Who's next?
Virginia's search for a basketball coach will likely involve paying big dollars to the right high-profile coach, but it also should include interviews with African-American candidates.
Published March 15 2005
David Teel
Daily Press

For the third time in 15 years, the University of Virginia is searching for a basketball coach. But this time could not be more different.

Careers and legacies, indeed much of this renowned institution's private and public image, rest on the choice.

Nail it, and Virginia energizes a dormant program, reaps millions in contributions and ticket sales and justifies its decision to build an all-the-bells-and-whistles hoops playpen.

Botch it, and Virginia becomes a perennial ACC bottom-feeder, faces pointed questions about its leadership and stares at a $130-million white elephant.

The search for Pete Gillen's replacement began informally last year, when his sixth Cavaliers team hit the skids. Granted an 11th-hour reprieve, Gillen failed to upgrade this season, and his departure Monday fast-tracks the process and prompts open debate on two thorny issues.

How much money is Virginia willing to pay and, given the financial constraints within higher education, how much is appropriate?

Should, and will, race play a role?

The short answer regarding money is: whatever it takes. If Tubby Smith demands $2.5 million a year, pay him. If Texas' Rick Barnes wants $1.5 million, do it ASAP.

Sure, those numbers will torque off some faculty and offend most purists. Too bad. That's the going rate for a marquee coach - in the ACC, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Maryland's Gary Williams, Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt and North Carolina's Roy Williams all earn $1 million-plus, and Gillen was raking in better than 900K.

Moreover, Virginia's goals, stated boldly in literature touting John Paul Jones Arena, are to win national championships, graduate all of its athletes and build the nation's best basketball venue. Presuming that's not a tragically stupid bluff, Virginia can't afford not to pay silly money to the likes of Smith, Barnes or the Golden State Warriors' Mike Montgomery, who coached Stanford to a Final Four.

Now chances are, those folks are ungettable. Unless Smith has grown intolerant of Kentucky's insatiable expectations, Barnes craves a return to the ACC (he coached Clemson from 1995-98) or Montgomery loathes the NBA, there's no reason to uproot. They have better jobs.

Less-established coaches cost less, and perhaps athletic director Craig Littlepage can unearth a gem, as Duke did hiring Krzyzewski from Army, as Georgia Tech did appointing Hewitt from Siena. But given its goals, Virginia would be disingenuous to ignore the best. Smith, Barnes and Montgomery certainly rate, as does Phil Jackson.

Hey, why not buzz (pun very much intended) the Zen Master just for grins? His quirky bookworm side would play in Charlottesville's coffeehouses, and his NBA championship rings would play in recruits' living rooms.

Absent that quartet, Notre Dame's Mike Brey and Gonzaga's Mark Few would make outstanding candidates, hailing as they do from institutions similar to Virginia. But as Comrade Fairbank explains in the adjoining missive, no hire, regardless of sound logic and/or wow factor, is a sure thing. To wit: Rick Pitino and the Boston Celtics; Bernie Kerik and Homeland Security czar.

What is sure: Virginia's candidate pool must include African-Americans. Sports Illustrated has twice ranked Littlepage among the most influential minorities in sports, and unlike most of its ACC colleagues, Virginia has never employed a black head coach (Oliver Purnell and Mike Jarvis were finalists when Gillen was hired).

How much pressure, self-imposed and from the minority community, might Littlepage feel? In a lame dodge straight from university president John Casteen's ACC expansion playbook, Littlepage declined to answer questions Monday. Rick Turner, dean of Virginia's Office of African-American Affairs and leader of the Charlottesville-area NAACP, did not.

"I feel passionately about this issue," he wrote in an e-mail. "The world now knows that we have a number of outstanding African-American coaches with proven track records who not only need opportunities, but rightfully deserve them."

When Virginia hired Gillen to replace Jeff Jones in 1998, the Cavaliers were only three years removed from a top-10 season. When Virginia hired Jones in 1990 to replace Terry Holland, All-ACC talents such as John Crotty and Bryant Stith were in place.

This time the stakes are enough to make The Matador blush.

A program that doesn't fill an 8,392-seat gym is building an arena nearly twice the size. A program that hasn't won an NCAA tournament game in 10 years and shares conference affiliation with Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Maryland and Georgia Tech aims to win a national title. An all-white head-coaching roster could stand some diversity.

Should be an easy call, huh?

No manual for hiring a new coach
Published March 15 2005
Dave Fairbank

Excuse me, Cavalier Nation, pardon me. If you would interrupt the high-fiving and step away from the celebratory bonfires for just a minute.

So, you've rid yourselves of that bad ol' Pete Gillen and his flimsy postseason track record at your ACC crown jewel.

You've cleared the decks. New arena and new coach on the way. Pretty soon everybody, as the Enzyte ad says, will be steppin' large and laughin' easy.

Well, where does it say that Virginia's next hire will automatically turn out any better than its last one?

Don't get me wrong. It may. Several weeks from now, athletic director Craig Littlepage could pull back the curtain and introduce a marquee figure, or some young gun who turns out to be a cross between Terry Holland and Rick Pitino.

It could also very easily go the other way. A big name who turns out to be a bad fit, or a young guy who gets engulfed in the crucible that is the ACC.

That's because, as with parenting, there is no manual for hiring coaches. Most athletic directors don't do it often enough to become but so much better through repetition.

Why would anyone assume that an athletic director is capable of making the right choice on something that he's called on to do about as often as re-caulking the bathroom?

An A.D. can do all the research and talk to all the right people, and in the end not necessarily make a better decision than if he has the job candidates stage a winner-take-all Mumbly Peg tournament.

(In the interest of full disclosure, this isn't an entirely original thought. An acquaintance who's much smarter than I am floated this notion recently. I can divulge this without compromising his or her anonymity, since regular readers know that several species of canine and the entire student body at Spratley Middle School are smarter than I am.)

As college athletic departments increasingly become mini-corporations and the people who run them are trained in finance and business, it's even more difficult to hire the right coach, particularly in football and men's basketball.

A large component of coaching is about building relationships. A large component of coaching big-time football and basketball is about raising expectations so that the Big Wheels open their checkbooks and feed the beast.

Therefore, athletic directors in the power conferences often must judge potential coaches on factors that have little to do with wins and losses, and job candidates must present aspects of themselves that have little to do with the reasons they became coaches.

This prompts two words for Littlepage: Good luck.

'Page is a basketball guy, but that is of marginal aid and comfort in this circumstance. Guaranteed he'd much rather draw up inbounds plays against Carolina than choose the next guy to do so for the Cavaliers.

Part of that is the choice is not entirely his own. He has at least a half-dozen agendas nibbling at his keister, and every Tom, Dick and Charles Wentworth Huntington III has an opinion on who the next guy oughtta be and why.

The stakes are so high and the pressure so great, it's almost unfair to leave this decision to mere mortals. Shoot, a thoughtful, dignified ex-basketball coach who occupies the big office hardly stands a chance.

Speaking of thoughtful, dignified ex-basketball coaches, isn't Virginia in this sinkhole in part because his predecessor, the aforementioned Holland, made what appeared to be an inspired choice the last time the school needed a basketball coach?

Gillen was hired seven years ago, which is 49 years in a dog's life and at least 35 years in the life of big-time college basketball.

Littlepage undoubtedly learned quite a bit from the Gillen hiring and ordeal. What bearing it has on his upcoming choice is anybody's guess.

Regardless, he enters the search process with two charges from all quarters within the university: Don't screw up. And have a nice day.

Cavaliers overcome slow start to earn win
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 16, 2005

A power outage delayed the start of the Virginia-Mount St. Mary’s men’s lacrosse game for nearly 25 minutes Tuesday night at Klockner Stadium.

An outage of another kind then plagued the No. 2 Cavaliers for the first half.

Virginia played a lethargic and listless first 30 minutes and then turned on its switch with a strong third quarter en route to the an 11-4 victory.

Matt Ward had two goals for the Cavaliers (5-0) and John Christmas, Brendan Gill and Jack Riley each contributed a goal and two assists.

The Cavaliers led 4-2 at halftime but seemed to be just a step or two off in the first two quarters. That changed after a little halftime “chat” with their coach, Dom Starsia.

“He definitely got us a little. I don’t think I want to go to practice tomorrow,” Ward said. “We came out very flat in the first half and were sort of flat for the whole game. We finally started to get it going in the third quarter.”

Virginia scored the first six goals in the third quarter and ultimately outscored the Mountaineers 6-1 in the period.

J.J. Morrissey started the spurt with a tally in the first 14 seconds of the quarter. Then goals by Jared Little, Ward, Michael Culver, Kyle Dixon and Riley followed as Virginia opened the 10-2 advantage.

“It was the slightest bit gratifying to see us come out in the third quarter and play a little bit better,” said Starsia, whose team was coming off an 11-7 victory over Princeton last Saturday. “I really thought we would come around at some point but even when we did it was like pulling teeth.

So, just how stern did the coach have to get at intermission?

“I did raise my voice a little at halftime but I didn’t have to do backflips,” said Starsia with a slight grin. “They understood that they needed to pick up the pieces.”

While Starsia got a little animated at the break, Ward said the team was well aware of why he did and were equally aware of the level of intensity they put forth in the first half.

“I don’t think we were satisfied with how we played. Maybe it’s maturity but the team kind of came together. Maybe it was immaturity though to come out flat at the beginning of the game. We knew that we had to step it up,” Ward said.

The first-half performance seemed like almost a classic letdown after the Princeton victory, but Christmas said that was not an excuse he and his teammates were going to grasp at.

“That’s not necessarily the case. Waiting for the game to begin because of the lights was not helpful but I don’t want to blame it on that,” Christmas said. “We came out slow and we knew that we had to pick it up and come out stronger in the third and fourth quarters.”

Christmas scored a goal early in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 11-3. Mount St. Mary’s Jason Werner scored the second of his two goals late in the game to account for the final margin.

Kip Turner started in goal for Virginia and had five saves and allowed three goals in

54 minutes. Bud Petit played the final six minutes and had one save and allowed one goal.

Virginia returns to action when it hosts Towson on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Signees still committed
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 16, 2005

Virginia’s three recruits say their futures are still tied to the school. It’s likely a different story for the assistant coaches on the staff of Pete Gillen, who stepped down Monday after seven seasons.

Mori Diane, the father of 6-foot-5 swingman Mamadi Diane of DeMatha High School in Maryland, said Tuesday that his son remains firmly committed to UVa despite Monday’s announcement regarding Gillen.

“It was regrettable what happened with Coach Gillen. Mamadi is definitely still committed to Virginia. We all liked Coach Gillen and [assistant coach] Walt Fuller and they were some of the reasons for our decision,” Diane said. “But the university itself was very important as well. The quality of the education was very important and his commitment is to the University of Virginia.”

Mamadi Diane along with 6-8 Laurynas Mikalauskas of the Blue Ridge School and 6-10 Sam Warren of Cherry Creek High School outside Denver all signed letters-of-intent with Virginia. Gillen contacted the trio on Sunday night about his then-impending decision. Virginia officials, including UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage, then called the recruits Monday according to Mori Diane.

Mamadi Diane averaged 13.4 points per game this season for storied DeMatha, which finished 27-1 this season.

Mikalauskas averaged 22 points and 13 rebounds per game for Blue Ridge this past season. Mikalauskas originally committed to UVa last April.

“Laurynas is still firm on his commitment to Virginia. He certainly liked Coach Gillen very much but I think he was aware of the possibilities when he committed last April. It was a factor in his recruiting,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey.

Warren, who averaged 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game this season, also remains committed to UVa.

“Sam is still very much committed to playing basketball at Virginia. He loves the school,” Cherry Creek coach Mike Brookhart said. “This season was very much a learning experience for him. He is very athletic and has a strong upside.”

As with the nature with a move like Monday’s, Virginia assistant coaches Walt Fuller, Alexis Sherard, John Fitzpatrick and Mark Byington are somewhat in limbo at this stage. The coaches will be kept on salary throughout the search process, which is expected to last four to six weeks according to Littlepage. Those coaches could possibly be retained by the new coach but likely may seek other alternatives in the meantime. It’s commonplace for assistant coaches to move around this time of year with the constant rotating of the coaching carousel.

The assistants were informed Monday by Littlepage to “take a few days off.” They still will be expected to continue such activities such as monitoring the players’ academic progress and the other daily duties of running a basketball program next week.

Fitzpatrick and Byington just completed their first seasons on the staff after being hired last summer to replace Scott Shepherd and Rod Jensen, respectively. Sherard just completed his sixth season and was instrumental in recruiting current Virginia players Adrian Joseph and Gary Forbes.

Fuller was with Gillen the entire seven seasons and was the staff’s top assistant for the past three. A proven recruiter, Fuller was given a lot of credit for Virginia receiving a commitment from Sean Singletary, who was a first-team All-ACC rookie selection this past season for the Cavaliers.

Gillen struck gold early but for U.Va., it quickly looked like a lump of coal
By TOM ROBINSON, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 15, 2005

Boogie, Bullhead and Three-Fingered Willie’s favorite coach doesn’t work in Charlottesville anymore.

The real or imagined characters from a Brooklyn boyhood that Pete Gillen once sprinkled into his rat-a-tat discourse have hit the bricks, and with them the coach himself.

Gillen’s long-anticipated dismissal — officially, a resignation — as Virginia’s basketball coach Monday ended a seven-year run that began promisingly, ended miserably. In between, it was punctuated by that moment of madness — the 10-year, contract worth 900K per year.

At the time, athletic director Craig Littlepage called Gillen’s gold strike a commitment “that will ease Pete’s mind and give him the opportunity to coach in the new building.’’

Throwing 4-year-old words back into play isn’t to shoot a sitting duck, but to illustrate the unthinkably rapid collapse of U.Va. hoops under Gillen.

That Gillen would not coach — would not deserve to coach — at John Paul Jones Arena when it opened in 2006 was not on the radar of reason in 2001.

The Cavaliers had just won 20 games and lost a one-pointer to Gonzaga in the NCAA’s first round. To think it would be U.Va.’s only NCAA tournament game under Gillen, an NCAA perennial at Xavier and Providence, did not compute.

But that, and worse, has come to pass. As an athletic vehicle, Virginia basketball stands for nothing. It has no center, and that’s not a shot at anyone on Gillen’s roster.

A lack of command, let alone excitement, wafts from the program that Gillen, 57, departs.

From the tepid crowds at U Hall, to the declining product, to spotty recruiting and poor player development, to Gillen’s hideous 11-45 ACC road record greased by far too many blowouts, the Cavs are spiraling off in a dozen directions.

If it was uncomfortable for fans to watch the frenetic Gillen sweat through his dress shirts, how painful it must have been for his players to routinely get hammered by 20 and 30 points.

Gillen won 118 and lost 93 games at U.Va. In 26 of the losses — six of them this season — the Cavs were trounced by at least 19 points.

That shows a failure of preparation, an unacceptable bowing to fate, or a stunning inability to match the competition’s fire in the nation’s most competitive league.

Probably, it’s plenty of all three.

So of course Gillen had to go with six seasons left on that contractual albatross, which netted the coach a $2 million settlement out the door. That’s not even half the school’s potential hit for its fiduciary carelessness, so U.Va. has that going for it.

Unfortunately, it has little else save for the usual trappings; a fine school, the promise of a great new arena and better days ahead, if only because they can’t get a lot worse.

As for talent, the cupboard does include rising sophomore guard Sean Singletary, the Virginia fans’ reason to watch.

Whoever takes over as coach — and Virginia seems boxed in to going as high profile as it can afford — would be wise to make two quick phone calls upon taking the job;

First to his mother, then to Singletary.

It’s obvious the Cavs will go as far next season as Singletary, Gillen’s lingering gift to all Wahoos, can propel them. The slippery playmaker from Philadelphia is of all-ACC first-team caliber, and is an emerging leader besides.

Singletary needs to quickly see and share the new guy’s vision, for rough times could still be ahead.

But with luck, by the time they move into John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers will again have begun to fight.

Cavaliers will cover hoops tasks
Littlepage says 'business will go on' while Virginia searches for coach
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Mar 16, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The University of Virginia expects its search for a new basketball coach to take four to six weeks, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage told reporters Monday. That means it could be April 25 or so before Pete Gillen's successor occupies the basketball office at University Hall.

Who'll oversee the basketball operation in the interim?

Reached yesterday afternoon in Cleveland, where first-round NCAA tournament games will be played tomorrow, Littlepage said it's "still too early to say" how the various responsibilities will be divided until a new coaching staff is in place.

"It will be covered, though," said Littlepage, who'll play a prominent role in the operation, as will his second-in-command, Jon Oliver.

"Business will go on, and each and every one of the responsibilities will be covered."

Gillen officially stepped down Monday after seven seasons as the Cavaliers' coach. Littlepage met that day with Gillen's assistants -- Walt Fuller, Alexis Sherard, John Fitzpatrick and Mark Byington.

Littlepage advised the assistants to take a few days off and said they'd meet again next week. At that point, Littlepage said, he'll see which of the assistants are interested in continuing at U.Va. until the new coach is hired.

"It's too early to able to determine exactly what we'll need from those guys," Littlepage said. "Who knows? Each of those guys might end up getting a job in the next two or three days."

The Cavaliers' season ended Friday night at MCI Center, where they lost to Duke in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. After a season ends, players typically are given a couple weeks off to catch up on their schoolwork and get a break from hoops. Offseason weightlifting and conditioning get under way this month, and the players' individual workouts with coaches usually start around April 1.

For Division I men's basketball, today marks the start of a contact period in which coaches can visit and evaluate prospects. No one representing U.Va. will be on the road, Littlepage said, "until I sit down again with the [assistants] and outline everything. . . . We'll start to put the pieces in place as far as how the different responsibilities will go."

Eight scholarship players have eligibility remaining at Virginia. Three high school seniors signed with U.Va. in November and plan to enroll there in 2005-06, and an 11th-grader, Stephen Kendall, has committed for 2006-07. Barring attrition, that leaves the Cavaliers with one scholarship to fill.

The spring signing period opens April 13. U.Va., which finished 14-15 this season, needs help in the frontcourt, but few prospects remain who could make an impact there. Littlepage acknowledged that Virginia might not add another recruit for 2005-06.

"It wouldn't concern me if we didn't use the scholarship," he said. "I'd rather have a scholarship banked for next year with a new coach coming in" than waste it.

The NCAA title game is April 4. If Virginia doesn't hire Gillen's successor for two or three weeks after the Final Four, the new coach figures to have ground to make up in his pursuit of members of the Classes of 2006 and '07.

"The evaluation periods in April kind of set the tone for what you are going to do through the rest of the summer," said Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com. "To get out and see kids in April allows you to set up some priorities for underclassmen recruiting and also gets you in front of the top players.

"I think having a coach in place shortly after the Final Four is a big asset in recruiting and gives the new staff a chance to even the playing field as we steam towards the all-important summer recruiting period."

Virginia courting next hoops coach
By Andy Bitter / Lynchburg News & Advance
March 16, 2005

The speculation as to who will replace Pete Gillen as Virginia's head coach began months before he agreed to step down Monday.

Imagine now what it will be like over the next month. Expect a lot of rumors, a lot of names, and a lot of coaches saying, "I'm happy where I am," whether they mean it or not.

UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage was adamant about the school finding the best coach available, and it's easy to see why. Virginia opens the $129.8 million, 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena in 2006, so the school is expected to throw some serious cash in the direction of the person whose job it will be to fill it.

Here's a breakdown of some of the coaches who might be considered:

Tubby Smith, Kentucky

Why? He's from Great Mills, Md., northeast of Richmond, and he was an assistant at VCU for a time, so Virginia is not unfamiliar territory. If the Wildcats duck out of the NCAA Tournament early again, he might get tired of hearing how he can't win a championship without Rick Pitino's players.

Why not? Kentucky is one of the top five coaching jobs in the country. Why would anyone leave that situation? Also, Smith has a fat contract in excess of $2 million per year that would be tough to top, even if UVa is willing to open up the coffers.

Survey says: Cavaliers fans can hold their breath until they're Big Blue and it still won't help.

Rick Barnes, Texas

Why? Barnes was practically named Terry Holland's successor at Virginia in 1990, going so far as to accept the job before reneging and staying at Providence after being pressured by the school and the Big East. So it's not as if the interest wasn't there at one point. At Clemson, Barnes proved he could win in the ACC and didn't back down from the conference heavyweights, as the tales of his run-ins with former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith suggest.

Why not? He left Clemson because Texas was a school with everything he could want. He's been to a Final Four with the Longhorns and seven NCAA Tournament appearances in seven years. Undertaking a rebuilding project at UVa seems like a backward move.

Survey says: Barnes wanted the UVa job in 1990, but it wouldn't make sense that he would come back to the ACC after leaving a good situation at Clemson.

Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers

Why? He was a co-captain on the Cavaliers' 1984 Final Four team and might be tired of the antics of NBA players, most notably one of his own, Ron Artest.

Why not? Indiana President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird handpicked him to be the Pacers' head coach and Carlisle has already won an NBA Coach of the Year award. Plus, he already said his heart is in The League.

Survey says: Artest would have a better chance of being named NBA Humanitarian of the Year.

Mike Montgomery, Golden State Warriors

Why? Montgomery flirted with the UVa job in 1990 when Barnes was temporarily chosen. If Virginia truly wants to model its academic-athletics balance after Stanford, hiring Stanford's old coach would make sense. Plus, the Warriors are a mess.

Why not? He's in the first year of a four-year, $10 million contract with Golden State. UVa would have to make a heck of an offer for him to leave the remaining $7.5 million on the table.

Survey says: Listen to the money talk. Montgomery's staying put.

Mike Brey, Notre Dame

Why? Brey has established himself as an up-and-coming coach at both Delaware and Notre Dame, averaging more than 20 wins per season in five years with the Irish.

He played high school basketball at DeMatha High in Maryland and has ACC ties, assisting Mike Krzyzewski at Duke in the late '80s and early '90s.

Why not? Coach K's disciples don't usually like to go head-to-head with the Master. In the ACC, Brey would have to do that twice in some seasons. It's also questionable as to whether Virginia is a better situation than Notre Dame.

Survey says: Of the big-name candidates, Brey seems like the most attainable.

Mike Anderson, Alabama-Birmingham

Why? A hot coaching prospect whose stock rose after his Blazers knocked off top-seeded Kentucky in last year's NCAA Tournament, Anderson's "40 Minutes of Hell" knockoff from his time as an assistant at Arkansas would fit well in the fast-paced ACC.

Why not? His name figures to pop up in the Tennessee job search. With his SEC background, that might be a more viable destination if UAB makes some noise in the tournament again. He's also not the big-name hire Littlepage appears to want.

Survey says: Anderson might be the best tier-two candidate out there.

Dave Leitao, DePaul

Why? He resuscitated a dormant DePaul program after getting a shot as a head coach three years ago. He was a UConn assistant when current University of Virginia president John T. Casteen III was president at Connecticut from 1985-1990.

Why not? Leitao may want to stick around long enough to watch DePaul join the Big East next year as a basketball school.

Survey says: Another up-and-comer, but experience as a head coach is lacking.

Karl Hobbs, George Washington

Why? Another former UConn assistant, Hobbs has been hailed as a great perimeter coach, a perfect fit for the premier guard conference in the country and Virginia, a school whose remaining nucleus - Sean Singletary, J.R. Reynolds and Gary Forbes - is in the backcourt.

Why not? Hobbs' experience is lacking. He's just finishing his third season with the Colonials and, though his team is in the NCCA Tournament as a No. 12 seed, has yet to prove he can recruit and win on a consistent basis.

Survey says: Seems like a good fit, but he's not the home run ball Littlepage is trying to hit.

Jeff Capel, Virginia Commonwealth

Why? Everything this guy touches turns to gold. Capel won at Duke when he was a player and he's won at VCU as a coach, going 60-30 in three years with the Rams.

Why not? Of all the coaches being mentioned, he's the greenest. Does UVa really want to hand the keys to a $129.8 million arena to someone who just turned 30 in February?

Survey says: Maybe the next time around.

Post-break surge gives Cavaliers the win
Senior attackman John Christmas gave the Cavs the second-half jumpstart they needed after a close first half
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Entering last night's contest, the Virginia men's lacrosse team had faced Mount St. Mary's just once before, a 19-8 Cavalier drubbing two years ago in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Despite a shaky offensive performance in the first half of last night's game, Virginia was able to jumpstart in the final 30 minutes to earn its second career victory against the Mount, 11-4.

Mount St. Mary's struck first on an unassisted goal from midfielder Andy Petcoff, who weaved through four Virginia defenders to place a shot just above the shoulders of goalie Kip Turner.

Cavalier senior attackman John Christmas would not sit back for long, however, tallying two assists in less than a minute on goals from teammates Hunter Kass and Drew Garrison.

"Johnny got us going in the beginning with two good passes," Virginia attackman Matt Ward said. "John is quick, and he's going to make plays almost every game. He got us going in the beginning."

At the 9:11 mark of the first quarter, Virginia held a 2-1 lead.

Each team scored had once in the second quarter until the 1:57 mark, when Ward sidearmed a low rider into the net to extend the lead for the home team. The Cavaliers retained a 4-2 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.

During the entire first half, the story for the Mount was goalkeeper Dan Whitehurst, who had nine saves at the break. Virginia amassed 29 shot attempts, including 13 on goal, in the initial 30 minutes but was never able to extend a lead beyond two goals.

"Our effort in the beginning of the game wasn't what it needed to be," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "They understood that we needed to pick up the pace, because we were in a dangerous place at halftime."

The Cavalier offensive attack flew into a rage in the second half.

Just 14 seconds after the break, Virginia midfielder J.J. Morrissey scored on an assist from teammate Brendan Gill to prop the Cavaliers up with a three-goal advantage.

Successive scores in the next nine minutes from Jared Little, Ward, and Michael Culver launched Virginia to an 8-2 lead.

The Cavalier scoring barrage continued with three more goals from midway through the third quarter to the buzzer.

Christmas ended the contest with one goal and two assists, complemented by two scores from Ward. Twelve Cavaliers would earn one goal or assist during the game.

Virginia midfielder Jack deVilliers converted on the contest's first faceoff and never looked back, winning over 12 of 18 total faceoffs.

"The great thing about lacrosse is that you can go on a run by scoring goals and getting the ball right back," Ward said. "And Jack did that tonight."

The Cavaliers also tallied 21 of 25 clears, won the groundball battle by four and had 26 shots on goal.

With the win, Virginia was able to maintain their unbeaten record at night in Klöckner Stadium, continuing a string of 14 consecutive victories under those circumstances since 1993.