Virginia men fall in OT heartbreaker
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
April 30, 2005

BALTIMORE - There were three out-of-the-ordinary plays in the ACC Tournament Semifinals men’s lacrosse contest between Maryland and Virginia on Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium. Only one of them went for Virginia, two of them went against the Cavaliers and so did the game.

Maxwell Ritz skied to whack in a rebounded shot with 1:20 left in overtime to lift the Terrapins to a 9-8 victory over Virginia.

The Terrapins (7-5), who all but clinched a NCAA bid with the victory, will face top-seeded Duke in Sunday’s ACC title game.

“I just got a nice rebound and then batted it in. It was pretty lucky actually,” said Ritz, who rebounded the initial shot from teammate Bill McGlone.

Added Virginia coach Dom Starsia: “We had two defenders go up for the rebound. They were right there but their guy got to it first.”

Brendan Healy and Maxwell Ritz each had two goals for the Terrapins.

Kyle Dixon had two goals for Virginia (9-3), which will now await its NCAA Tournament selection on May 8.

Ritz’s winning goal came two and a half minutes after Virginia appeared to have won the game only to have it nullified by its own timeout. After a mad scrum for possession, junior attackman Matt Ward lobbed a pass behind his back to defenseman Rob Bateman. Bateman then fed a pass to J.J. Morrissey, who then fired a shot past Maryland goalie Harry Alford.

Virginia wins, right?

No.

Starsia had signaled for a timeout prior to Bateman gaining possession and thus Virginia was awarded the stoppage, not the goal.

“We were struggling to get the ball into the box and then threw it to a long pole [defenseman]. I hope you could see it from my perspective,” Starsia said. “I thought it was the right call at the moment.”

Added Ward: “I was calling for the timeout, too. Then, I was like ‘timeout, no, no, no timeout.’”

After trailing 4-3 at halftime, Virginia rallied to gain a 7-5 advantage early in the fourth quarter. That two-goal advantage came courtesy of another of the evening’s odd plays.

With 11:29 left in the game, Dixon dodged past his defender and then attempted what appeared to be a pass to teammate Matt Poskay. Poskay, however, ducked underneath the ball and it finished in the back of the net for a surprising goal.

“I was trying to get the ball to Matt. It really was a pass and I guess it was lucky that it went in,” Dixon said.

It appeared that fortunate goal would be the key tally for the Cavaliers, yet it was the last break for them in this contest. Andrew Schwartzman and then McGlone scored in the final five minutes of regulation to knot the game at 7-7.

Lost amid the late-game heroics was the performance of UVa defenseman Mike Culver. Culver held Maryland leading-scorer Joe Walters without a goal for the first time in

27 games.

It even surpassed Culver’s effort on Walters just weeks ago when he held Walters to just one goal in Virginia’s 10-2 regular-season victory over Maryland.

While Maryland coach Dave Cottle was peppered with questions regarding his team’s now apparent NCAA bid, the coach reminded bystanders of one thing.

“We didn’t come here to win just one game. We are the defending ACC Champions and we came into this weekend with the goal of winning two games,” Cottle said.

Sherard and Byington find
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
April 30, 2005

While new Virginia men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao continues to assemble his coaching staff, two members of former coach Pete Gillen’s staff have found new locales.

According to a source, assistant coach Alexis Sherard will accept a position at Liberty University by early next week. Sherard had served as an assistant for Gillen for the past six seasons.

Gillen’s director of basketball operations, Mark Byington, has been named an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky under that school’s new basketball coach, Jeff Neubauer. Neubauer previously had been an assistant for John Beilein at West Virginia.

Byington was in Charlottesville just this past season but previously served as a graduate assistant for Gillen from 1999-2001. Byington, a Salem native and former standout at UNC-Wilmington, also was an assistant at College of Charleston.

Walt Fuller, who gained a reputation as a strong recruiter in his seven seasons at UVa, and John Fitzpatrick are the other remaining members of Gillen’s staff. Their futures were still uncertain as of late Friday afternoon, but at this point it appears they will not be retained on Leitao’s staff.

Gene Cross, who served as an assistant for Leitao the last three seasons at DePaul, has been the only coached named to the new staff. Both former Siena head coach Rob Lanier and Boston University assistant coach Jason Williford, a Richmond native and former UVa standout, have interviewed with Leitao for positions on the staff.

Crowd figures a conversation piece
Fork Union wide receiver in elite company
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

In a brief stopover in Blacksburg for the Nike All-Star Camp, the first question I got Sunday concerned attendance at Virginia’s spring football game.

“Why didn’t you put in the paper?”

To be honest, I chose to write a feature on UVa’s emerging defensive end, Chris Long, and never thought to put the crowd total in the story. There wasn’t a score in there either.

At the time of the game, my only thought at the announcement of the crowd (6,124) was that it didn’t seem accurate. I was told that spectators were being counted at only one gate, which didn’t account for the people — mostly luxury-box guests — who entered through the same Bryant Hall door that I did.

I suppose, if you were doing a story comparing the scenes at the Virginia Tech and Virginia spring games on respective Saturdays, you would have mentioned that Tech had an estimated 34,000 fans at its game and that Virginia had perhaps one-fourth that many.

There may have been several reasons for the disparity. The weather was better for Tech’s game, Tech plays a game instead of a festival, spring games are more of a tradition in Blacksburg, Tech is coming off a better season, early 2005 forecasts are more promising for Tech than UVa, etc., etc.

I’m not sure that accounts for a 25,000-spectator differential. While some UVa fans might disagree, I just think Tech fans are more rabid about their football. Plus, Tech is a bigger school (25,600 enrollment at Tech, versus 19,500 for UVa). Both schools have a number of fans who are not alumni, but there are a lot more Tech alumni than Virginia alumni.

If Virginia wasn’t filling its seats during the regular season, you might say the Cavaliers had a problem, but both teams are close to capacity in their 60,000-plus stadiums. More importantly, Virginia continues to do quite well in fundraising, which minimizes spring-game attendance in the grand scheme of things.

SOMEHOW, IN the process of picking up a prize pack of Utz snacks for winning a trivia contest, I got involved in a midweek flap over comments made by ESPN radio mid-day host Colin Cowherd.

Roanoke talk-show host Greg Roberts, never one to pass up a shot at the Cavaliers, cited Cowherd’s comments on Virginia’s seven draft picks and how UVa must have had “coaching issues” to finish 8-4.

What Roberts didn’t mention was that Cowherd also said that Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen is one of the top 10 coaches in the country. Considering that Maryland finished 5-6, that must mean the Terrapins have “player issues.”

You occasionally hear comments about Groh overworking his players. That’s what center Kevin Mawae said after Groh’s one season as head coach of the Jets, but I honestly have not heard that complaint from a Virginia player in Groh’s first four seasons.

If the Cavaliers were the victims of burnout or overuse, I think it would be reflected in their play over the last month of the season, but they finished Groh’s first season with a December victory over Penn State and won bowl games in 2002 and 2003. They lost three of their last five this year, but did win what once appeared to be a critical game at Georgia Tech.

ON SPORTS ILLUSTATED’S Web site, Stewart Mandel, whose name I did not immediately recognize, picked a post-spring ball Top 25 that included Virginia Tech at No. 6 and UVa among five schools to watch outside the Top 25.

Since Miami was ninth and Florida State was 18th, presumably that means that Tech ranks as Mandel’s preseason ACC favorite, although I can’t see the tradition-steeped ACC media picking that way. What may have surprised me the most about Mandel’s picks, which can be found on sportsillustrated.cnn.com, is that Georgia Tech was 24th.

If the Yellow Jackets are the fourth-best team in the ACC, perhaps I haven’t been paying attention.

MY STOPOVER AT the Nike Camp was only brief because it was ending when I got there at 2 p.m.

Snowflakes were falling at the time, but I understand there were nearly 300 prospects in attendance, of whom 6-1, 195-pound Brandon Caleb from Fork Union Military Academy was one of the most intriguing.

Caleb has been at Fork Union since the eighth grade and plays for the undergraduate team coached by Mickey Sullivan. Sullivan has coached the likes of Eddie George, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1995, and Chris Perry, who was fourth in 2003. George played at Ohio State and Perry at Michigan, and it appears that Caleb will be recruited at the same level.

“Already has been,” Sullivan said Friday. “I’ve gotten to be really good friends with a lot of people really quickly.”

Sullivan said that Caleb, a 3.4 student who met NCAA eligibility standards on his first standardized tests, got his first offer from Oklahoma and subsequently has been offered by Nebraska, Michigan State, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Virginia.

“I’m a great picker of talent,” Sullivan said tongue-in-cheek. “Seriously, he was just here. I went to a middle-school game a couple of years ago and thought to myself, ‘Man, that kid’s good. Wonder who he is?’ ''

Recruiters who stop by Fork Union this month might find that Caleb, whose home is in Richmond, isn’t Sullivan’s only prospect. If Sullivan’s information was correct, 5-10, 180-pound Jamal Schulters was the New York City offensive player of the year in 2003 before enrolling at Fork Union.

Schulters has some ground to cover academically, but his 4.4-second 40-yard time is in a class with Caleb’s.

Flagship sports are on the money
Tech football, U.Va. hoops reign as cash kings among the state's athletic programs
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Apr 29, 2005

Virginia Tech reported football revenue of more than $24 million during the 2003-04 school year, during which the University of Virginia men's basketball program generated approximately $6.8 million.

Hokies football and Cavaliers basketball, not surprisingly, were the chief money-makers among the state's 13 Division I schools in those high-profile sports, according to Office of Postsecondary Education. The OPE, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education, annually collects athletics programs data from colleges and universities to make the information available to prospective student-athletes.

Virginia Tech football, factoring in reported expenses, made about $11 million in'03-04. Virginia basketball earned approximately $3.6 million.
Click Here.

The figures, the latest available, suggest those programs are in fine financial shape. But their bottom lines pale in comparison to a couple of heavy-hitters in Division I athletics. University of Notre Dame football, for instance, reported revenues in excess of $38 million, with expenses of approximately $11 million. Duke University basketball reported revenue of about $11 million and expenses of around $5 million.

For the purposes of these reports, "expenses" are defined as appearance guarantees paid by the schools, athletically related student aid, contract services, equipment, fundraising activities, game-day operating expenses, promotional activities, recruiting, salaries and benefits, travel, supplies and all other expenses attributable to athletics.

"Revenues" are intended to include appearance guarantees gained by the schools (conference affiliation, bowls and tournaments), concessions, contributions, institutional support, program advertising and sales, radio and television, royalties, signage and other sponsorships, sports camps, state or other government support, student-activity fees, ticket and luxury-box sales and all other financial gains related to athletics.

A wide disparity among state schools in some categories is evident, though the figures may not reflect reality in some cases. "There is concern that not everyone is interpreting the questions the same way," said Randall D. Butt, Virginia Tech's associate athletic director for financial affairs.

His view is shared by other athletic department personnel who annually deal with the reports.

"Each institution has different internal structures that may report things differently," said Terry Driscoll, William and Mary's athletic director. "When they report, they're reporting how they do it, but it may not be apples to apples [compared] to other institutions."

The financial statement provided by Virginia Commonwealth University athletics, as an example, is significantly different from those of other schools on the same competitive level because of the manner in which VCU compiles its data, according to Jeff Cupps, VCU's senior associate athletic director.

"I really don't think [analyzing these figures] are the way people are comparing schools," Cupps said. "If it were, that would be a shame. You can come to some bad conclusions."

One-time payments can create a misconception. Virginia Tech women's basketball during'03-04 accepted a check of more than $700,000 from the University of Kansas, which bought out the contract of former Hokies coach Bonnie Henrickson, now the Jayhawks coach.

Large spending gaps between major universities and other schools are clearly illustrated by the OPE figures and other financial data collected by The Times-Dispatch. The University of Virginia, for instance, spent about $2.6 million during the'03-04 school year on football coaches' salaries and benefits for its Division I-A program, which belongs to the ACC. VMI, in comparison, spent $526,907 on football coaches' salaries and benefits during the same year for its Division I-AA program, which belongs to the Big South Conference.

Virginia Tech, also affiliated with the ACC, reported football ticket-sales revenue of about $11 million. James Madison generated $427,716 in combined gate receipts for all of its sports.

Virginia Tech spent $159,255 on women's basketball recruiting during'03-04. During the same year, Norfolk State's entire athletic department spent $49,357 on recruiting.

M. Ritz's OT goal for Terps leaves Virginia in cold, 8-7
Maryland was down 7-5; Duke next in ACC final
By Gary Lambrecht
Sun Staff
Originally published April 30, 2005
 

After struggling for nearly three weeks, the ninth-ranked Maryland Terrapins are recovering, and just in time for a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Last night in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, third-seeded Maryland looked nothing like the team that got embarrassed four weeks ago at Virginia and recently went through a 1-4 slide.

This group of Terps shut down second-seeded, No. 3 Virginia in the fourth quarter, forced overtime with two late goals, then won it, 8-7, because of the instincts and hustle of a freshman.

With 1:20 left in overtime, attackman Maxwell Ritz leaped to grab a carom off Virginia goalie Kip Turner, who had just saved a shot by Maryland junior midfielder Bill McGlone. While still in the air 4 yards in front of the goal, Ritz pushed home the goal that lifted the Terps to a come-from-behind victory before an announced crowd of 5,000 at M&T Bank Stadium.

The victory, Maryland's second straight, sent the Terps (7-5) into tomorrow's tournament title game against top-seeded, No. 2 Duke (14-1) and sealed Maryland's at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Blue Devils got four goals from freshman attackman Zack Greer and eliminated North Carolina, 13-11, in last night's other semifinal.

"It was really just luck, to be honest with you. I didn't even know it went in. I just kind of threw my stick at it," said Ritz, who finished with a career-high two goals.

The Terps, who dropped a 10-2 decision to Virginia in Charlottesville on April 2, outplayed the Cavaliers (9-3) for most of the night. They outshot Virginia 23-15 in the first half, did not fail in 22 clearing attempts, committed just 14 turnovers to Virginia's 22 and got 12 saves from sophomore goalie Harry Alford, including two in overtime.

Maryland, which also got two goals apiece from junior midfielder Brendan Healy and senior attackman Andrew Schwartzman, also won despite not getting a goal for the first time in 27 games from junior attackman Joe Walters. He came up empty for only the second time in his career, thanks to excellent work by Virginia junior defenseman Michael Culver.

The Terps also benefited from some strange luck as Virginia junior midfielder J.J. Morrissey's goal 19 seconds into overtime was waved off. Virginia coach Dom Starsia had called time, sensing the Cavaliers were about to commit a turnover as they struggled to get into their offense.

"Our kids have a lot of pride. We feel like we've been playing some winning lacrosse, and we haven't been getting rewarded for it," Maryland coach Dave Cottle said. "This isn't about relief; it's about winning the ACC championship. We're the defending ACC champs. We didn't come here to win one game. We came here to win two."

Maryland overcame its share of obstacles before scoring the game's final three goals. The Cavaliers took a 7-5 lead with 11:23 left on a bizarre goal. Junior midfielder Kyle Dixon scored his second goal of the night after teammate Matt Poskay ducked under his pass at the top of the crease. The ball slipped past Alford.

Then, with just over 10 minutes left, junior attackman Xander Ritz - Maxwell's brother - picked off a pass near midfield, raced in for a one-on-one confrontation with Turner - and missed the shot.

But Maryland persevered, while Virginia blew two fourth-quarter clears and turned the ball over seven times in the fourth period. Schwartzman scored an extra-man goal with 5:33 left to pull the Terps to within 7-6. McGlone then made his only goal count in a huge way as he tied the score at 7 with 2:20 left in regulation.

In the earlier game, Duke sprinted to a 10-3 lead late in the third quarter, then absorbed a five-goal run by Carolina (5-8) in a span of 2:50 as the Tar Heels cut the lead to 10-8 with 13:21 left.

But Duke junior attackman Dan Flannery stopped the run with a goal, and after Carolina cut the lead to 11-9, Greer scored back-to-back goals to put Duke ahead 13-9 with 4:14 left.

UVA women hold Maryland at bay, 15-11
Cavs' offense too much in tournament semifinal; Duke rebuffs UNC, 11-9
By Katherine Dunn
Sun Staff
Originally published April 30, 2005
 

Virginia's women's lacrosse team got off to the start it wanted in yesterday's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament opener against Maryland.

The No. 7 Cavaliers jumped on the No. 8 Terrapins with three goals in less than 2 1/2 minutes and the defending ACC champs went on to a 15-11 victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

Virginia will meet No. 3 Duke for the title tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Maryland's defense succeeded in holding the Cavaliers' top goal scorer, Tyler Leachman, without a goal, but Virginia had so many offensive weapons that the Terps struggled to contain them all.

Cary Chasney led the Cavaliers with five goals while Amy Appelt, Kate Breslin and Nikki Lieb had three each.

In the early going, the teams set a frenetic pace, scoring 10 goals in less than 12 minutes, but that was fine with Virginia coach Julie Myers. Her defending national champions maintained at least a two-goal lead throughout.

"We set the tempo right from the beginning," said Myers. "We were able to execute fast breaks off draw controls, off of saves and defensive plays, so we were able to really run the ball. We like to push. That's part of our style ... and we've got the players who can pull it off critically well."

Several times off those draw controls, the Cavaliers (13-3) simply beat the Terps' defense to the goal with their passing. At other times, Virginia moved the ball quickly in its settled offense, creating openings in the arc.

"They didn't have a chance to 'double' only because our ball movement was so crisp," said Appelt. "Everywhere we wanted to throw the ball, our teammate was there. We made them run to try to chase us and it really worked to our advantage."

Maryland defender Greta Sommers said the Terps (10-6) were trying out a new defensive plan and there were still a few glitches although Becky Clipp had seven ground balls and five caused turnovers.

"We were just getting used to [the new defense]," said Sommers. "Unfortunately, we had some miscommunications and we're working on it."

Virginia took its biggest lead into halftime at 8-4, but the Terps rallied to within 8-6 on goals from Kelly Kasper and Delia Cox in the early minutes of the second half.

Over the next seven minutes, the Terps had their best chance to make a move, but they could not take advantage when the Cavaliers' offense stalled for about 10 minutes.

Appelt fired wide on two straight shots, including a free-position attempt; Leachman missed a shot, and Terps goalie Kirah Miles made a fine save against Leachman's free-position shot.

The Terps, however, turned the ball over on all four possessions during that stretch, twice in the arc. Chasney and Lieb then scored back-to-back goals to boost the Cavaliers' lead to 10-6 with 18:51 to go.