Virginia Opens Up Early Lead, Defeats Towson 11-2
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/14/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Top-ranked Virginia scored on three of its first four shots to take command early and defeat Towson 11-2 in a steady rain before 2389 fans at Klöckner Stadium. The win is the Cavaliers’ ninth in a row over the Tigers dating back to 2001 and the eighth time in the last nine meetings they have held the Tiger to fewer than 10 goals.

Virginia’s record improves to 9-0 this season; this is the third time in the last four years the Cavaliers have started 6-0 or better. Towson suffered its third loss in a row to fall to 1-4 this spring.

“It was a good win for us,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “It was one of those games that was a little different kind of test. Under these conditions today against a team that was determined to take the air out and play more slowly, it required us to be patient and posed and to just keep working and I thought we did that for the most part.”

Towson played at a very deliberate pace on offense and took a season-low 19 shots, while failing to score in six-on-six situations; both Tiger goals came on extra man. Towson also committed 32 turnovers, nearly double its most coming into the game. Virginia’s defense did not allow a goal for the final 43 minutes and 22 seconds of the game.

“I thought we played good defense throughout the day,” said Starsia. “This was a team offensively that doesn’t play to our strengths. We probably would wish that you would jump down in the foxhole with us and start to duke it out with us; they didn’t want to do that. Clearly they wanted to hold the ball. They were going to be more dangerous without the ball and it required us to be smart and patient on defense, to be disciplined, and I thought that we did that throughout the day.”

Midfielder Shamel Bratton led the team in scoring for the second time in three games with three goals and an assist, while freshman attackman Steele Stanwick had three goals for his fourth multi-goal game in a row. Stanwick entered the game leading all freshmen in goals and total points.

“We hit some shots we had to,” said Starsia. “I thought Shamel was around the goal and was very good throughout. Steele continues to look for those opportunities. He’s a very smart lacrosse player. He may not be our first option but we need everybody to be able to step up like that so it makes us a more dangerous team when we get scoring from different guys.”

The Cavaliers took only 27 shots and shot 40.7 percent. The 27 shots are the fewest they’ve taken in a game since shooting just 21 times in a 17-2 loss to Duke four years ago. Virginia also did an excellent job of taking care of the ball with just 10 turnovers in the first three quarters of play.

Stanwick opened the scoring for Virginia by taking a pass in front from Bratton and sending a short shot past Rob Wheeler at the 10:36 mark. The shot was only the second of the game for the Cavaliers. He scored again on Virginia’s next possession with just under seven minutes elapsed. Twenty seconds later Bratton went to his right hand for his first goal of the game. Gavin Gill scored for the fourth game in a row to add to Virginia’s lead with 3:03 remaining in the opening period.

In the second period Towson won four of five faceoffs and made Virginia pay for its two penalties. Pat Britton scored Towson’s first goal at the 13:51 mark of the second quarter following a pushing penalty by Steve Giannone. The Tigers won the ensuing faceoff and got another extra-man opportunity when Chad Gaudet was penalized for holding. Bill McCutcheon followed Britton’s goal 29 seconds later as Towson trimmed Virginia’s lead to 4-2.

“I thought the game kind of got away from us a little bit in the second quarter,” said Starsia. “I was really glad to see us come out of the locker room in the third quarter and kind of reestablish ourselves. I thought we made pretty good decisions throughout the day.”

Bratton scored the final two goals of the half to send Virginia to the locker room with a 6-2 lead at the break.

Giannone scored back-to-back goals eight minutes apart in the third quarter as UVa’s lead grew to 8-2 with 5:40 to play in the third quarter. Stanwick notched his third of the game with just over three minutes to play in the quarter. Garrett Billings closed the third quarter scoring by knocking home a loose ball with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter for his only goal of the game.

Danny Glading closed the scoring halfway through the final quarter as Starsia turned the game over to his reserves for the final seven minutes.

With 99 career goals, Glading will have his next opportunity to become the 12th player in school history to score 100 in a career next Saturday (March 21) when the Cavaliers travel to Baltimore to face Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field at 8 pm. The game is being televised by ESPNU. The Blue Jays lost to Syracuse today 14-11 and are 3-3 overall this season.

Towson 0-2-0-0—2 record: 1-4
Virginia 4-2-4-1—11 record: 9-0
att—2389

Scoring (G-A)— TU: Pat Britton 1-0, Bill McCutcheon 1-0, Brock Armour 0-1, Randall Cooper 0-1. UVa: Shamel Bratton 3-1, Steele Stanwick 3-0, Steve Giannone 2-0, Danny Glading 1-1, Garrett Billings 1-0, Gavin Gill 1-0, John Haldy 0-2.

Goalie Summary— TU: Rob Wheeler 52:43 mins., 10 saves, 11 goals allowed; Andrew Wascavage 7:17, 0 svs., 0 GA. UVa: Adam Ghitelman 53:35 mins., 5 saves, 2 goals allowed; Mark Wade 6:25, 0 svs., 0 GA.

Shots: TU—19, UVa —27
Ground Balls: TU—40, UVa —39
Clearing: TU—16x25, UVa —19x25
Faceoffs: TU—12, UVa —5
Penalties: TU—3-2:00, UVa —2-1:00
EMO: TU—2x2, UVa —0x2

 

Cavs keep rolling
By Jay Jenkins
Published: March 15, 2009

Now, the fun begins for Dom Starsia.
The Virginia men’s lacrosse coach knew long before the season that his schedule was clearly divided into two parts.
With precise passing, opportunistic scoring and dominating defense on Saturday, No. 1 Virginia ensured the precursor to the “meat” of the season ended as the first eight games had: with a victory.
Despite Towson’s attempt to lull the Cavaliers to sweep with a methodical offense, Virginia raced out to a four-goal lead at rain-drenched Klockner Stadium and cruised to an 11-2 win as 2,389 fans braved the adverse conditions.
“I told the team in the huddle afterwards that I thought of this game today as the end of our early-season, our preseason. We are about to dive into the meat of our schedule,” said Starsia after
improving to 9-0 overall. “Now we go to once a week and we get a little more time to practice and get ourselves organized.
“I thought we had been scrambling from game-to-game in this little streak that we have had and I give our guys a lot of credit for coming out and playing hard and for us to be successful the way that we have been, but there is a lot of lacrosse still to play.”
With a pair of extra-man goals to open the second quarter, Towson (1-4) appeared willing to give Virginia a contest.
The Tigers, however, would not manage another goal on Virginia goalies Adam Ghitelman and Mark Wade, who played the final 6:25 in the cage.
“They didn’t get an all-even goal the whole game,” Starsia said. “We just didn’t want to stay out of the penalty box. I thought we played good defense throughout the day.”
To Towson’s credit, the Princeton basketball-like approach to offense made it challenging for Virginia’s high-powered offense to get into a groove at times.
“[Towson] was a team offensively that doesn’t play to our strengths,” Starsia said. “We probably would wish that you would kind of jump down in the foxhole with us and duke it out with us and they didn’t want to do that clearly.
“They wanted to hold the ball — they were going to be more dangerous without the ball. It required us to be smart and patient on defense and to be disciplined and I thought we did that throughout the day.”
With a pair of goals from Shamel Bratton in the final 5:44 of the second quarter, Virginia regained the four-goal lead it had built in the opening period.
Steve Giannone added two goals to open the third period, matching his previous career high with 10 goals on the season.
Garrett Billings and Steele Stanwick, who also scored the first two goals of the game, added scores in the third period, pushing Virginia ahead 10-2 prior to the final period.
Based on Towson’s approach to the game, Starsia was pleased with the manner that his team handled the challenge as contests with John Hopkins (March 21), Maryland (March 28), North Carolina (April 4) and Duke (April 11) loom.
“This was an exercise in patience, this game, against a team that was determined to play at a slower pace,” he said. “We were playing defense for a long time because they want to hold the ball. When we got don’t on offense you can’t rush even though you feel like you haven’t had it for a while.
“There is a requirement there for some poise for a team that likes to play at a little quicker pace. This today was a good test for us under these conditions against a team like that.”
It required us to do some different things to be successful.”

 

Morgan honored as ‘ACC legend’
By Whitey Reid
Published: March 15, 2009

ATLANTA — It’s been 20 years since former Virginia star Richard Morgan lit North Carolina up for 39 points at University Hall en route to a 106-83 victory, but the performance is still pretty fresh in many UVa fans’ minds.
“That’s what everybody always asks me about when I’m on the road — they want to know about that game,” Morgan said. “I think whether I wanted it to be or not, that’s the one everybody remembers me from and remembers me for.”
Morgan, who ranks 15th on the all-time Virginia scoring list with 1,540 points, was red hot against UNC.
“People don’t know that I missed my first couple of shots,” Morgan noted, “but after that I made quite a few. I got on a roll…I was definitely in the zone once I got going.”
On Saturday, Morgan was honored as one of 12 “ACC Legends” during halftime of the UNC-Florida State game.
“Being here, back in the ACC again — the best conference in the country, obviously — to be a part of something like this is very special and very dear to my heart,” Morgan said. “This closes a chapter here. I just wanted to be known as a guy who went out and played as hard as he could every night no matter what.”
At Virginia, Morgan was a three-year starter who finished his collegiate career ranked third all-time at UVa in steals (160) and seventh in assists (279).
Following the 1988-89 season, Morgan earned first team all-ACC honors and was named honorable mention All-America by The Sporting News after leading the Cavaliers to an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Morgan has served as an assistant coach at Appalachian State for the past three years. The Mountaineers, like Virginia, just completed a tough season, going 13-18.
Morgan says he still keeps tabs on his alma mater. He was in attendance for the disappointing loss to Boston College on Thursday night.
“It was tough to watch because you’re so used to them being in the mix in the conference,” Morgan said. “With them not being in this time, it’s tough. I don’t really get a chance to watch a lot of them because of my busy schedule, but the little I do get to see — I wish the outcome was a little better. But I’m sure coach [Dave] Leitao will get it all together and they’ll be better next year.”
 

Morgan Honored As Virginia’s 2009 ACC Tournament Legend
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/14/2009

ATLANTA, Ga.—Former Virginia standout guard Richard Morgan was honored as the Cavaliers’ 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Legend at the tournament on Saturday (March 14).

The 2009 ACC Tournament Legends also include Danya Abrams (Boston College), Randy Mahaffey (Clemson), Jim Spanarkel (Duke), Ron King (Florida State), Brian Oliver (Georgia Tech), Al Bunge (Maryland), Bill Foster (Miami), Charlie Scott (North Carolina), Monte Towe (NC State), John Wetzel (Virginia Tech) and Frank Johnson (Wake Forest).

Morgan lettered four times for the Cavaliers from 1986-89 and was a three-year starter. He ranks eighth on Virginia’s career steals list (160), 10th on the career field goals made list (605) and 15th on UVa’s all-time scoring list with 1,540 points.

Morgan was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and an honorable mention selection to The Sporting News’ All-America team as a senior in 1989 when he was a team captain. He led the Cavaliers in scoring (20.4 ppg.), free throw percentage (86.4 percent, 121-140) and steals (55) for the 1988-89 season, and was fourth in rebounding (4.1 rpg.). Morgan led the ACC in free throw percentage that season and was fourth in scoring. The 673 points he scored during the 1988-89 season ranks fourth on UVa’s single-season scoring list.

He scored in double figures in 32 of Virginia’s 33 games in 1988-89, scored at least 20 points in 16 games that season and scored at least 30 points in five games. He scored a career-high 39 points against North Carolina on Jan. 15, 1989, at Virginia’s University Hall.

Morgan averaged 12.3 points a game in 1986-87 and 10.1 points a game in 1987-88. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Week three times as a freshman during the 1985-86 season.

He led the Cavaliers in steals and three-point field goals for three seasons during his career and scored in double figures 76 times.

Virginia participated in the NCAA Tournament three times during Morgan’s career, reaching the Midwest Regional finals his senior season in 1989.

A native of Salem, Va., Morgan is now an assistant basketball coach at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C.

 

Tar Heels Upset Virginia in ACC Contest, 12-8
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/14/2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team struggled with sloppy weather conditions and transitioning the ball, falling 12-8 to the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday afternoon at Fetzer Field. The win gives the Tar Heels their first in the Atlantic Coast Conference, bumping them to 5-2 on the season and 1-0 in the league. The Cavaliers fall to 5-2 on the season and 1-2 in the ACC.

Senior All-American Blair Weymouth led all scorers with four goals on the afternoon, while junior Kaitlin Duff notched two. Senior All-American Ashley McCulloch had a goal and an assist, while junior Yeardley Love added a goal and freshman Josie Owen rounded out the scoring for the Cavaliers, contributing an assist.

North Carolina was led by Megan Bosica and Jenn Russell, who each tallied three goals and an assist. Defensively, Russell caused four turnovers and in goal, Logan Ripley came up with eight saves for the win.

Carolina got on the board first, scoring two quick goals before Weymouth converted a free position shot at 25:35 to pull Virginia within one, at 2-1. Bosica scored her second goal for the Tar Heels 1:35 later, before Duff fired a shot into the net at 22:29 to keep UNC’s lead to one, at 3-2.

The Tar Heels ended up going on a 3-0 run within a five-minute span to take a 6-2 lead by 15:38. Duff halted the streak with a score at 14:16, but three more goals from Carolina gave the Tar Heels a six-goal margin.

Weymouth finished a feed from McCulloch with 4:30 on the clock, serving as the final goal of the half, giving UNC a 9-4 halftime advantage.

Carolina extended its lead in the opening of the second half, scoring two unanswered goals for an 11-4 lead with 22:57 to play.

Duff won the ensuing draw control and sparked a flurry of goals for the Cavaliers, in which Love finished a feed from Owen to nip the Tar Heel’s run. Weymouth then tallied back-to-back scores for Virginia to cut UNC’s lead to four, at 19:01.

Jenn Russell would score North Carolina’s next goal a minute later, before McCulloch found the back of the net at 16:23, serving as the game’s final goal.

Defensively, sophomore Liz Downs led the team with three ground balls, while Duff won a team-high four draw controls.

Throughout the midfield, the Cavaliers only successfully cleared the ball in seven of their 14 attempts and committed a season-high 19 fouls, including four yellow cards.

Virginia will return to action on Tuesday, playing host to in-state rival William & Mary at 7 p.m. in Klöckner Stadium.


 

UVa Takes the Lead After 36 Holes at LSU Classic
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/14/2009

Baton Rouge, LA – The No. 4 Virginia women’s golf team enters Sunday’s final round of play at the LSU Golf Classic with an eight-shot lead after shooting 1-under 287 during the second round. The Cavaliers’ two-day total stands at 4-under 572. Wake Forest, the first round leader, is second at 580 while Arkansas climbed from 14th place to third at 582. The Lady Razorbacks were the only other team besides Virginia to post an under-par round (284) during Saturday’s play.

Sophomore Calle Nielson retained the overall lead by shooting 1-under 71 to finish the second round at 6-under 138, two shots ahead of Arkansas’ Lucy Nunn and North Carolina’s Allie White.

A day after Nielson tied the Virginia single-round record by shooting 5-under 67, teammate Whitney Neuhauser posted the same score to move up to fourth overall at 141. Neuhauser had a 2-over 74 Friday. Like Nielson’s first-round performance, Neuhauser’s scorecard included five birdies and no bogeys.

Jennie Arseneault gives the Cavaliers a third player near the top of the leaderboard. Her 1-over 73 left her at even par 144 and tied for 10th overall. Lene Krog shot 76 and is 35th at 149. Joy Kim finished the second round with an 80 and is 82nd overall at 157. Kristen Simpson, playing as a non-scoring individual, is 72nd at 154, having shot 77 for the second straight day.

Sunday’s final round will feature a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CDT. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com.

LSU Golf Classic
University Club
Baton Rouge, LA
Par-72, 6,424 yards
Second Round Results

Team Results

1. Virginia 285-287-572 2. Wake Forest 284-296-580 3. Arkansas 298-284-582 4. Tulane 289-294-583 4. North Carolina 287-296-583 6. LSU 287-297-584 7. Louisville 296-294-590 8. TCU 290-301-591 9. Kentucky 293-299-59210. Colorado 296-301-59710. Notre Dame 296-301-59710. South Carolina 292-305-59713. Furman 293-305-59813. UNC Wilmington 290-308-59815. NC State 304-298-60216. Mississippi 300-303-60317. Col. Of Charleston 300-307-60718. Mississippi State 308-304-612

Individual Leaders 1. Calle Nielson, Virginia 67-71-138 2. Lucy Nunn, Arkansas 72-68-140 2. Allie White, North Carolina 68-72-140 4. Whitney Neuhauser, Virginia 74-67-141 4. Natalie Sheary, Wake Forest 69-72-141 4. Benedicte Toumpsin, S. Carolina 70-71-141 7. Jaqueline Hedwall, LSU 68-74-142 7. Nannette Hill, Wake Fores 72-70-142 9. Cindy LaCrosse, Louisville 71-72-14310. Jennie Arseneault, Virginia 71-73-14410. Janine Fellows, Tulane 75-69-14410. Daniela Holmqvist, Tulane 70-74-144

Virginia Results 1. Calle Nielson 67-71-138 4. Whitney Neuhauser 74-67-14110. Jennie Arseneault 71-73-14435. Lene Krog 73-76-14982. Joy Kim 77-80-15772. Kristen Simpson* 77-77-154* Non-scoring individual