Top-ranked UVa upset by Falcons
By Joey Mancini / Special to the Daily Progress
February 29, 2004

DENVER, Colo. – As Saturday afternoon came to a close at the Univer-sity of Denver, disgust showed on every face as Virginia walked to the locker room, unsure of where they were going or from where they had come. After 60 minutes of intense competition, Air Force shocked the defending national champions, 7-6, at the 2004 Pioneer Face-Off Classic.

Throughout the first half, both teams played carelessly, accentuated by missed groundballs, lost clears from the defense and dropped passes. In the final minute of the half, the Cavaliers scored on a low shot from junior attackman John Christmas, giving Virginia a narrow 3-1 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

During the third quarter, Air Force controlled the ball for almost the entire 15 minutes of play. Before Cavalier attackman Joe Yevoli scored with just over two minutes remaining in the third, the Falcons had scored four straight goals to take a 5-4 advantage.

For the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Air Force went on another two-goal scoring run to distance its lead to three, 7-4.

“We were a little uptight, the guys wanted to play hard and I was trying to calm them down all week,” Air Force coach Fred Acee said. “Nobody expects us to do anything, because we’re ‘only Air Force.’ I thought it was a pretty well-played game in the second half.”

With 6:47 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers did regain some energy on an unassisted score from Matt Ward after a groundball pick-up at midfield.

With just under two minutes left, Ward again was involved in a Cavalier goal, this time with an assist to teammate Foster Gilbert to narrow the Falcon advantage to 7-6. Virginia lost the face-off after Gilbert’s goal, and needed to regain possession to have a chance at tying to the game. Air Force held the ball through half of the final minute, until with 33 seconds remaining, Cavalier defenseman Ricky Smith picked up a groundball lost by Air Force’s star on the attack, William Meister.

After a quick timeout, Virginia returned to the turf controlling the ball with a chance to salvage the sloppy play of the previous 59 minutes. As time ran down, however, one missed shot and a trap on Christmas by a condensed Falcon defense gave the victory to Air Force.

“The whole team, all of us, can take the blame for this one,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “I just don’t think that we were ready to play, and I thought that there was a little bit of a lack of effort early in the game. We started to pick that up a little bit, but there was a lack of sharpness that continued throughout the whole day.”

On the afternoon, Ward led all scorers with three goals and one assist, followed closely by two goals and one assist from Meister. A careless game for Virginia and Air Force was exhibited by a combined 71 turnovers and also 12 failed clears for the Falcons and nine for the Cavaliers.

In the goal Virginia’s Tillman Johnson compiled 11 saves, but in the fourth quarter, Air Force’s two goals exceeded his one save.

“We’re going to get team’s best shots,” coach Starsia said. “That is part of the business, and that shouldn’t have been of any surprise to us. We’ve got to be ready to play better lacrosse than that.”
 

Virginia blows big leads in loss to Syracuse
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
February 29, 2004

In recent years, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team has snapped long losing skids against Maryland and North Carolina. Now the Cavaliers have a new nemesis, and a surprising one at that: Syracuse.

Third-ranked UVa squandered four-goal leads in each half and fell to the No. 13 Orangewomen, 14-13, at Klockner Stadium on Saturday

Syracuse (1-0), not considered one of the nation’s elite programs, opened their season with an upset of perennial power Virginia (1-1) for the third straight year.

“I feel absolutely sick,” said UVa coach Julie Myers. “If everyone feels a portion of how sick I feel, that will be great motivation to make sure we don’t give a game away at the end like that again.”

Leigh-Ann Zimmer scored six goals for the Orangewomen, who rallied from a 12-8 deficit in the final 18 minutes. Monica Joines delivered the go-ahead goal with 3:13 left and goalie Bethel Steele stopped a close-range shot by UVa’s Ashleigh Haas in the final five seconds.

When the horn sounded, Syracuse’s players and coaches rushed the field in celebration. They also beat the Cavaliers by one goal last season and by two goals in 2002.

“I think it’s easy to get up for your first game. You’ve been practicing hard for a month. Then all that adrenaline gets poured into that one game, and that one game happens to be Virginia,” said Syracuse coach Lisa Miller. “Virginia is one of the best teams in the country, but they have a young defensive unit and it’s going to take them time to gel.”

The Cavaliers lost two All-American defenders from last year’s team as well as Lauren Aumiller, the program’s all-time leading scorer. The result was inconsistency on offense and a plethora of defensive lapses, which did not take Myers by surprise.

“We know we’re not firing on all cylinders yet. We were hoping we could get through the game,” Myers said. “We’ve been talking about practicing with intensity from the beginning of practice to the very end, and that’s something we haven’t really done, so it’s not shocking we didn’t pull it off today.”

Amy Appelt led Virginia with four goals and an assist, while Cary Chasney and Courtney Young each had three goals. The Cavaliers started each half with a burst of offense only to fizzle out. They scored six goals in the opening 12 minutes of each half but just one goal in the game’s other 36 minutes.

“I think we got so psyched up that we were doing so well that it overcame us and we weren’t able to maintain the poise and composure we had at the end of last season,” Appelt said. “What we have to do next time is maintain that composure for the whole 60 minutes. … I think it was totally our fault. We sat back and played into their hands. We did what they did. We held the ball and we should have been going to goal. We played their game instead of our game.”

Syracuse scored the final four goals of the first half to tie the game at 6. Virginia answered with four straight goals to open the second half, and Appelt’s fourth goal made it 12-8 with 18:55 remaining.

But Zimmer scored twice during a 4-0 run that tied things at 12. Chasney’s point-blank shot gave UVa a brief 13-12 lead before the Orangewomen closed the game with consecutive goals.

The Cavaliers bounced back from last year’s loss to Syracuse by winning 17 games and reaching the NCAA final. Such resilience will be necessary again.

“I think it’s always a wake-up call. We always lose to them,” Appelt said. “Last year we made it to the Final Four. I’m concerned that our shooting is off, but as far as the team goes, none of us likes to lose, none of us likes this feeling, and we know what we have to do to fix it the next time.”

 

Top-Ranked Virginia Grounded by Air Force
Feb. 28, 2004

DENVER, COLO - The University of Virginia men's lacrosse program won three NCAA championships in the eastern time zone, but the first trip West proved unsuccessful as the Cavaliers fell to Air Force 7-6 this afternoon in the opening game of the Pioneer Face-Off Classic, hosted by the University of Denver. The loss drops the Cavaliers to 1-1 this season, while it was the Falcons' season opener.

Virginia's Justin Mullen scored the game's first goal less than four minutes in, but the remainder of the period saw both teams play rather deliberately. Air Force goalie Justin Pavoni recorded five of his 14 saves in the opening quarter.

The Falcons capitalized on a Virginia turnover late in the first quarter as Dave Brown scored on a fast break opportunity with 17 seconds to go in the period.

Virginia took a 3-1 lead into halftime behind second quarter goals by Joe Yevoli and John Christmas.

The Falcons came out strong to start the second half and clearly controlled the pace of the game as they gained confidence. Greg Dangler brought them within one with a goal at the 4:24 mark and William Meister tied the score at three 58 seconds later. Freshman midfielder Justin Kuchta scored what proved to be the winning goal with 8:34 to go in the quarter. Meister ran the Falcons run to four straight with his second of the quarter with 5:37 left.

Matt Ward pulled UVa within one at 5-4 by scoring the first of his three goals on the afternoon.

Air Force tallied twice in the opening three minutes of the final period to build a 7-4 lead. Virginia battled back behind two Ward goals, the last coming with 1:50 to play. The Cavaliers lost the ensuing faceoff, but regained possession when Ricky Smith forced a Meister turnover with less than 40 seconds on the clock. Virginia called a timeout with 33 seconds remaining to set up a final play, but a stingy Falcon defense prevented UVa from getting a shot off before time expired.

Virginia returns to action Sunday against host Denver in a game scheduled to start at 1:30 pm local time.

Virginia 1-2-1-2-6
Air Force 1-0-4-2-7

Shots: UVa-32, AFA-34
Clearing: UVA-20 of 35, AFA-26 of 37
Faceoffs: UVA-11, AFA-5
Ground Balls: UVA-49, AFA-54
Penalites: UVA-3-3:00, AFA-1-0:30
Extra-man scoring: UVA-0 of 1, AFA-0 of 3

Goalie summary:
UVA-Tillman Johnson-60 mins, 11 saves, 7 goals allowed.
AFA-Justin Pavoni 60 mins., 14 saves, 6 goals allowed.

Virginia scoring (G-A)-Matt Ward 3-1, Joe Yevoli 1-1, John Christmas 1-0, Justin Mullen 1-0, Kyle Dixon 0-1, Foster Gilbert 0-1, Matt Poskay 0-1.

Air Force scoring (G-A)-William Meister 2-1, Greg Dangler 1-1, Dave Brown 1-0, William Keleher 1-0, Justin Kuchta 1-0, Timothy Lorden 1-0, D.J. Benzing 0-1, Michael Colosimo 0-1, Max Miller 0-1.

Support for Gillen not unsubstantial
Doughty may be mistaken, as always
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays

While I don't profess to be a professional pollster, results of a roanoke.com poll on Virginia men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen make for some interesting interpretation.

First, site editor Jim Ellison agrees with me that participation -- nearly 630 votes as of 2 p.m. Friday -- was as strong as we could remember.

Secondly, such "analysts" as media gadfly Jeff White and Andrew Joyner think that support for Gillen was stronger than anticipated, and I would agree.

The poll, which accompanied Thursday's UVa Insider column, simply asked Cavalier fans, "Do you want Pete Gillen to return as coach in 2004-2005?"

The percentage breakdown was 55-45 in favor of Gillen not returning, up from 58-42 over a 24-hour period. I'm told there is a way that people could have voted more than once, but it wasn’t easy or convenient.

I think there are several ways you could have asked the question and gotten different results.

What if the question had been, "Do you THINK Gillen will be back in 2004-2005?" I think the numbers would have been better in Gillen's favor.

On the other hand, if the question had been, "Has Gillen EARNED a seventh season?" I think respondents would have been less supportive.

With the voting was as mixed as it was, I would infer that there is no solid consensus on UVa's recommended course.

IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN (I should start all of my columns that way), tight end and defensive end Alex Field is the first Broad Run High School football player to make an oral commitment to Virginia since Mickey Thompson in 1977.

Broad Run, a Group AA program in Loudoun County, currently is listed with 1,300 students but has produced relatively few Division I-A football prospects. One of the best was Randy Cockrell, a linebacker who had a successful career for Virginia Tech during the mid-1980s.

Thompson might be best known as the head coach at Park-View Sterling and, most recently, Stone Bridge. Stone Bridge tight end Ed Wang, who committed to Tech this past fall, went to school with Field before they enrolled at rival high schools.

HYLTON HIGH SCHOOL wide receiver Deon Butler, named sleeper of the year in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, decided to "walk on" at Penn State after going to State College on a recruiting visit.

Hylton coach Lou Sorrentino said Penn State had mentioned the possibility of signing Butler this year but elected to take an in-state quarterback who may be converted to wide receiver.

Sorrentino said that Butler, who has been compared to Group AAA player of the year Eddie Royal because of his return skills, had scholarship offers from Division I-AA schools and also had heard from wideout-shy UVa about the possibility of walking on.

HOPEWELL FOOTBALL COACH Marshall Parker said that All-Group AAA wide receiver David Hearington, rated the No. 93 prospect in Virginia, plans to play in the Ivy League for Brown.

Parker said that neither Hearington or second-team All-Group AAA quarterback Lee Bujakowski had received a scholarship offer. Bujakowski was named to the All-America team picked by Prep Star Magazine, a California-based publication whose All-America team is comparable in size to SuperPrep's.

DON'T BE SURPRISED if All-Group A defensive lineman Danny Beasley ends up at Virginia Tech, but it won't happen in 2004. Beasley, a senior at Gate City, already has met Division I-A eligibility guidelines but is likely to commit to a year of seasoning in prep school (Fork Union or Hargrave). Beasley, whose father and older brother both have played at Tech and in the NFL, was rated the No. 38 prospect in Virginia.

THE 39TH-RATED player on The Roanoke Times list was Lamonte Stanfield, a defensive back at Western Branch who was named second-team All-Group AAA by the coaches' association. Western Branch coach Lew Johnston said that Stanfield, also a dynamic kick-blocker, is likely to play football and baseball for would-be Division III power Christopher Newport.

“He had no offers from any 1-A or AA teams,” Johnston said. “I guess I will never understand what college recruiters are looking for. Here's a kid who made plays for four years at the highest level of competition in the state of Virginia and they don't think he can play at the next level. I don't get it!”

CENTREVILLE HIGH SCHOOL running back Prince Lee, who rushed for 1,047 yards and scored 13 touchdowns as a junior at Park View-Sterling, is headed to Marshall as a recruited walk-on. Lee, rated the No. 78 prospect in Virginia, suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first game of Centreville's 2003 season.

JEFFERSON FOREST FOOTBALL coach Terry Smith thinks he has a trio of college prospects in junior linebackers Pat Parziale (6-1, 230) and Ryan Anderson (6-3, 220) and junior defensive end William “Duck” Lloyd (6-1, 225). Place-kicker Chris Ghorbial also shows college potential.

BATH COUNTY COACH Will Fields said that tight end John Phillips had complete tears of the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament for which he underwent surgery Dec. 2 in Charlottesville, but Phillips has made extraordinary progress that he may be available for the second half of the Chargers' baseball season. Phillips, a junior, has offers from Tech and UVa.

ESTEEMED ROANOKE TIMES prep editor Robert Anderson reports that he saw a “big, big, big-time" boys' basketball prospect this week when he got his first look at 6-foot-5 George Washington High School freshman J.C. Chaney.

“He's very slim but he can already take people off the dribble and shoot the '3,' ” said Anderson, who, in a separate conversation, said he thinks that 6-8 Franklin County sophomore Lewis Witcher has the potential to play professionally one day.