The Virginia men’s lacrosse team may have been in the midst of a midseason malaise the past few weeks. If so, the sixth-ranked Cavaliers snapped out of it in the second half Saturday. With spirited and unselfish play, UVa defeated No. 7 North Carolina, 10-7, in front of 2,482 on a gorgeous spring afternoon at Klockner Stadium. Virginia (6-2, 1-1 ACC) broke a two-game losing streak and denied the Tar Heels (5-4, 2-1) the conference regular-season title. “No matter who you think you are, when you lose two games in a row, and you’re dealing with 19-year-old kids, your confidence takes a blow,” said UVa coach Dom Starsia. “I think this was a big — well, we don’t like to say big — but this was an important win for us to get back on track. I don’t think it would have been death-defying to lose again, but it would have been a big confidence hole to dig out of.” Instead, the Cavaliers had many reasons to feel good about themselves on both ends of the field. Offensively, the ball movement was crisp and efficient, something that was lacking in consecutive 8-7 defeats to Johns Hopkins and Maryland. “That’s something we emphasized all week, moving the ball and playing as a team,” said freshman attackman Matt Ward, who had two goals and three assists. “That’s what we did today. We played as a team. It was much more enjoyable than the last two weeks.” Sophomore attackman John Christmas finished with three goals and an assist, while Joe Yevoli and A.J. Shannon each had two goals. Virginia’s output would have been considerably larger had North Carolina goalie Paul Spellman not made 18 saves, 11 in the second half. “Their keeper was very good, but we did what we wanted to do,” Christmas said. “We wanted to get everyone involved and move the ball around. When we get everyone involved, we’re tough to stop.” Tillman Johnson was even more outstanding in goal for the Cavaliers. He recorded nine of his 14 saves in the second half and allowed just two goals after the break. That enabled Virginia to break open a 5-5 game with a 3-0 run in the third quarter. “I felt good,” Johnson said. “We’ve had kind of a tough two weeks, but the main thing is we stayed focused and strong. We gave it our all and came out on top.” The close defensemen also played more aggressively in front of Johnson in the second half, something Starsia told them to do at halftime. “I thought they were playing tentatively, like they were running on eggshells,” Starsia said. “It was like they were afraid to slide and afraid to get beat. I told them, ‘Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.’” As a result, the Tar Heels were able to get a number of close-range shots, but Johnson made a series of superb saves. North Carolina also committed numerous turnovers under pressure, allowing Virginia to run and create unsettled situations on the other end. Christmas scored in transition off a pass from defenseman Ned Bowen five minutes into the third quarter. Kyle Dixon and Yevoli scored later in the period to make it 8-5. Spellman kept North Carolina in the game, however, and the visitors drew within one at 8-7 on a goal by Lance Zimmerman with 6:47 left. But the Cavaliers wouldn’t be denied down the stretch. Shannon bulled through short-stick defensive midfielder Steven Will and bounced in an eight-yard shot with 4:17 remaining. A minute later, Ward converted a pass from Christmas to seal the victory. “Coming off two losses, this is just what we needed,” Christmas said. “Alumni weekend, great crowd, nice day. I’m just glad we played well.”
It’s early April and Matt Schaub won’t throw a pass that really counts until Aug. 30 when Duke comes to town in Virginia’s season opener. But the Cavaliers’ propaganda machine is already rolling in hyping Schaub as a Heisman Trophy candidate. And why not? Anyone who is ACC player of the year deserves to be a serious candidate for the award, particularly after a year like Schaub had last season. In case you need a refresher, the UVa quarterback finished sixth in the nation in passing efficiency (tops in the ACC), led the league in TD passes with 28, threw only seven interceptions (some of those were tipped), and either set or tied at least 10 Virginia single-season records. He is one of only two returning quarterbacks in the country who won their league’s player of the year award (Colorado State’s Bradlee Van Pelt is the other). There’s much more, but you get the picture. Getting the word out Coach Al Groh promises a classy Heisman campaign but guarantees people will know about the Wahoos’ quarterback. “I don’t think we’ll be erecting billboards in Times Square,” said Groh. “And Matt has already nixed the bobble-head doll idea. But we’ll step up and give him the attention he deserves. There are a lot of terrific things to know about this player, so the uninformed will learn about him and those who already know, will be updated on his performance.” Being a long-time Heisman voter, I can testify that you become bombarded with information about anyone who is even a remote candidate. Some schools have used the bobble-head dolls, T-shirts, videos, mouse pads, web sites, fancy updated mail to make voters aware of their candidates. One school even put out a small comic book with their Heisman candidate as the book’s super hero. Whatever Virginia decides to do, Schaub said he will enjoy the ride. He heard Groh’s comments last season about the bobble-heads and when the quarterback was asked about it, he said, “Well, that would be one ugly bobble-head.” Reminded of that on Friday, Schaub said, “So, I guess that’s where that stopped. I could see me in bobble-head form but I don’t know how many people would buy it.” You’d be surprised. Having fun But for now, Schaub is just having fun with all the publicity. Months from the season opener, he is already getting daily emails from Virginia’s sports information department on requests. When you’re a Heisman candidate, everybody wants a piece of you. “My friends and family are enjoying it,” said Schaub. “The guys on the team, well, you know how they are. They tease and poke fun but they enjoy it and they’re happy about it. It’s been fun so far. I think it will only get funner.” So far there have been photo shoots, interview requests, various banquets and events he has attended. He’ll be part of a commercial for UVa season tickets. “Who knows what goes on heading into the summer,” he said. “It feels kind of good personally but also for our team’s sake because we’re finally turning our program around after a few down years. To get all the publicity and everyone being excited about the upcoming season is good. I think it is good to get the Virginia name out there.” In eight of his games last season, Schaub completed at least 70 percent of his passes and topped 80 percent on two occasions, while leading the Cavs to upsets over four nationally ranked teams. In the process, he bypassed N.C. State quarterback Phillip Rivers as ACC offensive player of the year and overall player of the year. While Rivers had all the hype coming into the season, some critics were skeptical of the Wolfpack quarterback’s numbers because of the weak schedule N.C. State played. Two opponents were of the Division I-AA ilk along with Navy. Rivers’ unorthodox throwing motion have gotten a thumbs down from some pro scouts, who prefer Schaub’s more traditional throwing style. With so much football knowledge in his hip pocket, Schaub is spending time this spring on a variety of items to make him an even better passer and quarterback. Groh wants him to work on his deep passing among other things. Schaub is concentrating on his footwork and timing with a lot of new faces in his receiving corps, including Art Thomas and Marques Hagans to name a few. From now through Aug. 29, the Virginia quarterback is going to have all the fun he can with this Heisman thing. Come Aug. 30, things change. “The important thing is going to be when to focus on the task at hand and when to have that fun and when to get serious,” said Schaub. “That’s a fine line but I think everyone in our organization, our team knows the difference.” I still think the bobble-head doll is a good idea.
U.VA. FOOTBALL NOTES
Apr 06, 2003
HEISMAN HOPEFUL: Virginia plans to promote quarterback Matt Schaub, the reigning
ACC player of the year, for college football's most prestigious award. Don't,
however, expect an over-the-top Heisman campaign from the Cavaliers.
"I don't think we're going to be erecting any billboards in Times Square,"
third-year coach Al Groh said, "and I think we've nixed the bobblehead idea. But
I think we're going to step up and make the type of effort that this player's
performance and potential for next year deserves."
If Marques Hagans, Schaub's backup in 2002, remains at wide receiver, where he's
working this spring, the Cavaliers' No. 3 quarterback next season probably will
be incoming recruit Kevin McCabe. No. 2 will be former Patrick Henry High star
Anthony Martinez, whose best quality is that he's "got a lot of arm," Groh said.
"When he throws his good ball, you can hear it coming, and that's not something
that can be said of a lot of passes."
GOOD TO GO: Fullback Jason Snelling, who missed two games last season because of
an undisclosed medical condition, has been able to do "everything" in spring
drills, Groh said, "except block the mike linebacker. But everybody else at his
position is having that same problem, too."
Two of Virginia's most talented newcomers, Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks, are
working at inside linebacker.
BIG HITTER: Parham redshirted last season while rehabbing a back injury, but he
impressed during practices for the Continental Tire Bowl.
"He took a few blocks on where when it happened you had some coaches sort of
turn around" and look at each other in wonder, Groh said. "They didn't just want
to stand there and grin and act like they were going down the kiddie slide at
McDonald's. But they were like, 'Whoa, did you see that?'"
Parham was a Parade All-American at Virginia Beach's Princess Anne High in 2001.
FULL COMPLEMENT: Receivers coach Mike Groh has no shortage of candidates for
playing time, but only three of them are college veterans at that position:
rising junior Ottowa Anderson and rising seniors Ryan Sawyer and Michael McGrew.
The other wideouts include Ken Tynes and Ron Morton, who were redshirted last
season, Scott Robinson, Hagans and Art Thomas, a converted cornerback.
"We have a lot of teaching going on there," Al Groh said. "We really go from one
extreme to another. It's been a little bit sporadic because of that."
ON THE LINE: Chris Canty entered last season as the Cavaliers' most experienced
defensive lineman, despite having a modest 23 career tackles. No longer is the
line such a concern in Virginia's 3-4 defense. All the starters are back - ends
Canty and Brennan Schmidt and nose tackle Andrew Hoffman - as well as backups
Braden Campbell, Kwakou Robinson and Melvin Massey.
None of those six is a rising senior. Also competing for playing time is end D.J.
Bell, who redshirted as a freshman in 2002, and incoming recruit Keenan Carter
is expected to provide depth at nose tackle next season.
"We're starting to look like we want to look there," Groh said of his defensive
line.
ON THE RUN: Wali Lundy, the MVP of the Continental Tire Bowl, entered spring
practice as Virginia's No. 1 tailback. But Groh stressed that the Cavaliers will
"play other tailbacks in the games, even if no one gets anything so much as a
hangnail."
As a true freshman, Lundy rushed for 826 yards and added 435 yards receiving in
2002. Also back, however, are rising juniors Marquis Weeks and Alvin Pearman,
who's recovering well from a knee injury, and rising sophomore Michael Johnson.
Each distinguished himself at times last season.
"As a team accumulates talented players, then there should be competition," Groh
said. "Any time that you don't have competition, that's not a good circumstance,
because that means you really only have one person there, and he far outshines
everybody, at any spot, be it left guard or tailback or tight end." - Jeff White
|
McPherson's alleged throwing of game may go
unproven
The Orlando Sentinel TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The mystery of whether quarterback Adrian McPherson threw the final game of his Florida State career may never be solved, according to an assistant state attorney prosecuting McPherson. Paul Driver, the Tallahassee-based prosecutor, said Friday the Internet sportsbook that McPherson allegedly used to bet on sporting events cannot be forced to give up its records because it is based in Costa Rica. "You've got some betting syndications somewhere," Driver said. "They have the records. We do not have the records. This investigation is local. It's not a national investigation. The police did what they could. "We have subpoena power in Florida. Period." Last year, the Seminoles won three of the four games in which McPherson started at quarterback for Florida State. The lone loss of McPherson's tenure came against NC State on Nov. 23; in that 17-7 defeat, McPherson completed just eight-of-20 passes for 80 yards. Without the records of SBG Global, the online sportsbook, authorities can't tell for certain whether McPherson bet on the Seminoles' game versus North Carolina State, let alone whether he bet against Florida State. "I don't know if that will come to light," Driver said. "I imagine that there are people who know, but we don't know who they are." When McPherson, 19, was charged with a misdemeanor count of gambling last month, police reported that a source provided a sworn, written statement that McPherson bet on all of FSU's football games for the 2002 season and that McPherson "always bet on FSU to win." That source was Otis Livingston, who attended Southeast High School in Bradenton with McPherson and Melvin Capers. Livingston and Capers said they and McPherson set up accounts together with SBG Global using a laptop computer in Livingston's home in Tallahassee. But a mammoth report that was recently released by the law-enforcement task force investigating whether McPherson had gambled casts doubt on how much Livingston actually knew about McPherson's alleged gambling habits. In an interview with investigators on Feb. 12, six days before he provided his sworn written statement, Livingston was asked, "Who did Adrian bet on?" and whether McPherson ever bet on Florida State. Livingston could recall just one instance that McPherson gambled on an FSU football game. "I know on one occasion he did," Livingston replied under oath. "He bet it on Florida State. He bet on himself." The 500-plus-page report includes transcribed copies of 41 other interviews conducted by a task force of investigators from the FSU Police Department, the Tallahassee Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Florida State athletic department officials heard an allegation as early as last May or June - and another allegation in July - that McPherson often gambled on sporting events and owed thousands of dollars to a local bookie, the interviews show. Those interviews also raise questions whether FSU officials thoroughly investigated those allegations. Bob Minnix, the school's associate director of athletics for compliance and legal affairs, began to investigate McPherson early last August, just as the Seminoles started two-a-day football practices. The report shows that Minnix interviewed only three people before he determined that he had reached a dead end. His investigation was over before the Seminoles' 2002 season began on Aug. 24. Jeffrey Inderhees, a student equipment manager for the football team, told Minnix that McPherson liked to gamble with a bookie, but refused to give Minnix the bookie's name. McPherson was called into Minnix's office shortly thereafter and strongly denied Inderhees' allegation. At the time, Minnix had his doubts about McPherson, as shown during his interview with the gambling task force in early December. "Did you get a gut feeling?" Lieutenant Ken Bergstrom of the Tallahassee Police Department asked Minnix in December. "That Adrian was lying," Minnix responded. Minnix also interviewed FSU football and former baseball player Dominic Robinson, a friend of McPherson's, and Robinson acknowledged that he was aware that some members of the FSU baseball team knew and hung out with a bookie, but could not provide that bookie's name. Robinson acknowledged to Minnix that some baseball players had told him that McPherson owed a bookie some money, but Minnix did not interview any baseball players about that comment. Minnix stands behind his investigation, saying he asked the questions that needed to be asked. "We had rumors," he told the Sentinel. "What we had was a rumor. For any rumor you want to first see if there's any merit to the rumor. You want to interview the appropriate people to see if you could go beyond the rumor." Throughout his investigation in August, Minnix took no notes in order not to produce documents that could be accessed via the state's sunshine laws, saying "that if I wrote it down that it might be subject to somebody reading it somewhere along the way, quite frankly." Perhaps that failure to take notes hampered the quality of Minnix's investigation. Initially, he wanted to speak with Mike Pellicer, another student equipment manager who earlier had told FSU's director of football operations, Andy Urbanic, that McPherson gambled. But Minnix never did get Pellicer to come into his office. "Well, I wanted to," Minnix told the task force. "I mean it'd be somewhere along the way. He fell through the cracks with me `cause he was on my list." Bill Saum, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities, said Thursday from New Orleans - where he is attending the Final Four - that he would not answer specific questions about Minnix's investigation of McPherson last summer. "I am not able to say whether it was a good or bad investigation," Saum said. "It's not that time and it would just be inappropriate." Saum has said before that FSU officials had kept the NCAA abreast of the gambling accusations against McPherson, but he would not say on Thursday when exactly when he was first contacted. "These aren't easy situations that we're discussing, because in any type of investigation you need a break, whether you're doing it on campus or you're law enforcement or you're the NCAA," Saum said. "It usually comes more from the standpoint if the institution did nothing. It always comes back to what the institution knew or should have known, and at the end of the day that's what will be evaluated (by the NCAA)." |
Clemson It's all a matter of perspective.
Coach Jack Leggett saw an uninspired effort by his Clemson baseball team in Saturday's 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference loss to Virginia at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Coach Dennis Womack saw a Virginia team that was sparked by superb command of the breaking ball by three pitchers, a couple of spectacular plays by its defense and just enough timely hitting to win for the first time at Clemson since 1999.
As the teams prepare for today's 1 p.m. rubber match in the three-game series, one thing became perfectly clear on Saturday. This is not your typical bottom-feeder baseball team from Virginia. The Cavaliers improved to 20-8 overall and 6-3 in the ACC. Granted, five of those league wins came against Duke and Maryland, but Virginia showed previously that it could compete in a couple of close losses each to Auburn and Florida State.
"We've got a nice little club," Womack said. "If you're pretty good, and I think we're pretty good, you don't let teams (like us) hang around. And the more we hung around, hey, our dugout thought we could win."
That thought never seemed to permeate the Clemson dugout as the 20th-ranked Tigers fell to 22-7 and 2-3.
"They just beat us," Leggett said. "They were a little more competitive than we were today. That doesn't make me happy."
The Tigers were least competitive with bats in their hands.
First it was freshman left-hander Mike Ballard (2-2) who served Clemson a steady diet of breaking balls for five shutout innings. Then the Tigers got more of the same from sophomore right-hander Adam Laird for two innings and junior left-hander Alan Zimmerer for two more innings.
"That first guy was throwing his breaking ball for strikes ‘.‘.‘. the second guy was just breaking ball, breaking ball, breaking ball," Leggett said. "We just couldn't piece anything together."
Clemson's lone run came with two outs in the seventh inning when Russell Triplett hit his second home run of the season. Otherwise, the Tigers managed only six singles, hit into two double plays and left nine men on base.
Some of Clemson's hardest hit balls brought out the best in Virginia's defense, which got a diving catch by Matt Street of a sinking line drive by Roberto Valiente following Triplett's home run, and a sliding stop of a ground ball by third baseman Ryan Zimmerman that squelched a Tiger rally in the eighth.
Virginia, meanwhile, got a run-scoring single from Joe Koshansky in the first inning, the same from Street and a sacrifice fly by Mark Reynolds in the fifth, and an RBI single by Zimmerman in the seventh.
As if the lack of timely hitting and defeat weren't bad enough for Clemson, the Tigers also lost first baseman Michael Johnson to a knee injury in the seventh inning. Johnson injured himself while sliding into a fence in foul territory and was expected to receive several stitches to his right knee after the game. His status for today's game is uncertain.
| Cavaliers Down
North Carolina 10-7 to End Two-Game Losing Streak
April 5, 2003
Charlottesville, Va. - The Virginia men's lacrosse squad ended a two-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory over North Carolina this afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers move to 6-2 overall this season and 1-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels, who could have clinched the ACC regular season championship with a win, fall to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. Sophomore John Christmas led the Virginia attack with three goals in his most productive outing in four games. Rookie Matt Ward added a career-high five points on the strength of two goals and three assists. Junior Tillman Johnson was stellar in goal once again, turning back 14 Tar Heel shots, including at least five from within five yards. The seven goals by the Tar Heels are their fewest of the season, the fifth time this season UVa has held the opposition to its lowest total of the year. It is also the fifth game in a row the Cavaliers have allowed fewer than 10 goals, their longest streak in three years. "We just tried to tell the guys to relax a little bit," said UVa head coach Dom Starsia. "Confidence is a delicate thing with college kids, and when you lose two games in a row, [you tend to lose it]. I thought we looked very tentative in the first half. We weren't hanging on to the ball, gave them failed clears, and just gave the ball right back to them at times. After the first half, I just told them to settle down and play the game like they're capable of playing it." Virginia, which had a dominant defensive performance throughout, looked like a team that was unsure of itself early on. North Carolina struck first only a minute into the game on midfielder Austin Garrison's unassisted goal. The Cavaliers quickly erased the deficit and bolted to a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. North Carolina outscored UVa 3-1 in the second period as Tar Heel midfielder Steven Will scored with one second left in the half on a dodge from behind the cage to knot the score at five at halftime. Ward had a hand in three of UVa's first half tallies, while Christmas notched the Cavaliers' first two goals of the game. The Cavaliers heeded their head coach's advice by scoring the first three goals of the second half to take a lead they'd never relinquish. Christmas started the run by taking a feed from defenseman Ned Bowen and beating goalie Paul Spellman for UVa's third fast break goal of the game. Freshman Kyle Dixon scored his first goal in six games and was followed a short time later by Joe Yevoli's second goal of the contest to push the Cavalier lead to 8-5. North Carolina answered with an extra man goal by attackman Jed Prossner with a minute left in the third quarter. After failed attempts at both ends of the field during the next nine minutes, the visitors found the back of the net again with 6:47 left in the game on midfielder Lance Zimmerman's goal, which was set up by a deflected shot from attackman Scott Falatach. A.J. Shannon used his strength to overpower his defender for his second score of the game to give the Cavaliers some breathing room with 4:17 to go. Ward closed the scoring with an extra man goal with 3:13 left. "I think one of the main things was the coach telling us to settle down," said Cavalier defenseman Brett Hughes, who held Prossner, UNC's leading scorer, to one goal. "Sometimes it takes us a half to settle down. We didn't change anything on defense. Coach (Starsia) just had to remind us to get back to what we've been doing all year. When we've been successful, we're composed and not trying to do too much and we're just trying to do the fundamentals." Virginia travels to Duke next Saturday for a 2:30 pm match-up against the Blue Devils at Koskinen Stadium. The Tar Heels stay on the road with a 1 pm game at UMBC. Score by quarter North Carolina scoring (G-A): Mike McCall 2-0, Steven Will 1-1, Scott Falatach 1-0, Austin Garrison 1-0, Jed Prossner 1-0, Lance Zimmerman 1-0, Kyle Bell 0-1, Ryan Blair 0-1.
Virginia scoring (G-A): John Christmas 3-1, Matt Ward 2-3, A.J. Shannon 2-0, Joe Yevoli 2-0, Kyle Dixon 1-0, Ned Bowen 0-1, Chris Rotelli 0-1. Goalie summary: UNC-Paul Spellman 18 saves, 10 goals allowed, 51 shots faced, 60 minutes. UVa- Tillman Johnson 14 saves, 7 goals allowed, 32 shots faced, 60 minutes. Shots: UNC-32, UVa-41 |