Top-Ranked Virginia Subdues Johns Hopkins 16-15
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/22/2009

BALTIMORE, MD—Top-ranked Virginia scored the game’s final two goals and survived a wild final two minutes to gain a 16-15 win over No. 9 Johns Hopkins Saturday night before 5475 fans at Homewood Field.

The win is the Cavaliers’ fourth regular-season win in a row over the Blue Jays as they improve to 10-0 this season. The Blue Jays lost for the second consecutive week and are now 3-3.

Virginia opened up a 12-6 lead late in the second quarter and seemed to have the game under control. But the Blue Jays scored two goals to end the first half and opened the second half with three goals in the first four minutes to draw within one at 12-11.

The Cavaliers took a two-goal advantage on John Haldy’s only goal of the game midway through the third quarter, but Blue Jay attackman Chris Boland scored the fifth of his career-high six goals to draw his team closer.

Steve Giannone notched his second goal of the game with 2:29 to play in the quarter as Virginia reclaimed the a 2-goal advantage. The Blue Jays, who had already erased a huge deficit, roared back with three goals in the final 47 seconds of the quarter to take a 15-14 lead going into the final 15 minutes. Mark Bryan started the run with his third goal of the season. Matt Dolente won the ensuing faceoff and fed Boland for his sixth goal five seconds later. Brian Christopher closed the quarter with his fourth goal of the game with seven seconds remaining.

Shamel Bratton scored the tying goal with just over 12 minutes to play by taking a feed from Garrett Billings and beating goalie Michael Gvozden with a low shot from 12 yards out.

Danny Glading, who earlier in the contest scored the 100th goal of his career, scored what proved to be the game winner with 10:01 left. Again Billings found an open teammate and Glading rifled a shot past Gvozden from 18 yards away.

Goalie Adam Ghitelman recorded three of his nine saves in the final nine minutes as Virginia held the Blue Jays scoreless in the final quarter.

The teams traded turnovers in the final two minutes. The Blue Jays had an extra-man opportunity following a pushing penalty against Virginia with 1:17 left, but was unable to get off a shot. The Blue Jays’ had two chances in the final minute to tie, but the Cavaliers snuffed out both. The first occurred with fewer than 50 seconds remaining as Boland threw a pass in front to Josh Peck, who was immediately hit by a host of Cavaliers knocking the ball loose. Virginia grabbed the loose ball but turned it over a short time later. On the ensuing clear attempt, the Blue Jays made a successful clear but Michael Kimmel dropped a pass from Matt Drenan. Cavalier Mike Timms picked up the free ball and had a pass knocked down. As the ball bounded loose in front of the Virginia goal neither team could gain possession and time ran out.

Virginia returns to action at home at Klöckner Stadium next Saturday against Maryland. The game is set to face off at noon and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Virginia 7-5-2-2—16 record: 10-0
Johns Hopkins 5-3-7-0—15 record: 3-3
att—5475

Scoring (G-A)—UVa: Garrett Billings 4-4, Steele Stanwick 3-0, Danny Glading 2-3, Shamel Bratton 2-2, Steve Giannone 2-1, Brian Carroll 1-2, John Haldy 1-0, Max Pomper 1-0, George Huguely 0-1. JHU: Chris Boland 6-2, Brian Christopher 4-1, Kyle Wharton 2-1, Steven Boyle 2-0, Mark Bryan 1-0, Michael Kimmel 0-2, Matt Dolente 0-1, Dave Spaulding 0-1.

Goalie Summary—UVa: Adam Ghitelman 60 mins., 9 saves, 15 goals allowed. JHU: Michael Gvozden 57:56 mins., 8 saves, 15 goals allowed; Steven Burke 2:04 mins., 0 svs., 1 GA.

Shots: UVa—42, JHU—31
Ground Balls: UVa—40, JHU—25
Clearing: UVa—15x21, JHU—13x16
Faceoffs: UVa—22, JHU—12
Penalties: UVa—3-2:30, JHU—1-1:00
EMO: UVa—0x1, JHU—2x3

 

Hopkins falls to Virginia, 16-15
Blue Jays start slow, then miss chances in fourth
By Mike Preston
March 22, 2009

No. 1 Virginia scored two goals to open the fourth quarter and held on for a 16-15 victory over No. 6 Johns Hopkins before an announced 5,475 at Homewood Field last night. The Cavaliers (10-0) won their fourth straight game against Hopkins and remained undefeated.

The Blue Jays (3-3) had rallied from a six-goal deficit late in the first half to take a one-goal lead at the end of the third period, but Virginia quickly scored to tie the game in the fourth quarter and later established a lead it would never relinquish.

"Our defensive play was awful in the first half," said Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala, whose team trailed 12-8 at the half. "We didn't communicate. We didn't rotate. They played a great first half, and we didn't. We played a great second half, and they didn't. We dug too big of a hole and spent a lot of time coming back."

Added Pietramala: "There were several points that we could have taken the lead a couple of times, but their goalie made some great saves. He was the difference in the game. I think we showed a lot of character in coming back, but the question is which team are we? Are we the team that played the first half or the team that played the second half? We'll find out soon enough next week against Carolina."

Virginia midfielder Shamel Bratton scored from 10 yards out on a feed from Garrett Billings with 12:09 left to tie the game at 15, and Cavaliers attackman Danny Glading scored the game-winner with 10:01 remaining on another 10-yard shot.

Hopkins had several chances to win in the remaining time, but the Blue Jays couldn't finish shots, and midfielder Brian Christopher made an errant pass to attackman Kyle Wharton that went out of bounds with 1:50 left.

Virginia had a four-goal lead at the half, but it started to fade quickly when Wharton scored 36 seconds into the third quarter and Christopher scored on an assist from Chris Boland nearly 90 second later.

When Blue Jays attackman Steven Boyle scored from the top of the crease with 11:06 left in the third period, the Cavaliers' lead had shrunk to 12-11. Virginia couldn't gain more than a two-goal advantage for the next eight minutes, and then Hopkins took over in the closing minutes of the third period.

Midfielder Mark Bryan scored with 47 second left in the quarter, and Boland scored five seconds later at the top of the crease. Christopher hit a long-range shot just inside the box with seven seconds left in the third quarter to give Hopkins a 15-14 lead, its first since the opening minutes of the game.

Pietramala pulled Gvozden from the game after the Cavaliers went up 9-5 with 13:51 left in the first half, but that didn't help the Blue Jays. When Virginia midfielder Max Pomper scored with 11:54 left in the second quarter, Gvozden came back, and Virginia kept up the assault, scoring two more goals in the quarter.

"I was just trying to spark our defense," Pietramala said of pulling Gvozden. "Our goalie is Michael Gvozden."

 

NFL scouts loving Virginia tackle Monroe
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
March 22, 2009

Eugene Monroe stood his ground as the pudgy, middle-aged man pushed on his chest, tugged at his arms and slapped at his hands and elbows.

After the brief position drill this past Thursday at the University of Virginia's Pro Day, Cincinnati Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander — the aforementioned pudgy, middle-aged man — walked off the practice field and smirked a little as he kept his eyes to the ground. It was almost like he was trying to keep a secret to himself.

Too late. The secret is out about Monroe.

He's going to be a first-round selection in next month's National Football League draft. There's a chance he could be the first player chosen, so even though he already did all of the weight lifting, jumping and running at last month's NFL combine in Indianapolis, he still takes every workout seriously.

"It's not superfluous at all," said Monroe regarding Pro Day, an event held on campuses across the country for NFL scouts, coaches and team personnel to get closer looks at possible draft picks. "Any time you get a chance to perform in front of your potential team is a great time."

Monroe, a 6-foot-5, 309-pound native of Plainfield, N.J. who just finished an All-American senior season at U.Va., has made his way to the top five of everybody's mock-draft list. He impressed NFL types at the combine with his solid athleticism (281/2-inch vertical leap, 40-yard dash in 5.18 seconds) and strength (23 bench press reps of 225 pounds). The love continued to pour in after Pro Day.

"It was impressive," St. Louis Rams general manager Billy Devaney told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after coming to Charlottesville to see Monroe's brief workout, which consisted only of position drills. "He's really a good guy, and he's going to be a really good player."

Monroe has been on the radar screen for teams like St. Louis and Cincinnati, which have the second and sixth selections in the first round this year, respectively, for quite some time. In his senior season, he surrendered just two sacks — the only two sacks he gave up in 2,117 career snaps at U.Va. He was responsible for just nine penalties combined in his last two seasons.

Though he's a virtual shoo-in to be invited to the NFL's famed "green" room on draft day, he hasn't gotten the invitation yet.

"You see those (mock drafts), but you can't read in to it," said Monroe, who is one of 16 children in his family, including 10 brothers. "You can't pay attention … you see this media stuff, and then (the teams) haven't even constructed their draft boards yet and finalized anything."

So, with that in mind, Monroe, who overcame knee injuries in 2006 and '07 including a dislocation, is jumping at every opportunity to at least do a position drill or two for a potential employer. He showed Alexander how he sets up at the line of scrimmage, the angles he takes and spots he goes to on certain plays and he worked a little on run-blocking technique to she how he moves his hips at the snap of the ball.

"I've been working for four years, so this is the easy part," said Monroe, who was considered by most recruiting analysts to be one of the nation's top three prospects coming out of high school.

U.Va. coach Al Groh said there's only one offensive lineman with more athleticism that comes to mind that he's coached, and it was the guy Monroe played behind as a freshman.

"D'Brickashaw (Ferguson) was rare in that particular circumstance, but … just as I kind of quickly run down the guys in my mind as we speak, next to 'Brick' he'd be right up there in that area," Groh said.

"I can say that with some confidence. (On Thursday), one of the personnel people (at U.Va.) for the workout talked about how impressed they were with (Monroe's) flexibility and his agility."

In '06, Ferguson was drafted fourth overall by the New York Jets. Despite the pressure of draft day creeping up on Monroe, he said he doesn't really feel such things. Though he's continuing to workout whenever he's asked to do so, he doesn't lack for confidence regarding where he thinks he can go in the draft.

"I think I can go '1.' " Monroe said.

 

Prickly public persona doomed Leitao
By Whitey Reid
Published: March 22, 2009

Several images come to mind when most people think of former Virginia coach Dave Leitao.

There are the ones of Leitao berating his players in front of 14,000 fans. There are the ones of Leitao being curt with the media. There are the ones of Leitao cursing at officials and sometimes even his own athletic trainers.

In most of the mental snapshots, the 6-foot-7 Leitao comes across as angry and menacing.

Very few people have images of a jovial Leitao — even during the team’s run to a share of the ACC regular-season championship in 2007.

In the end, the negative perception might have been one of the final factors that led to his downfall.

The unfortunate part for Leitao is that the people closest to him — even the players who have left the program on seemingly bad terms — say that behind closed doors, Leitao, for the most part, is a really good guy.

But Leitao only allowed a select few into his inner circle. If you weren’t in that small contingent, you were basically left on the outside looking in.

And when that happened, it was only natural for outsiders to believe that Leitao’s personality off the court was the same as it was on the court and in front of television cameras.

“Not everybody saw coach Leitao off the court,” said Virginia sophomore Mike Scott. “Most people [saw] him yelling or whatever during games.

“But if you went upstairs and talked to him, he’s calm, cool, laughing and joking. We used to joke around all the time. Most people don’t see that. In the games, he’s just amped up and competing and wanting to win.”

Scott and Leitao had numerous verbal spats during games — so many that some insiders surmised that Scott would have transferred if Leitao hadn’t departed. However, Scott dispelled that notion emphatically.

“It may have seemed a lot of times like we were having feuds on the court, but what coach and player don’t do that?” Scott said. “He just challenged me a lot and wanted me to compete.”

Initially, ACC rookie of the year Sylven Landesberg said he was a bit confused with some of Leitao’s tactics.

“I would wonder, ‘Why would he yell at me for this or get on me for that?’” Landesberg said. “It took me a while to understand that it was a point of motivation.”

Added freshman Sammy Zeglinski: “His competitiveness was unmatched. He just really taught me how to compete.”

Former Virginia player Will Harris, who is now at Albany, said he had problems with Leitao’s player rotations and substitution patterns but never any issues with his personality.

“I felt for him,” said Harris, when asked how he had reacted to Leitao’s departure. “I like him as a person. He just got a rough deal.”

The flip side to the sentiments from Leitao’s inner circle were those from the outer one.

Former Virginia radio color commentator Jim Hobgood was often disrespected by Leitao during postgame interviews. In an infamous session in Puerto Rico three seasons ago, Leitao virtually ignored Hobgood, a former UVa player.

“Maybe I’ve reached the age where I take the attitude of, ‘I don’t necessarily need to deal with that any longer,’” said Hobgood a few months back, when asked about his relationship with Leitao.

Hobgood wasn’t alone in his frustrations. A number of former players never made Leitao’s inner circle.

One recent Virginia graduate, a starter for Leitao, e-mailed The Daily Progress shortly after the coach’s departure. “Justice served, ha ha,” the player wrote.

Several former Wahoos who never played for Leitao often complained of his failure to reach out to them and fellow alums.

Donors to the program complained of Leitao’s unfriendliness.

Media members were subjected to a restrictive policy instituted by Leitao assistant Rick Brunson that forbade journalists from stopping by unannounced.

Virginia athletic trainer Jeff Boyer, who used to work with the basketball team, was the victim of a Leitao in-game tirade that led to his being reassigned to the school’s soccer teams.

Over the course of the last four years, a good number of fans were upset with the language that Leitao used on the sidelines with young children present.

One opposing fan from Gonzaga who lives in Spokane, Wash., wrote in to say that in all her years of watching basketball, she had never heard a coach with a dirtier mouth than Leitao’s.

“I can’t repeat any of it,” said former Virginia player J.R. Reynolds, when asked about Leitao’s motivational techniques two years ago.

Virginia junior Jamil Tucker said Leitao’s criticism was always “constructive.”

“It’s nothing to make me feel bad as a person,” said Tucker during the 2007-08 season. “It’s just ways to make me better. As long as I keep that in my mind, it’s never been a problem.”

But to outsiders looking in, maybe it was.

 

Virginia drops Marist in NCAA opener
Associated Press
Published: March 22, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Monica Wright wasn’t about to allow an upset.

Virginia’s senior guard scored all of her 13 points in the second half — including two key 3-pointers down the stretch — to push the fifth-seeded Cavaliers past No. 12 Marist, 68-61, in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday night.

Ariana Moorer led the Cavaliers (24-9) with 16 points. Aisha Mohammed had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Lyndra Littles scored 13. Virginia will face California in a second-round game in the Trenton regional on Monday.

Erica Allenspach scored 18 points to lead the Red Foxes (29-4) and Rachele Fitz had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cavaliers hit four 3s in a row to stretch the lead to 13. Wright had two from deep and Ariana Moorer and Britny Edwards each hit one.

The Red Foxes hit five consecutive 3s in the final 3 minutes, including three from Allenspach, but Mohammed hit two free throws and Moorer had five to stifle a comeback.

Virginia had a decisive 16-3 run midway through the second half. Wright started it with 8:50 left with a 3 and Littles had a layup to give the Cavaliers a 57-40 advantage with 6 minutes to go.

The Cavaliers were playing without starter Britnee Millner, who was serving a one-game suspension for violating team rules. Moorer started in her place for Virginia, which was making its 23rd appearance in the tournament.

The 12th-seeded Red Foxes, facing Virginia for the first time ever, gave Virginia trouble early with their motion offense.

Fitz got open off of screens and converted to give Marist a 26-21 halftime lead. She was two rebounds shy of a double-double and had 13 points in the half.

Virginia tried a full court press and half-court man-to-man defense to try and limit the Red Foxes. The Cavaliers stuck with the man-to-man in the second and it worked.

And then the Cavaliers started scoring.

They started the second half on a 9-0 run to erase the five-point halftime deficit and Wright, ninth in the nation in scoring with 20.5 points, scored her first basket of the game with 16:08 remaining. Littles’ putback just before that gave Virginia the lead for the second time.

 

UVa finally beaten in bizarre fashion
By Jay Jenkins
Published: March 22, 2009

The pair have combined to serve as their schools’ respective head coaches for almost 2,000 games.

Yet the managers from Miami and Virginia had never witnessed an ending quite so unique.

With the bases loaded, two outs recorded and two strikes in Miami pitcher Kyle Bellamy’s pocket, Virginia right fielder Dan Grovatt swung and missed at what proved to be the most pivotal pitch in the contest.

The confusion that followed was mind-boggling. But when the dust settled, Bellamy’s ability to cover the plate and catcher Jason Haggerty’s cat-like prowess behind the dish lifted No. 9 Miami to a 4-3 victory at Davenport Field as a season-best crowd of 2,649 watched.

After Bellamy’s final offering sailed to the backstop, Virginia’s Jarrett Parker raced for home from third and slid into the plate as the pitcher caught the return offering from Haggerty. Bellamy, with his right foot squarely on the plate, tried to tag Parker’s outstretched foot.

The tag, while not needed, was clearly late. With a force play in effect in the bases-loaded scenario, the swipe itself was meaningless.

Home plate umpire Jacob Asher, perhaps the only person in stadium aware of the situation at the moment, promptly called the force out based on Bellamy’s right foot.

“It was a crazy play to end the game,” Miami coach Jim Morris said. “I have never seen a game end like that — it was a force play at home plate. I thought he was out. It wasn’t where you had to tag him.

“If he had to tag him, he would have been safe. It was a force play at the plate and I thought it was bang-bang, but I thought he was out. I had a pretty good angle, but it was a crazy play to end the game.”

It was a rough way for No. 7 Virginia, which led 3-0 entering the seventh inning, to swallow its first loss of the season. The setback snapped the Cavaliers’ 19-game winning streak, the longest in the nation.

“It is a tough call and I felt the umpire made the right call because it is a force play and the ball was there,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought it was a great college baseball game between two great teams.

“It was a tough way to lose your first game of the season, but we are proud that we had a good 19-game stretch there to open up the season.”

In the ninth, pinch-hitter John Bivens walked and was replaced on the bases by Corey Hunt. After Parker walked, Virginia (19-1, 5-1 ACC) was snuffed out on a double steal attempt as Hunt was gunned at third while Phil Gosselin took a 2-0 pitch for a strike.

“That is the great thing about managing a college baseball game and making those decisions,” O’Connor said. “Sometimes you are going to call them right and sometimes you are going to call them wrong. We have played all season trying to force the issue and Bellamy is an All-American kind of closer. He is a tough guy to get multiple hits off of in an inning.

“If you can put the runners in motion and we put the ball in play, you can stay out of the double play. You have the tying run and the winning run at second and third base with a left-handed hitter coming up. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, but still we had opportunities to win the game there at the end.”

After Hunt was gunned down and Virginia had two outs in the final frame, Gosselin rocketed a single to right that forced Parker to stay at third base. A walk to first baseman Danny Hultzen followed to load the bases, setting the stage for the improbable finish.

“I haven’t seen a game finish in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, strike-three swinging and a force play at home plate,” O’Connor said.

The loss spoiled an excellent start from Virginia pitcher Andrew Carraway, who allowed four hits, two walks and three earned runs over 6.2 innings.

Carraway, who did not factor into the decision, was pulled after loading the bases in the seventh, the lone scoring inning for the Hurricanes (17-4, 6-2).

“Andrew Carraway was in complete command,” O’Connor said. “He pitched good enough, no question, for him to win this game. When I decided to take him out in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Carraway was at about 110 pitches and Matt Packer is one of our best.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to close it out for him.”

Miami shortstop Ryan Jackson delivered the biggest blow off Virginia closer Matt Packer (1-1) as he drilled a two-run single into centerfield that tied the contest.

“It was a foot away from [second baseman Keith] Werman making the play,” O’Connor said. “That’s the breaks that happen sometimes in baseball.”

Virginia, which scored lone runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings, finished the contest with just five hits off four Miami pitchers.

The teams will close out the series today at noon.

 

Miami Rally Snuffs Out UVa Win Streak at 19
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/21/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia baseball team saw its school-record 19-game winning streak come to a halt as No. 4 Miami rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat the Cavaliers, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Hurricanes scored all four of their runs in a seventh-inning flurry, then held off a ninth-inning UVa comeback to seal the win.

Virginia (19-1, 5-1 ACC) was the lone remaining undefeated team in the country and had the longest active winning streak in the nation.

UVa starter Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) gave the Cavaliers 6.2 strong innings. He rolled from the first through the sixth innings, retiring 15 straight batters at one point before loading the bases with two out in the seventh. He allowed three earned runs, four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) was credited with the loss and fell to 1-1 after giving up an earned run, two hits and a walk in 2.1 innings. He struck out five.

Miami starter David Gutierrez was impressive as well, allowing three runs (one earned), three hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out seven. Reliever Taylor Wulf (1-0) earned the win, while Kyle Bellamy tossed the final two innings to notch his fifth save. Miami’s pitching staff held UVa to its lowest totals in runs and hits (five) this season.

Trailing 3-0, Miami (17-4, 6-2) scored all four of its runs with two out in the seventh inning. Carraway loaded the bases with two out, and Packer came on to face pinch hitter Ted Blackman, who hit a two-run single which was just out of the reach of second baseman Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.). Two batters later, Ryan Jackson cracked a two-run single to give the Hurricanes the lead.

UVa attempted to stage a rally in the ninth inning and loaded the bases with two out against Bellamy. He struck out Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) for the potential third out, but the ball bounced off catcher Jason Hagerty’s glove and toward the Miami dugout. Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) came home on the play, but Hagerty’s throw to Bellamy just beat Parker at the plate for the force out to end the game.

The Cavaliers scored the game’s first three runs with single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings. In the third, UVa took advantage of a two-out error to score. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) reached on an error by third baseman Harold Martinez, stole second and scored on a Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) single up the middle.

In the fourth, UVa got a leadoff single from Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.), who advanced on a wild pitch, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, Proscia reached on an error and John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) hit a two-out double to the left-field corner to score the run and give UVa a 3-0 lead.

Grovatt saw his career-best hitting streak to 19 games (21 dating to last season) come to an end after an 0-for-4 day.

Virginia and Miami will play the rubber game of the three-game series at noon Sunday.

 

Virginia Finishes 12th at NCAA Championships
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/21/2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Virginia women’s swimming team finished in 12th place with 117 points at the 2009 NCAA Championships, which wrapped up Saturday. The three-day event was held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Texas A&M’s campus.

Virginia’s 12th-place finish is the highest since 2002 when the Cavaliers also placed 12th overall.

“It was a tremendous performance,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “We battled in every single race for each other and it was just a great finish. It was been a nice progression over the last three years, and to move from 20th to 12th in one year is tremendous. I was really hoping for a top-15 finish and we were able to do a little bit better than that. These kids earned everything they got with their hard work and dedication.”

Junior Mei Christensen was UVa’s top finisher on Saturday, placing sixth in the 200 backstroke. She earned her second All-America award of the championships, finishing in a time of 1:52.82. She also earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke earlier in the meet.

Senior Megan Evo earned honorable mention All-America accolades with an 11th-place finish in the 200 butterfly. It was her second All-America nod of the championships, following a 13th-place performance in the 200 individual medley.

“Both Mei and Megan had so many races and they both came up huge,” Bernardino continued. “That is an incredible work load for anyone and they just came out and performed so well on every single relay.”

Junior Jen Narum also collected honorable mention All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the 1650 freestyle. She finished in 16:08.20.

Virginia’s 400 freestyle relay team of Christensen, Kristen Wallace, Kristen Moores and Evo finished 14th overall in a time of 3:16.87. The quartet claimed honorable mention All-America honors.

All five of Virginia’s relays at the championships earned All-America or honorable mention All-America accolades.

“That was one of the most important goals all year long,” Bernardino said. “The success of our relays shows our unity and closeness and that was reflected in those races.”

Seniors Megan Evo and Kristen Wallace competed for the final time for the Orange and Blue.

2009 NCAA Women’s Championships
Final Team Standings


1. California 411

2. Georgia
312.5

3. Arizona
389

4. Stanford 312.5

5. Texas
307

6. Auburn
281.5

7. Florida
239.5

8. Texas A&M
186
9. USC
239.5

10. Indiana
152

11. Minnesota
136

12. Virginia
117

13. Tennessee
107

14. Wisconsin
105.5

15. Washington
61


 

Tigers hold off Cavaliers
By Ryan Yemen
Published: March 22, 2009

Trailing by one goal with five minutes to play, No. 7 Virginia had its chances against No. 9 Princeton.

The Cavaliers put together a trio of quality offensive possessions, but couldn’t get the ball between the pipes and fell to the Tigers, 8-7.

“When Princeton needed the hold, they came up with that hold,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers, “whether it was a goalkeeper rebound that just kind of came off the goalie and went to a Princeton kid, or if we hit a pipe. We had the opportunities, we had possession, we had the looks and we had the right kids with the ball.

“It just wasn’t our day today to win this game.”

In each of their last three possessions, the UVa offense took its time and took high-percentage shots.

“It’s pretty frustrating when we have those opportunities and we keep getting the ball back and can’t finish on attack,” said UVa midfielder Brittany Kalkstein. “That’s something our attack needs to work on.”

Conversely, Princeton coach Chris Sailor was pleased with the way her defense held up coming down the home stretch.

“I think our defense played really well,” Sailor said. “That was the story of the game for us. Virginia’s a team that can really put a lot of points on the board, so I thought we had a great defensive effort.”

Tigers senior Holly McGarvie gave the Cavaliers defense all kinds of fits, particularly in the first half as she picked up the hat trick in the game’s first 30 minutes.

The Cavaliers zeroed in on McGarvie in the second half, and as a result the Tigers had just four second half shots compared to 12 in the first.

“We talked about [McGarvie] at half time,” Meyers said. “We just paid extra attention so when she had the ball our slides we were more ready to help. We knew she was going to look to try to go to the goal, but we also knew she had the ball she could assess. So everybody was just more into with what she was doing.”

Virginia (6-3) trailed by two at the half, but just two minutes into the second frame, Kalkstein tied the game at six with a pair of goals.

Princeton (5-1) jumped back out to a two-goal lead just four minutes later on goals from Kristin Morrison and Christine Casaceli.

Three Cavaliers finished with at least two goals including Kalkstein, Blair Weymouth and Whit Hagerman. McCulloch had a goal and an assist.

Neither Meyers or her players are used to losing three games half way into the season, and things don’t get particularly easier with difficult games against No. 16 James Madison and No. 5 Duke coming up.

“We’ve never lost three games in this stretch,” Meyers said. “We’re going to see what we’re made of. JMU’s coming in hungry.”

“It’s something that I’m definitely not used to playing here at Virginia for the past three years,” Kalkstein said. “I think this something that we as the players need to take into our own hands and come out on Tuesday against JMU and take it to them. We’ve kind of been settling back on teams.”

All three Cavaliers losses this season have come at the hands of a top 10 team. This is also the third time since 2006 that UVa has lost to Princeton by the score of 8-7.

 

No. 7 Cavaliers Upset by No. 9 Princeton, 8-7
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/21/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 9 Princeton Tigers edged the No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team, 8-7, at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The win moves Princeton to 5-1 on the season, while the Cavaliers fall to 6-3.

Senior All-American Blair Weymouth led Virginia with two goals and one assist – marking her 50th career game scoring multiple goals. Senior All-American Ashley McCulloch also tallied three points, on a goal and two assists, while redshirt junior Whit Hagerman and junior Brittany Kalkstein each notched two goals. Junior Kaitlin Duff added two assists.

Freshman Annie Taylor and Duff each caused two turnovers for the Cavaliers, while sophomore Liz Downs collected three ground balls.

Holly McGarvie led Princeton with three goals and two assists, while winning a game-high four draw controls.

The Cavaliers snapped their four game streak of allowing their opponent to score first, with Hagerman notching the first goal of the contest at 29:12, but Princeton’s McGarvie took control of the opening half from there – winning three draw controls and firing off three goals, while assisting two others – giving the Tigers a comfortable 5-2 lead just 20 minutes into play.

Weymouth halted McGarvie’s hot streak for a moment, firing back-to-back goals into the cage within two minutes of each other – the first at 5:08, the second a free position goal at 3:48. But McGarvie answered back for the Tigers with her third score of the half, a free position goal at 1:55, giving Princeton a 6-4 halftime edge.

Behind the sharp shooting of Kalkstein, the Cavaliers quickly evened the score in the second half, with the junior notching back-to-back goals within 13 seconds of each other. But Princeton would have another answer; tallying two consecutive scores to extend its lead back to two, at 8-6, with 24:40 to play.

Following 10 scoreless minutes and back-to-back Cavalier shots that hit off the pipes, Virginia would find the back of the net – on a goal by McCulloch - to cut Princeton’s lead to one, at 10:34.

The goal would prove to be the final one of the game though, allowing Princeton to escape with the 8-7 victory.

The Cavaliers will return to action on Tuesday, heading down the road to Harrisonburg, Va., to face No. 16 James Madison. Opening draw is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 

Henrich Ends All-America Year with Seventh-Place NCAA Finish
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/21/2009

ST. LOUIS – Virginia wrestler Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) completed his All-America season Saturday morning with a 13-3 major decision over No. 2-seed Michael Cannon of American in the 174-pound seventh-place match at the NCAA Championships.

Henrich clinched All-America status yesterday, becoming the 10th All-American in Virginia history and the first since 2004 when Tim Foley and Scott Moore each claimed All-America honors. He went 4-2 this year at the championships.

He dominated Cannon on Saturday, jumping out to a 4-2 lead in the first period with two takedowns. He followed it up with an escape, another takedown and a three-point nearfall in the second stanza. He closed out the major decision with a two-point nearfall and a point for riding time in the third period.

Henrich finished his impressive season with a 40-3 record. It ties for the fourth-most wins in a single season in Virginia history and the most victories ever by a UVa sophomore. All three of his losses this season came to 2009 NCAA All-Americans. Through two years, he has a record of 66-13.

In the team competition, Virginia is in 34th place with 18 points heading into the final session Saturday evening.

Henrich’s NCAA Results
First Round: No. 8-seed Chris Henrich (UVa) pinned Shane Smith (Millersville), 4:05
Second Round: Henrich dec. No. 9-seed Newly McFadden (Oklahoma State), 5-2
Quarterfinals: No. 1-seed Steve Luke (Michigan) dec. Henrich, 9-4
Wrestleback Rd. 5: Henrich dec. John Dergo (Illinois), 6-1
Wrestleback Rd. 6: No. 6-seed Steve Anceravage (Cornell) pinned Henrich, 4:10
Seventh-Place Match: Henrich major dec. No. 2-seed Michael Cannon (American), 13-3