Tillman Johnson, Virginia may have the nation’s premier player at his position. Face Off Yearbook named him a preseason first-team All-American. If he lives up to that billing, he will become the first UVa goalie to make the first team since Peter Sheehan in 1986. The fourth-ranked Cavaliers again have stars at all the other spots, including attackmen John Christmas and Joe Yevoli, midfielders Chris Rotelli and A.J. Shannon, and defensemen Brett Hughes and Ned Bowen. But the presence of Johnson in the cage is their biggest reason for optimism going into today’s opener against Drexel at the University Hall Turf Field. “He’s unbelievable,” Rotelli said. “He was the best goalie in the country last year and he’s even better this year.” Johnson has started all 29 of Virginia’s games the past two seasons, averaging 11.2 saves and 8.5 goals allowed. He earned ACC rookie of the year honors in 2001. Last year, he became the first sophomore goalie in 19 years to make the All-ACC team. Still, Johnson was not named to any of the three All-America teams, gaining honorable-mention distinction both years. And while he has been excellent at times, he has been somewhat inconsistent. Starsia fully expects sustained brilliance from his keeper this season. “Tillman is in his prime at this moment,” Starsia said. “He’s bigger, stronger, more confident in his abilities. … I’ve never seen a goalie be better for a longer stretch of time than he’s been in the preseason. I believe he’s on the verge of having a very dominating year.” Johnson feels the same way. Far from arrogant, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound native of Annapolis, Md., is his own worst critic. Yet even he can’t find much fault with his performances during preseason practices and three scrimmages. “I feel like I’m playing great right now,” said Johnson, whose 325 saves are the most after two years by any UVa goalie. “I’m a lot more confident and a lot more relaxed. I’ve had two years of starting. I’ve played in a lot of big games. There’s no need to feel nervous out there. “I used to feel more stressed out, especially when I was a freshman. But I’ve been around a long time now, and I’m playing with a great group of guys. We have 11 seniors who are awesome. We have a bunch of great young players. I’d say this is the best team I’ve ever played on.” The Cavaliers went 11-4 last season, losing to Syracuse in double overtime in the NCAA semifinals. Johnson was sensational in that 12-11 defeat, making 18 saves against the nation’s top offense, and that performance may have been a preview of things to come. “I think what Tillman did against Syracuse has given him an honest and genuine confidence that he can get the job done in a big game on a big stage,” Starsia said. “I think that’s carried over to now. The way he’s looked, I’m not sure I’ve personally been around a better goalie. I just think he’s going to stop every shot, and he’s just about done that.” Johnson always has been a fundamentally sound goalie, but he has worked hard on improving nuances of his game. Watching film, he saw that he often dropped his hands too quickly last year, something he has tried to correct. He also has enhanced his stick skills, making him more effective out of the cage. Since the mental part of goaltending is equally important, Johnson has pledged to remain focused and composed at all times. In the past, he has been outwardly emotional, showing frustration after soft goals and exhilaration after big saves. He plans to preserve that passion but stay on a more even keel. “I’ve always showed emotion. I think it helps the defense to see me excited,” Johnson said. “But I don’t think I should get overly excited about making a save that I think I should make. And I think I should be making every save this year. I know I’m not going to save every shot, but I feel like I should. “My freshman year, if a guy scored a goal on me, I’d say that was a good shot. Now I don’t give credit to any shooter. I feel like no matter what, I should and could get every shot.” Johnson will be tested early. After today’s game, the Cavaliers face No. 1 Syracuse and No. 2 Princeton on the road. They also have matchups against No. 3 Johns Hopkins, No. 5 Maryland, No. 7 Duke, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 13 Towson, No. 16 Penn State and No. 17 Notre Dame. There is not expected to be much difference between the nation’s top four of five teams. Johnson, if all goes well, could be the difference-maker for the Cavaliers. “Tillman back there is the great equalizer for us,” Starsia said. “In practice the other day the offense didn’t score for probably 10 minutes. The offense got some good shots, but Tillman just stopped everything. “I think we may be developing a little false sense of security. But as a coach, you draw a great deal of comfort from having somebody like that at the back end of things. He’ll cover up for a lot of mistakes.”

The Virginia men’s lacrosse team lost just two starters from last year’s NCAA semifinal squad. Unfortunately, those were two of the best players in the program’s history. Conor Gill and Mark Koontz, both All-Americans, were the leaders of UVa’s offense and defense, respectively. They won’t be easy to replace, but the Cavaliers appear to have enough depth and talent to overcome their stars’ absence. No single player is likely to fill their shoes, but a collective effort should allow Virginia to retain its spot among the nation’s elite programs and contend once again for the ACC and NCAA titles. “I think we start at a good place,” said Dom Starsia, whose team won the national championship in 1999 and made the Final Four in 2000 and 2002. “We have a lot of guys with experience at every position. We have some questions to answer, but I think we have a good chance at finding the answers.” ATTACK The biggest question, as Starsia puts it, is how the Cavaliers will handle “life without Conor Gill.” Gill was a gifted passer who finished her career with 146 assists, second in school history, and 223 points. Last year, besides leading the team with 56 points, he took freshmen attackman John Christmas and Joe Yevoli under his wing and helped them thrive. Now sophomores, Christmas and Yevoli must pick up the slack and become stars in their own right. “You get a guy like Conor, his personality really defines your team over a period of time,” Starsia said. “We were Michael Watson and Doug Knight for a couple years. We were Conor Gill on offense the past couple years. “We really like John Christmas and Joe Yevoli. The ball is kind of in their court now. All of a sudden they’re going to have to step up and demonstrate they’re ready. We feel that they’re going to be, but they haven’t done it yet.” Christmas finished second on the team in both goals (29) and assists (15), while Yevoli led the ACC with 40 goals. Both benefited from playing with Gill, who usually drew the opponent’s top defenseman. They know that they will get more attention this year, but they welcome the challenge. “Things change a lot on offense without Conor distributing the ball,” said Christmas, a preseason first-team All-American. “All three of us [attackmen] have to do more of what Conor did. The offense will run a little more through me and Joe.” Joining Christmas and Yevoli on attack will be freshman Matt Ward, whom Starsia called “a big, strong kid who can dodge. He’s a very smart lacrosse player and I think he’ll be a nice complement to Joe and John.” Backups include junior Justin Mullen, sophomore Brendan Gill, and seniors Derrick Preuss and Hatcher Snead. MIDFIELD The young attack trio should be bolstered by a deep and experienced set of midfielders. Last year’s first midfield unit of Chris Rotelli, A.J. Shannon and Billy Glading return for their senior season after combining for 64 goals and 23 assists as juniors. Rotelli, always a superb scorer, was named a first-team All-American last season after becoming a better all-around playmaker, defender and leader. He plans to assume an even larger role in those areas without Gill. “Conor was good about making everything work the way it was supposed to,” said Rotelli, who has 59 career goals. “That’s what I’m really focusing on – moving the ball, using my teammates and being a feeder. It obviously hurts not having Conor around, but I think our offense as a whole is a lot more balanced this year. We have a lot of guys who can score.” One of those guys is Shannon, a 208-pound Canadian who scored 25 goals a year ago and often overpowered short-stick defenders. Glading has had injury problems but is the team’s most compete midfielder, according to Starsia, who is thinking about using Glading on the second unit “to give them some presence and experience.” If so, either of two freshmen, Kyle Dixon or Matt Poskay, may join Rotelli and Shannon on the first unit. Poskay set the national high school scoring record. Others who figure into the midfield mix are freshman Foster Gilbert, sophomore Nathan Kenney and senior Andrew Faraone. Junior Ted Lamade will redshirt following ankle surgery, while sophomore Jared Little will miss at least a month with a broken foot. Starsia said he expects improvement from faceoff specialist Jack deVilliers, who won 47.8 percent of his draws as a freshman. “He’s bigger and stronger. He’s put on 20 pounds since last year,” Starsia said. “I think facing off was certainly an issue for us last year. Jack’s continued development makes us feel better about that.” DEFENSE Defensively, there are fewer questions about how the Cavaliers will fare without Koontz. That’s because they had to do so at the end of last season. Koontz, the ACC player of the year, tore the ACL in his left knee toward the end of the regular season and missed the NCAA tournament. Without him, the Cavaliers were more than adequate on defense, thanks to the emergence of Brett Hughes and Ned Bowen as stoppers and the stellar play of Tillman Johnson in goal. Hughes, a junior, returns along with seniors Bowen and David Burman at close defense, while senior Trey Whitty figures to be among the nation’s best long-stick middies. “People talk about us as a good defensive team,” said Johnson, a preseason first-team All-American. “I want us to be known as a great defensive team.” Hughes, a preseason second-team All-American, won’t always guard the opponent’s top attackman. Starsia said Bowen also is capable of handling that role, depending on the size and skills of the opponent. Heralded freshman Michael Culver is the quickest defender on the team and should see time as a close defenseman, long-stick middie and faceoff man. Another freshman, Patrick Buchanan, also has impressed Starsia. Steve Holmes, who filled in for Koontz in the NCAA tourney, is academically ineligible this year but plans to return for his sophomore season next spring. “Defense is an area where we need to be better while the offense settles in a little bit,” Starsia said. “We’ve tried to impress on the defensive guys that the bar is a little higher this year. I think they certainly accept that responsibility.”