Virginia Captures ACC Title with 12-6 Win over Duke
Cavaliers win tournament for first time in three years.
April 20, 2003

Charlottesville, Va. - Senior Billy Glading scored a career-high five goals to lead Virginia to a 12-6 win over Duke in the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament this afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. The championship is the Cavaliers' first league title since 2000 and their fifth tournament championship since 1997.

Glading scored seven goals in the tournament, including the game winner in overtime in the semifinals against North Carolina, and was named the tournament MVP.

He helped get the Cavaliers off to a quick start this afternoon by scoring all three of their goals in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils fought back, however, with a three-goal run early in the second quarter. Kevin Cassese knotted the score at three with an extra-man goal less than four minutes into the period. Matt Zash gave the Devils their only lead at 4-3 a short time later with his first goal in three games.

Freshman Kyle Dixon tied the score at four midway through the quarter by taking a pass up top from Joe Yevoli and beating A.J. Kincel from 10 yards out. John Christmas scored what proved to be the game winner 5:55 before halftime by shoveling a shot past Kincel at the goal line extended on the left side as the Cavaliers took a 5-4 lead into halftime.

Virginia extended the lead to 7-4 behind third quarter goals by Yevoli and Glading. Duke's Matt Rewkowski tallied on a nifty roll from behind to beat Johnson to end a scoring drought of nearly 21 minutes to draw the Blue Devils to within two, but it was as close as they'd get the rest of the day.

A.J. Shannon scored the first of his three goals late in the third to start the Cavaliers on a five-goal run that effectively ended Duke's chances of a comeback. Dixon scored an extra-man goal and Glading his fifth before Shannon scored UVa's final two goals. Rewkowski netted his second with just over a minute to play to complete the scoring.

Goalie Tillman Johnson and the Cavalier defense helped hold the Duke offense in check throughout the game. He was strong early on recording seven of his 13 saves in the first quarter to set a tone for the rest of the way. Overall the Cavaliers allowed two goals in the final 39 minutes.


ACC All-Tournament Team: Billy Glading (UVa)-MVP, David Burman (UVa), Kevin Cassese (Duke), Scott Falatach (UNC), Brett Hughes (UVa), Tillman Johnson (UVa), A.J. Kincel (Duke), Ryan Moran (Maryland), Matt Rewkowski (Duke), Chris Rotelli (UVa), John Wendling (Duke), Joe Yevoli (UVa).

#13 Duke (8-6/0-3) 1-3-1-1-6
#4 Virginia (9-2/2-1) 3-2-3-4-12
att-3,355

Duke scoring (G-A): Matt Rewkowski 2-0, Kevin Cassese 1-1, Matt Monfett 1-0, John Wendling 1-0, Matt Zash 1-0, Kevin Brennan 0-1, A.J. Kincel 0-1.

Virginia scoring (G-A): Billy Glading 5-0, A.J. Shannon 3-1, Kyle Dixon 2-0, Joe Yevoli 1-3, John Christmas 1-0, Chris Rotelli 0-3.

Goalie summary: Duke-A.J. Kincel 11 saves, 12 goals allowed, 36 shots faced, 60 minutes.

UVa- Tillman Johnson 13 saves, 6 goals allowed, 29 shots faced, 57 minutes; Ryan Thompson 1 save, 1 goal allowed, 6 shots faced, 3 minutes.
 

With U.Va. coddling its star QB, new linebacker grabs spotlight
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 20, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE — It was tackle for everyone else, one-hand touch for quarterback Matt Schaub.
Hitting Schaub, the 2002 ACC Player of the Year and a 2003 Heisman Trophy hopeful, was strictly forbidden at Virginia’s spring football “Festival” Saturday afternoon, and why not?

This was Common Sense 101. Woe to the coach who would allow Schaub, subject of a nascent Heisman campaign, to be injured in something as relatively inconsequential as Saturday’s controlled scrimmage, which was played in front of 6,000 fans at Scott Stadium. So Schaub enjoyed a day free from contact.

He was never more grateful for his privileged status than on one play late in the day when freshman linebacker Ahmad Brooks broke free and barreled toward him, only to pull up and tap him on the shoulder pad.

“I’d still be lying out there,” if Brooks had hit him, Schaub said. Schaub did what Schaub does, making coolly efficient reads of the defense, and hitting short passes all over the field.

But that was to be expected. For fans, days like Saturday, the official end of spring practice, are less about watching proven commodities like Schaub and more about getting a glimpse of newcomers.

Chief among them was Brooks. The 6-foot-4, 249-pound linebacker was considered the prize of Virginia’s recruiting class of 2002. Named USA Today’s national Defensive Player of the Year, Brooks was one of the most heralded Cavalier recruits ever.

Brooks was ineligible to enroll as a freshman last fall, because he had not achieved a qualifying score on the SAT. He spent the fall at Hargrave Military Academy, and enrolled at Virginia for the spring semester.

Saturday, then, was Brooks’ first appearance in a Virginia uniform. He did not disappoint.

Although statistics weren’t kept, Brooks made several tackles, pressured the quarterback at least twice and generally impressed with his speed and strength. “He makes the crowd buzz, huh?” coach Al Groh said.

Brooks did, getting reactions from the crowd when he ran down tailback Marquis Weeks, or hit backup quarterback Anthony Martinez, who was not extended the same “hands-off” courtesy as Schaub.

“It’s like having a safety at linebacker,” Schaub said.

Guard Elton Brown called Brooks “tough to handle.”

For his part, Brooks played down his performance, giving himself a ''B’’ or ''maybe a B-plus,’’ he said.

After all, it was just a spring scrimmage. But Brooks said it was an important step nonetheless.

“I’ve been waiting for this chance for so long,” Brooks said. “I was just excited to be out there.”

So were several other newcomers, including Martinez, a redshirt freshman who will likely back up Schaub, now that last year’s second-stringer, Marques Hagans, has moved to receiver.

Martinez, 6-3 and 249 pounds, showed a lively arm and a decent command of the offense, Groh said. Among his highlights was a hookup with receiver Art Thomas, a converted cornerback.

Kai Parham, a linebacker from Princess Anne High, also made his debut, playing alongside Brooks on the inside, and at defensive end on “nickel” passing situations. Parham, who redshirted last season with a back injury, was in on a couple of tackles and said he’s feeling more comfortable with his assignments.

Both Brooks and Parham began the day on the second-team defense, a situation that could change by the fall.

Tight end Patrick Estes, cornerback Jermaine Hardy and center Phillip Sims were given awards for showing the most improvement since last season.

Truth be told, Groh said the most improved player on the team could be Schaub, who completed 68.9 percent of his passes last year and threw for 28 touchdowns.

“We thought Matt had got enough merit badges, so we decided to spread it around,” Groh said.

The most valuable player? That might have been Sims, a 248-pound walk-on who redshirted last year. With Kevin Bailey, Zac Yarbrough and Mark Farrington all hurt, Sims was the only healthy center on the roster. Said Groh: “Without Phil Sims, there wouldn’t have been any spring practice.”

 

Cavaliers unseat defending champs

Billy Glading scores five goals as Virginia wins its fourth conference title of the school year.

STAFF REPORT

   CHARLOTTESVILLE - Senior midfielder Billy Glading, whose overtime goal Friday night lifted Virginia into the championship game, had a career-high five goals Sunday as the Cavaliers ended Duke's bid for a third straight ACC men's lacrosse title.

    Fourth-ranked UVa overcame a second-quarter deficit to defeat the Blue Devils 12-6 - only the second time in six tries that the Cavaliers have won the ACC tournament at home.

    The six-goal spread was the largest in five ACC games this season for Virginia, which defeated North Carolina 13-12 in the semifinals and also earlier had lost to top-seeded Maryland by one goal in the regular season.

    Duke (8-6) knocked off the Terrapins 7-6 but could not sustain its play for 60 minutes against a Cavaliers team that captured UVa's fourth conference championship of the school year and the second of the weekend, joining the UVa women's rowing team.

    The Cavaliers earlier won ACC titles in men's and women's swimming and were bidding for an ACC women's championship Sunday before losing to Maryland 12-6 in the opening game of a Klockner Stadium doubleheader.

    Virginia (9-2) scored the last two goals of the second quarter to take a 5-4 halftime lead in the men's game, then outscored the Blue Devils 7-1 to start the second half.

    UVa goalie Tillman Johnson had seven saves in the first quarter and finished with 13, compared to 11 for A.J. Kincel, Duke's goalie from Charlottesville.

    Glading, who has 10 of his 18 goals in the last three games, was named most valuable player. Fellow midfielders A.J. Shannon and Kyle Dixon combined for five goals, three by Shannon, who also had an assist.

    Virginia has regular-season games with Penn State and Denver before the NCAA pairings are announced.

ACC men's lacrosse: No upset this time
By JOHN GALINSKY : The Herald-Sun
Apr 20, 2003 : 10:39 pm ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- For three years and 5½ games, the Duke men’s lacrosse team exhibited an uncanny knack for raising its level of play in the ACC Tournament. That came to an abrupt halt Sunday.

This time it was Virginia that elevated its performance in the second half and pulled away for a 12-6 victory at Klockner Stadium, ending the Blue Devils’ streak at two straight titles.

The No. 2-seeded Cavaliers(9-2)dethroned the No. 4-seeded Devils (8-6) and claimed their fourth conference championship with a 9-1 run after falling behind 4-3 in the second quarter.

"I thought we’d rise to the occasion in the second half, but we didn’t do that today," said Duke coach Mike Pressler, whose team had won five straight ACC Tournament games despite going 3-6 in conference regular-season play since 2001.

Tournament MVP Billy Glading scored a career-high five goals for Virginia, continuing a surprising offensive surge that started eight days before at Duke. He had three goals in that 11-8 victory, then scored two (including the game-winner in overtime) in a 13-12 semifinal triumph over North Carolina on Friday.

Glading, primarily a defensive midfielder, had just eight goals in the season’s first eight games.

"Today I was able to get a couple of goals early in transition and I felt good," said Glading, who scored three times in the first quarter. "I still feel that, for me, it starts on defense. If I do my job there, I can go to the other end and try to make something happen."

Equally important for Virginia was goalie Tillman Johnson, who made seven of his 13 saves in the first period when Duke was otherwise dominating play.

"Tillman kept us in the game," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "He pulled our butt out of the fire a number of times in the first half."

Pressler said another key to the game was faceoffs. Kevin Caccese won four of the first five for the Blue Devils, but Virginia sophomore Jack deVilliers secured a majority of draws the rest of the day.

That helped the Cavaliers control possession after Duke took a 4-3 lead with three quick goals early in the second quarter. Virginia scored twice to go up 5-4 at the half, then fired in seven of the first eight goals after the break.

The Blue Devils took just 14 shots in the second half and scored on two of them, both by Matt Rewkowski.

No. 13 Duke finishes the regular season at Hofstra on Saturday, then will hope for a seventh straight NCAA Tournament bid.

"I’m not really thinking about that right now," Pressler said. "It’s been a wacky year. It’s going to be a really tough call for the committee. If we can beat Hofstra, who knows?"


 

Virginia men win first title since 2000
Five-goal run in 2nd half sends Cavaliers over Duke
By Paul McMullen
Sun Staff
Originally published April 21, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Goalie Tillman Johnson made the brilliant look routine, midfielder Billy Glading finished a career weekend and the men's lacrosse team from Virginia looked very much like a potential NCAA champion yesterday, as it routed Duke, 12-6, in the final of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
The Cavaliers, co-No. 2 in The Sun/Channel 2 rankings, won their first ACC tournament since 2000. In front of 3,355 at Klockner Stadium, Virginia (9-2) had a decisive five-goal run in the second half.

Johnson, a junior out of St. Mary's, steadied Virginia in the first quarter, when he made seven of his 14 saves. Tournament Most Valuable Player Glading, a senior midfielder from Bethesda whose overtime goal beat North Carolina in Friday's semifinals, got the Cavaliers' first three goals and finished with a career-high five.

Virginia, which suffered one-goal losses to top-ranked Johns Hopkins and Maryland on successive weekends in March, was dominant during the final 38 minutes, when it outscored Duke 9-2.

"I've never won anything in my life, and this is a happy day for all of us," Johnson said. "This is something to get the ball rolling, into the [NCAA] tournament and, hopefully, the final four."

Virginia's midfield scored 10 goals, as A.J. Shannon had three and Kyle Dixon, a freshman out of Archbishop Spalding, had two. Two former St. Paul's standouts figured in Virginia's formula, as Jack deVilliers controlled nine of the 16 faceoffs over the last three quarters, and Trey Whitty helped limit Blue Devils ace Kevin Cassese to a goal and an assist.

Seven of the past 10 Duke-Virginia games had been decided by one or two goals, but the Cavaliers blew this one open with five straight during a 12-minute stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

A three-goal outburst gave the Blue Devils a 4-3 lead with 9:19 left in the second quarter, but they scored just once during the next 38 minutes. Matt Rewskowski, the ACC's leading scorer, got Duke (8-6) to within 7-5 with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter, but Virginia mixed in some zone and the visitors didn't connect again until Johnson had taken a bow and a seat on the bench.

"We've been a second-half team all year," said Virginia coach Dom Starsia, who got an early gift to celebrate his 51st birthday today. "I like that quality, but I'd like us to figure out the first-half thing."

The Blue Devils were denied in their bid to become the first team to win three straight tournaments since North Carolina took the first six, from 1989 to 1994.

The Blue Devils, who have gone 1-5 in conference play the past two regular seasons, had made Maryland their fifth straight ACC tournament victim in Friday's semifinals. Duke might have to top Hofstra on Saturday to gain its seventh straight NCAA berth.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't play better in the second half," Duke coach Mike Pressler said. "Virginia was a level ahead of us. You could see that."