Missed chances
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 19, 2004

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -Often there is one distinct moment or play or situation that causes a team to lose.

In many ways, Virginia had two of them during its 76-57 loss at Florida State on Tuesday night.

First, the Cavaliers squandered a six-point lead midway through the first half during a stretch when the Seminoles were literally unable to score. The problem was the Cavaliers couldn’t score either and instead of extending the advantage, the Cavaliers’ own offensive ineptness gave the Seminoles a reprieve.

The Seminoles erased the deficit, took the lead and eventually went into intermission tied with the Cavaliers at 27.

Throughout the first half, the Cavaliers were given ample opportunities to seize control of the game or at least have the halftime advantage by a couple of points. Neither occured.

“We should have been up four or five points but nobody could score but Elton,” said Gillen, referring to junior Elton Brown’s 14 first-half points. “We couldn’t score. Part of that is their defense but we had good looks and couldn’t put it in the basket.”

Added Brown: “In some ways, we felt good being tied at the half because Florida State is very good at home, but we also knew that we should have been up by more. We had missed a couple of easy baskets and it was a sort of a missed opportunity.”

Florida State, taking advantage of that, outscored Virginia 11-0 in the first few minutes of the second half. The Cavaliers would cut the lead back to 49-45 with just less than 10 minutes to play but that’s when the second pivotal moment of the game arrived.

FSU’s Adam Waleskowski scored an uncontested layup on an inbounds play where the closest “defender” may have been one of the referees and that spurred a 17-6 Seminole run that put the game away.

“We were in a certain defense and one guy wasn’t. There was a lack of communication. … Somebody didn’t do his job and I don’t want to mention who but he didn’t do his job and it was a layup. We had some breakdowns,” Gillen said.

Virginia has now lost 18 of its last 19 ACC road games. Only a handful of those games have been close - only three were decided by fewer than 10 points - but nearly all were competitive at some point. The missed opportunities like in Tuesday’s first half have been frequent and the plays like the one in the second half have been, too.

Perhaps the ability to avoid such situations and instances is really what makes a team “good” on the road and the Cavaliers’ inability to steer clear of them or overcome them makes them a poor road team.

“We’re just not good mentally in those type of situations. We really have to do a better job with that. We rush shots and fall apart and unfortunately, good teams don’t do that,” Brown said.
 

Enough bowl spots could be problem for ACC
By Doug Doughty

Let's say that favored Wake Forest had beaten Connecticut in the regular-season finale for both football teams. In that case, 10 of the 12 teams in the newly configured ACC would have been bowl eligible.

What would happen if a similar situation occurs in 2004 or 2005?

"We'll look for some additional possibilities," ACC assistant commissioner Mike Finn said. "I'm in the process of doing that right now."

Fortunately for Finn, Boston College won't be playing ACC football until 2005, but Miami and Virginia Tech will play ACC football in 2004 after filling Big East bowl slots last season.

The ACC currently has six slots available for 2004, which makes for a sticky situation for the person responsible for getting teams placed.

"There's no doubt about that," Finn said. "As you move past 2005, I think you'll see some reshuffling."

The contract for the Bowl Championship Series expires after the 2005 season, as do many of the current conference bowl agreements.

"A lot depends on what the BCS does and if they choose to add a bowl to the rotation," Finn said. "That's got to come from somewhere and would create a chain reaction."

The ACC currently sends its champion to the BCS and other teams to the Gator, Peach, Tangerine, Tire and Humanitarian Bowls.

"There are a couple of situations that may be available to us this year," Finn said. "Several bowls have petitioned for certification, such as the Seattle Bowl. Don't try to put us in with that bowl; I'm just using that as an example.

"There's a possible seventh tie-in for this year, but if we sent eight teams to bowls, [the eighth] probably would come from a conference that isn't able to fill one of its spots."

Things could get a little messier in 2005, when the ACC will hold its first championship game, most likely at one of the cities that currently plays host to an ACC team.

"If Jacksonville got the championship game, would we want to send our No.2 team there [for a bowl] when they had just played there?" Finn asked.

On the other hand, the ACC could be dealing from a position of strength, as it was in recent TV negotiations.

"Expansion makes it more challenging, but it also makes our league so much more attractive," Finn said. "The quality we'll have in the [Nos.] 5, 6 and 7 spots will be significantly better than it has been."

In demand

Virginia Tech is the second Division I-A program to make a scholarship offer to Bath County tight end John Phillips, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound junior whose older brother, Jacob, was named GroupA player of the year before signing with William and Mary.

John Phillips, offered by Virginia earlier in the month, has made such dramatic progress following knee surgery Dec.2 in Charlottesville that he is talking about playing baseball for the Chargers this coming season.

Phillips, a 3.7 student, has caught 47 passes for 499 yards and nine touchdowns the past two seasons. He was injured in Bath's final regular-season game and was unavailable during the Chargers' run to the Group A Division I title game.

Raid on Rutgers

Rutgers already had lost assistant coaches Mario Cristobal to Miami and Darrell Hazell to Ohio State before linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator Mark D'Onofrio took a job at Virginia. D'Onofrio fits the UVa profile, having spent three years with the Green Bay Packers after playing at Penn State with UVa defensive coordinator Al Golden.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Feb 19, 2004

REALITY SETS IN: Asked Monday night on the Cavalier Call-in radio show about Virginia's postseason prospects in men's basketball, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said, "I don't want to think about the NIT yet, to be honest with you. Our goal is the NCAAs."

Those comments came before the Cavaliers' 19-point loss Tuesday night at Florida State. With four regular-season games left, plus at least one in the ACC tournament, Virginia is 3-9 in the conference and 13-10 overall. That resume won't impress the NCAA tournament's selection committee, whose members include Littlepage, so U.Va. will have to aim for advancing to the NIT for the fourth time in six seasons under Pete Gillen.

To assure they're eligible for an NIT invitation, the Cavaliers need to win at least one of their remaining regular-season games. U.Va. visits Clemson on Saturday afternoon.

NOTHING TO IT: Linebacker Ahmad Brooks played for Hargrave Military Academy's postgraduate team in 2002. A year later, Brooks was starting at U.Va. Philip Brown hopes his transition to Division I-A football goes as smoothly.

Brown, who was an all-Group AAA cornerback for Hampton's Phoebus High, is spending this school year at Hargrave. He's expected to enroll at U.Va. in the summer and, like Brooks before him, is likely to play a significant role as a freshman.

"Obviously he's gone against a little higher level of competition [at Hargrave]," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "He did take a step up, an intermediate step up, and responded to that very well.

"The great thing about Philip is: One, he can't wait to get here, and two, he can't wait to get out there on the corner. He's got all the ability a guy needs to play on the corner, but most particularly, he's got that corner's mentality."

When U.Va. opens spring practice March 26, its first-team cornerbacks figure to be rising sophomores Tony Franklin and Marcus Hamilton.

Franklin started the final six games in 2003. Hamilton backed up Almondo Curry last season. Curry was a senior, as was Jamaine Winborne, who started the first seven games at corner and the last six at safety.

Virginia's spring game is scheduled for April 17.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE: In 2001 and'02, Groh's first two seasons as Virginia's coach, his son Mike, a quarterback in his playing days, oversaw the team's wide receivers.

Mike Groh added the title of quarterbacks coach in 2003, and then-graduate assistant Anthony Poindexter, a former U.Va. safety, helped him with the receivers.

In 2004, the Cavaliers' receivers will be taught by a coach with playing experience at the position: John Garrett, whose hiring Al Groh announced this week.

Garrett played wideout for Columbia and Princeton in college and for Cincinnati and Buffalo in the NFL. He also played for the World League's San Antonio Riders in 1991. Garrett coached the Bengals' receivers from 1995 to'98.

HONORED: Thanks to contributions totaling $250,000, the Edward Doyle Smith Jr. lacrosse scholarship has been fully funded at U.Va. Starting in 2005, school officials said, the scholarship annually will go to a member of the Virginia men's lacrosse team who most exhibits the qualities for which Smith is known: dedication, precision and integrity.

Smith, who was recognized Saturday at University Hall during the U.Va.'s men's basketball game, was a member of Virginia's athletic media relations staff for more than 30 years. A renowned statistician, he was named the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's man of the year in 1984 and'93. Smith, a Johns Hopkins graduate, was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2000.

ON THE MAT: Scott Moore entered last night's wrestling meet against ACC rival Maryland with a 40-0 record and a No. 1 national ranking at 141 pounds. This is the first season at U.Va. for Moore, a transfer from Penn State, but with 28 falls heading into the meet with Maryland, he'd already tied the school's career record.

FAST START: The first ACC baseball player of the week for 2004 is U.Va.'s Joe Koshansky. The senior from Fairfax hit .462 with five RBI to help Virginia open the season with a three-game sweep of North Carolina A&T. Two of Koshansky's six hits were home runs.

Koshansky started two games at first base and one at pitcher. He struck out five and allowed only one hit in six innings to earn the victory.

U.Va. plays its home opener today at 3 p.m. against Maryland-Eastern Shore. This game is a late addition to Virginia's schedule. The Cavaliers play host to Penn State on Saturday and Sunday. - Jeff White
 

Richmond will talk to U.Va.'s London
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published February 19, 2004

Virginia defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Mike London is scheduled to interview today for the head coaching position at the University of Richmond.

A 1983 University of Richmond graduate and former Spiders defensive back, London is considered a top candidate to replace Jim Reid, who resigned Friday to become the defensive line coach at Syracuse. London could not be reached for comment.

London, 43, has been at U.Va. for three seasons.

He has coached college football for 16 years, including twice at Richmond (1988-89, 1994-96).

London was also at William and Mary from 1990-93 and came to Virginia from Boston College, where he was defensive line coach from 1997-2000.

He is known as a solid recruiter and has strong ties in the Hampton Roads area. A Hampton native, London starred at Bethel High before signing with Richmond.

If London leaves U.Va., he would be the fourth assistant to do so since the end of the season. In a six-week span, Virginia lost running backs Kevin Ross, tight ends coach Andy Heck and special teams coach Corwin Brown. Groh has since hired Anthony Poindexter, John Garrett and Mark D'Onofrio.
 

Spiders' quest for a coach continues
Search may wrap up in five days; Fordham coach, NFL aide top list of candidates;
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 19, 2004

The University of Richmond's search for a new football coach could conclude in the next five days, according to sources familiar with the process.

Dave Clawson, Fordham's coach for the past five seasons, remains a strong candidate to succeed Jim Reid, who resigned last Friday after nine seasons as the Spiders' coach. Detroit Lions receivers coach Kevin Higgins, a former Spiders assistant, is an intriguing possibility because of his remarkable success as Lehigh's head coach.

Virginia assistant Mike London, a former Spiders player, and Virginia Tech assistant Jim Cavanaugh have applied for the vacancy. University of Richmond Athletic Director Jim Miller, said a source, interviewed Clawson in a Northeast city last night. Reached yesterday afternoon, Miller chose not to identify any candidates.

"I feel like [Clawson] would be one of the top young coaches to come into the [Atlantic 10 Conference] in a while. He would be a great get for Richmond," said Andy Talley, Villanova's head coach since 1985 and Clawson's former boss. Clawson was Villanova's offensive coordinator from '96-98.

Miller, working without the aid of a search committee, apparently determined after an early-week meeting with a select group of UR boosters that Richmond's new coach would come from Division I-A (assistant or head coach) or I-AA (head coaches only). An NFL coach also is a possibility.

Higgins joined the Lions' staff as an offensive assistant in 2001 after seven seasons (1994-00) as Lehigh's head coach. Three times in that stretch, the New Jersey native was named Patriot League coach of the year. Under Higgins, Lehigh went 56-25-1 with four league titles.

Miller apparently is committed to finding a coach who would employ a pass-oriented offense after Reid's tenure, which featured the option. Exciting offense also is a priority, said a source, as a way to increase interest in Spiders football.

UR's average home attendance was 6,209 in 2002 and 6,812 last season, the only two years that average home attendance has been less than 7,500 in the past two decades. UR is considering an on-campus stadium after playing at an off-campus facility since 1929 and seeking major donors to finance the estimated $11 million project.

Clawson is 29-29 in five seasons at Fordham but 7-4, 10-3 and 9-3 in his last three years. He was offensive coordinator of pass-oriented offenses at Lehigh and Villanova before moving to Fordham and using a passing system there.
 

Lacrosse will rely on defense to defend title
Joe Lemire
Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

To believe the axiom that "defense wins championships," one need not look any further than Virginia's run through the NCAA Tournament last year. In four tournament games, the Cavaliers' first-team defense allowed only 19 goals and held high-powered Maryland to a paltry four scores in the national semi-final. Led by goaltender Tillman Johnson, who earned Most Outstanding Player honors for his 31 saves in the final two rounds against No. 3 Maryland and No. 1 Johns Hopkins, Virginia's defense effectively shut down its opponents en route to a national title.

The reigning first-team All-American Johnson, along with his friend and classmate, defender Brett Hughes, return to anchor a Cavalier defense that allowed only 7.5 goals per game a season ago, including only three games in which they yielded double-digit tallies.

Despite the unit's overall dominance, Johnson is the one who has grabbed most of the headlines and accolades. USILA named him both Goalie of the Year and Player of the Year after he made 205 saves for a .635 save percentage, which was good for fourth-best in the country. Entering his senior season, Johnson has started every game of his collegiate career and has helped shore up any defensive lapses.

"He is a confidence boost for everybody," Hughes said of Johnson. "Sometimes I think we use him as a security blanket. But, it is just good to know that not only is your best friend behind you, but a kid who is going to make up for some missed opportunities."

Hughes is the stalwart of Virginia's back line. He was named a second-team All-American a year ago and is widely considered the nation's top returning close defender, consistently matching up with opponents' top scorers. His 50 ground balls a year ago were second among ACC close defenders and tied for 17th nationally.

Hughes has "started every game since he stepped foot in Charlottesville," coach Dom Starsia said. "He's an emotional kid, a passionate kid. He's been surrounded by older guys most of his career, but all of a sudden he's the sage of the group."

The co-captain Hughes will be called on to be more of a leader this season, as he is the only one of two returning starters on Virginia's defense and midfield units. The defense saw the graduation of starters Ned Bowen and David Burman and now look to sophomores Mike Culver and Steve Holmes to fill those voids.

Though both players will be new to the starting lineup, each already has proven their on-field merits. Holmes saw significant action at defense two years ago before taking last year off, and Culver is a converted long-stick midfielder who captained the United States' Under-19 World Championship last summer.

"We have some new faces out there," Culver said. "Fortunately, last year I could get my feet wet a little bit playing long-stick midfielder. Steve and Brett are teaching us the way -- it's going pretty well, though. We're starting to become a cohesive unit."

The midfield is also a bit unproven, especially after the loss of defensive specialist Billy Glading. Sophomore Kyle Dixon is the lone returning starter, but several players with less on-field experience are ready to jump right into the mix.

"In the midfield, we're going to see who is going to define themselves as players," sophomore midfielder Jared Little said. "Ted Lamade is consistently the one who is pushing us. Nathan Kenney is a tough, tough kid. He carries us on our defensive midfield and transition offense."

For the fourth straight year, the supporting cast has changed for Virginia, but Hughes and Johnson remain the leaders of one of the nation's best defenses.
 

No. 2 Virginia women hope to rebound after overtime defeat to Princeton in last year's national championship contest
Becky Piedel
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Confidence. If there's one thing the Virginia women's lacrosse team has, besides an immense wealth of experience, talent and tenacity, it's confidence. And it's no wonder why, considering several star players will return to a squad that stalled just inches from winning the national championship in overtime against Princeton last year.

But to assume that the Cavaliers, ranked No. 2 in the Laxpower.com preseason poll, are dwelling on last season would be far from the truth. On the contrary, last season's success has done nothing short of strengthen the team's poise.

"I think last season has given us a lot of confidence," junior attacker Cary Chasney said. "Just going into this year knowing how good we are and how far we can get in the tournament gives us a lot of confidence."

Joining Chasney on the attack will be fellow veterans Amy Appelt and Caitlyn Banks. The three will combine to direct the Virginia offense, which has led the nation in scoring for the past two years. They will also have to make up for the loss of two-time national scoring leader Laura Aumiller, who graduated last year.

Attackers Morgan Thalenberg and Tyler Leachman will also play pivotal roles on offense for the Cavaliers. Last season, Thalenberg was third on the team with ground balls while Leachman ranked fifth in scoring.

"I think one of the huge benefits to our team right now is that our attackers returned," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "I think one of our team's strengths is that we have so many different offensive weapons."

Defensively, Virginia returns an experienced group led by junior Elizabeth Pinney, who looks to come back strong after missing most of last season with an injury. She will be joined in the backfield by senior Lauren Keller, juniors Ashley Dodson and Molly Urlock and sophomore Nikki Lieb.

The experienced Cavalier defense will be backed up by senior Andrea Pfeiffer, who returns for her third season as a starter for Virginia.

"Defense is really important," Myers said. "It's great to have a senior goalkeeper in the cage. I think that leadership and experience should pay off well."

Aside from the solid group of experienced players returning from last season, this year the Cavaliers will also welcome several freshmen to their roster.

On attack, Megan Havrilla, Kaitlin Swagart and Kate Breslin will look to make immediate contributions to the Virginia offense. Havrilla won a world title as a member of the USA under-19 team this past summer.

"We have a lot of versatile freshmen on attack," Chasney said. "I think they're going to make an impact early and definitely add a lot of depth to our team."

Freshman Jess Wasilewski will add depth in the midfield, while Jessy Morgan and Erin Nagle will contribute to the defense.

Myers said she is confident about the potential impact of the freshmen.

"I think the first years can create their own role right now," Myers said. "I think if they pick up the pace and really push some things that they could be looking at starting positions as well as some great reserve roles."

The women's lacrosse season opens this Sunday at No. 16 Vanderbilt, a game the team hopes will be the beginning of a season which leads it back to the title game.

But the team knows it won't be an easy route to the championship. For the most part, the Cavaliers' schedule is composed of opponents ranked in the top 20, including Princeton, Maryland and Loyola, the three teams who competed along with Virginia in the national semifinals last season.

"We can't rest," Myers said. "And being one of the top-ranked teams, teams would love to upset us. We know that we are always going to be hunted by some really talented teams so we need to make sure that we're sharp and we play our best every time we step on the field."