Doug Ritchay column: Bennett will win as Virginia's coach, mark my words
April 5, 2009

Wednesday, Tony Bennett was introduced as the new men's basketball coach at Virginia, which means I have to push aside my Washington State hat to make room for my new Virginia hat.

It's no secret Bennett is my all-time favorite college coach (actually a tie with his father, Dick), college basketball player and NBA player. I had the fortune of covering Bennett when I was going to school at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and then after I left to enter the work world, as he was two years behind me.

That was the only time in my life I made more money than he did, and I'm way behind now.

During that time I witnessed the greatest era of basketball at UWGB, and watched someone develop into an NBA player. But beyond all that, Bennett was as humble as they get.

Always a genuine person, just like his father, Tony always respected the people he talked to. And following another lead of his father, Bennett has turned into one of college basketball's best, young coaches.

It's no secret how Bennett has made it to Virginia — hard work. That's how he reached the NBA, and that's why he's coaching in the ACC now.

Here's an example of his work ethic:

One offseason while at UWGB, the school was putting in a new floor at the Phoenix Sports Center (team's practice facility), which meant there was no place on campus to work on his game.

If you knew Tony, you know he would not accept this. So he improvised. He went into the pool area at the sports center and dribbled on the deck for a couple hours a day, just working on his ball handling. Then at night, he would find a local high school and go work on his shot.

Bennett was obviously gifted, but he never settled, thinking he could always get better, and he did.

That work ethic has transferred into his coaching and recruiting. While playing and coaching professionally in Australia, after a leg injury cut short his NBA career at three seasons, he developed contacts.

When he joined his father, Dick, at Wisconsin, Tony helped the Badgers sign Kirk Penney, who Tony knew from Australia. Penney turned into a real good player for the Badgers.

Tony then followed Dick to Washington State where Tony was the key recruiter, and eventually took over and led the Cougars to 69 wins and two NCAA appearances, including a Sweet 16 showing, in three seasons.

That winning was off the charts at Wazzu.

When Virginia announced Bennett as its new coach, some fans on message boards questioned the hiring. They wanted Tubby Smith or Jeff Capel.

They criticized the hiring while not knowing anything about Bennett. I know plenty about Bennett and these people will one day like this hiring.

The Green Bay Preble graduate, with his dad, resurrected a basketball program that quite frankly was the Siberia of the Pac-10. This past season, even though the Cougars were 17-16, they swept Arizona State, beat Arizona and won at UCLA for the second time in 53 years. All were NCAA tournament teams.

At Virginia, he'll face a similar situation as he and his father did at Washington State. Except that Virginia has done some winning, including sharing the ACC title in 2007.

All Bennett will do is roll up his sleeves and go to work and do the best he can do. Will he unseat North Carolina or Duke as the programs to beat in the ACC? No, but he'll make Virginia a winner.

He's been a winner all his life and that's not changing now.

Coaches say U.Va. not a tough sell
RECRUITING - Norm Wood | Inside Recruiting
April 5, 2009

Though Ritchie McKay knows his professional life will always be a challenge as long as he's recruiting men's basketball players against programs like Duke and North Carolina, he doesn't believe it could possibly be as difficult as his time at Portland State.

When he took over the Portland State program in 1995, the Vikings were fielding a men's basketball team for the first time since '81, and they were making the transition from Division II to Division I in the process. McKay said Portland State had to endure a 10-year exclusion from NCAA tournament eligibility, including an NCAA-mandated eight years while moving up in divisions (a rule that has since been changed), and two additional years of probation when it entered the Big Sky Conference.

"We didn't have any uniforms," said McKay, the new associate head coach at the University of Virginia. "We didn't have any basketballs. We didn't have any equipment. I mean, you talk about a tough sell. 'Uh, yeah, we can't go to the tournament for 10 years.'"

McKay learned to leave no stone unturned in his recruiting efforts, a trait he carried with him to future head coaching stops at Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Liberty. It's also a characteristic that made him an attractive candidate for U.Va.'s associate head coach position to good friend and new U.Va. coach Tony Bennett, a man who traversed the globe to find basketball talent of his own as an assistant at Wisconsin and during his days at Washington State.

McKay and Bennett are the very definition of basketball recruiting nomads. As they both prepare to make their first forays into Atlantic Coast Conference coaching, they both agree on one thing: they have plenty to sell in Charlottesville.

"The one thing about Virginia is there's a ton of players in the state," McKay said. "There's a natural place to draw from. I think with the (University of Virginia) and the reputation, you can recruit nationally."

Bennett is no stranger to the concept of difficult recruiting jobs. Washington State's campus is located in the city of Pullman, which has a population of around 25,000 residents. It's not exactly the most cosmopolitan of locales for a recruit.

"I just think you look for the best players," Bennett said. "We've recruited nationally and internationally. You know, Pullman isn't a heavily populated area or a hotbed for basketball. That's certainly one of the appealing things (in Charlottesville) — the proximity to talent."

With so little in Pullman to attract recruits, Bennett had to expand his recruiting reach even beyond the borders of the United States. His roster this season included players from Florida, Australia, Germany and Serbia. Two of his leading scorers last season were from Hawaii and Wisconsin, respectively. If he had stayed at Washington State, he was preparing to add a player from North Carolina, and another one from Australia.

Dick Bennett, Tony's father and the former coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin and Washington State, thinks recruiting the ACC will be a welcome change for his son.

"Even Seattle is five-and-a-half hours from Pullman, so you can imagine why he had to go great distances to recruit," Dick said. "That's why he had a number of international players, because it was hard to get players out of L.A. with UCLA and Southern Cal there, and Washington, of course, owned Seattle.

"Wherever he went all over the West Coast, he'd run into the glamour schools, so he went to Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and had kids from all those places. I think that kind of travel was very, very hard."

As far as the pressure of recruiting in the ACC is concerned, that's overblown, in McKay's estimation. It's all a matter of how you look at.

"Pressure is the University of New Mexico, which is a miniature University of Kentucky job," said McKay, who was New Mexico's coach from 2002-07. "You're getting written about every day, and you're the face of the program. I've been through that. I want to do a great job for Tony and the University of Virginia, so I don't consider it pressure. I'm just so excited about being able to sell so many great things."



 

Virginia pounds Maryland in series finale
Jay Jenkins
Published: April 6, 2009

Prior to Sunday’s series finale with Maryland, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor elected to have his players only take a limited batting practice session indoors.
The Cavaliers made up for it in live action, taking extended batting practice against the Terrapins’ pitching staff.
Virginia pounded out 19 hits, including four doubles and two homers, as it claimed the series with a 17-2 laugher at Davenport Field.
The victory for the Cavaliers (26-5, 8-5 ACC) came less than 24 hours after Maryland (14-17, 4-11) pulled of a stunning one-run victory, 8-7.
“I was frustrated and our players were frustrated [Saturday], but you have to handle it the right way,” O’Connor said.
Virginia certainly put the setback in the rear-view mirror early, taking a 9-0 lead after a touchdown-like performance in a
seven-run second inning that ended the day for Maryland starter Matt Fullerton (1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER) prematurely.
The biggest blow in the frame came from catcher Franco Valdes with the bases loaded.
The junior pounded a 1-0 fastball from reliever Sander Beck over the wall in left-center field for a grand slam and his fourth homer of the season.
“[Beck] wasn’t in the zone at all for the two previous batters and I was hoping he was going to try to get in the zone somehow and throw a fastball over the plate and I could hit it,” said Valdes, who sprinted out the batter’s box. “I have been struggling with the bat and when I hit it I was hoping for a double.”
Phil Gosselin, who finished with three hits and drove in five runs, added to the lead in the third inning with a three-run homer.
The run support was more than enough for newly-appointed starter Tyler Wilson. The sophomore went five innings, scattering six hits and allowing two earned runs.
It marked as the first league start of the right-hander’s career.
“It’s a great feeling. You work your whole life to try and get here and no matter what they want me to do I am willing to do it, but it is great to be in a weekend role like that,” said Wilson, who fanned five batters. “I hope I can go out there and keep contributing to our success.”
Wilson improved to 5-2 on the season and gave way for four relievers, who threw an inning apiece, to close out the contest.
“I felt good today,” Wilson said. “I tried not to do too much. Your mentality might be a little different as a starter compared to a reliever, but I was trying to just throw strikes, work quick innings and get some momentum for our team.”
As impressive as the offensive explosion early was for Virginia, the ability to score lone runs in the fifth and seventh innings and three in the sixth impressed O’Connor.
“A lot of times you see teams put up a lot of runs up early in a ballgame and they coast to the finish line. We didn’t,” O’Connor said. “We took advantage of pretty much every opportunity that we had today.
“That shows that this team doesn’t take innings off.”
Virginia’s win, coupled with victories by North Carolina and Miami, complicates the Coastal Division standings. The Cavaliers are one game back of Georgia Tech (9-4 ACC) and Miami (10-5) and a half-game behind UNC (9-5) in a tight battle.
After entertaining Stony Brook on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Cavaliers will open a weekend series at Georgia Tech on Friday.

 

No. 10 Baseball Mauls Maryland, 17-2
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/05/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 10 Virginia baseball team racked up 19 hits overall and scored 12 runs in its first three trips to the plate in a 17-2 victory over Maryland Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers take the ACC series, two games to one.

Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) led the Cavaliers’ offense with three hits, including a home run, and a career-high five RBI. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) matched a career high with four hits, while John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) added three hits. Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) had the big hit of the day, a second-inning grand slam.

Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) made the first ACC start of his career and went 5.0 strong innings, allowing two earned runs, six hits, one walk and five walks. He earned the win and improved to 5-2 this year. The UVa bullpen was stellar as well, with Neal Davis (Jr., Baltimore, Md.), Will Roberts (Fr., Richmond, Va.), Sean Lucas (R-Fr., Fishkill, N.Y.) and Justin Thompson (Fr., Danville, Va.) combining to allow just two hits and two walks over the final four innings.

Maryland starter Matt Fullerton (3-3) took the loss and lasted 1.2 innings, giving up six earned runs, five hits and two walks while striking out two.

UVa (26-5, 8-5 ACC) jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead, thanks to a Gosselin sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.).

The Cavaliers then poured it on in the second inning, scoring seven runs – all after the first two batters were retired. The seven-run outburst was UVa’s most runs in one inning in an ACC game since tallying seven at Wake Forest on March 10, 2007.

Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) started the rally with a two-out walk, the stole second base and scored on a Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) double. Gosselin walked, and Grovatt followed with his second RBI single of the day, which spelled the end of the day for Fullerton. Sander Beck came on in relief and walked Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) before Valdes took a 1-0 offering and blasted it over the wall in deep left-center field for his first career grand slam and his fourth home run of the year.

Virginia tacked on three runs in the third inning when Gosselin cranked a three-run blast to left-center. It was Gosselin’s fourth long ball of the season.

Maryland (14-17, 4-11) cracked the scoreboard in the fourth inning on a A.J. Casario sacrifice fly, and the Terrapins added a tally in the fifth inning when Gerry Spessard tripled and then scored on a Wilson wild pitch.

Virginia scored in its half of the fifth when Gosselin doubled to lead off, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a Proscia sacrifice fly.

UVa added three more runs in the sixth. Tyler Biddix (So., Richmond, Va.), John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) and Parker hit consecutive single to start the inning and score the first run. One out later, Gosselin singled to center field to score Barr, and Parker came home on the same play when center fielder Will Greenberg overran the ball for an error.

The Cavaliers posted their 17th run in the seventh inning when pinch hitter Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) drew a walk with the bases loaded.

Virginia next plays a two-game midweek series with Stony Brook Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games start at 6 p.m. at Davenport Field. UVa returns to ACC play next weekend, traveling to No. 3 Georgia Tech for a three-game series.

 

Men’s Tennis Scores 7-0 Win Over North Carolina
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/05/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team clinched at least a share of its sixth consecutive ACC regular season title when it shutout No. 39 North Carolina 7-0 Sunday afternoon before 502 fans at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers improve to 24-0 overall and 9-0 in the ACC with the victory, while the Tar Heels fall to 14-7 (3-5 ACC).

“It was great to close out our regular season home schedule on such a beautiful day and in front our fans that once again made this an unbelievable environment to play in,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “The crowd gave us a lot of energy and we played well overall. We are implementing some of the things we have been working on in practice. This was another step in the right direction for our team.”

The Cavaliers took the 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) needed little time to dispatch of Andrew Crone and Alex Rafiee, 8-3 at No. 2. Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) clinched the opening point for the Cavaliers with their 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles over Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter.

Virginia carried the momentum from doubles into singles where they quickly clinched the dual match victory. Courtney cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luke Mojica at No. 5 singles to make the score 2-0. Singer added a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hunter at No. 6 singles to make the score 3-0. Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) gave the Cavaliers the dual match win as he completed his 6-2, 6-2 win over Crone at the No. 3 position. Singh then added a 6-4, 6-3 win over Taylor Fogleman at No. 2 singles. Dominic Inglot (London, England), playing on his senior day, rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 win over Clay Donato at the top position. Barrick completed the sweep, rallying from down 5-2, in the third set for a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (2) win over Boyajian at No. 4 singles.

The win was also Virginia’s 40th consecutive win over an ACC opponent (regular season and tournament) and 47th consecutive home victory, extending both school records.

Virginia enters the final week of the regular season at 9-0 in the conference, with every other team having at least two ACC losses this season. The Cavaliers have now won at least a share of the ACC regular season title every season since 2004.

“What a honor to have in one of the best leagues in country,” said Boland. “We are proud of the accomplishment but also realize that we have a lot of work in front of us. I see us improving an awful lot in the upcoming weeks.”

The Cavaliers will conclude their regular season schedule next weekend as they visit Wake Forest and NC State.

No. 1 Virginia 7, No. 39 North Carolina 0

Doubles
1. #27 Donato/Fogleman (UNC) def. #14 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) 8-5
2. #6 Barrick/Singh (UVa) def. Crone/Rafiee (UNC) 8-3
3. Singer/Courtney (UVa) def. Boyajian/Hunter (UNC) 8-5

Singles
1. #17 Dominic Inglot (UVa) def. #35 Clay Donato (UNC) 5-7, 6-3, 10-7
2. #25 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #53 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) 6-4, 6-3
3. #20 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. Andrew Crone (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
4. #73 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (2)
5. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Luke Mojica (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
6. #82 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Zach Hunter (UNC) 6-4, 6-2

Order of Finish
Doubles: 2,3,1
Singles: 5,6,3,2,1,4
Attendance: 502


 

Cavs earn share of ACC crown
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 6, 2009

Nothing Dom Inglot tried from the baseline was working very well on Sunday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center — or was looking very pretty.
Forehands were all over the place. Topspin backhands were sailing long. Inglot’s serve was spotty.
Things got so bad that the London, England native, in the middle of a game, borrowed the racket of teammate Michael Shabaz, who was playing on the next court.
Inglot’s play seemed to get even worse.
But then a funny thing happened. Inglot decided to completely abandon any semblance of a baseline game and began charging the net at every opportunity.
The new strategy worked like a charm for the Virginia senior.
Inglot, who was down a set and a service break, came back with a vengeance on Senior Day, shocking UNC’s Clay Donato, 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 (super tiebreaker) in the No. 1 singles match.
No. 1 Virginia clinched at least a share of its sixth consecutive ACC regular season title, shutting out No. 39 UNC, 7-0, in front of a crowd of 502.
If the win sounded dominating, well, that was kind of the whole point.
“Coach [Brian Boland] really emphasized that,” said Inglot, known as The Dominator. “He wanted us to show everyone in the country that we’re an intimidating team that can win 7-0 or 6-1.”
Virginia took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh made quick work of Andrew Crone and Alex Rafiee, 8-3, at No. 2.
Drew Courtney and Lee Singer clinched the opening point for the Cavaliers with their 8-5 win at No. 3 over Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter.
In singles, Courtney cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luke Mojica at No. 5. Singer added a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hunter at No. 6 to make the score 3-0.
Michael Shabaz gave the Cavaliers the dual-match win as he completed his 6-2, 6-2 win over Crone at No. 3.
“I was serving well,” Shabaz said, “and usually when I’m serving well, I can get on a few returns and it makes my life a lot easier.
“I felt like the ball was coming off my racket nicely and I could kind of bully him around the court.”
Singh added a 6-4, 6-3 win over Taylor Fogleman at No. 2 singles and Barrick completed the sweep, rallying from 5-2 in the third set for a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (2) win over Boyajian at No. 4.
But one of the most encouraging things to come out of the day was Inglot’s ability to adjust his game on the fly — something he will likely have to do as Virginia enters postseason play.
Inglot had his epiphany about midway through the second set.
“I just told coach, ‘Listen, I’m going to come to the net and I’m going to chip and charge. I’m going to bluff it out basically because I’m not going to win from the back. I can’t get the ball in,’” Inglot said.
“I did that and he started panicking…I think he felt like he had to come up with something every time, whereas before he felt like he was letting me make the mistakes. Suddenly, the emphasis was put on him.”
Inglot said it felt great to pick up the victory in the final regular-season match of his career year in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
“I never thought the end of my career would come,” he said. “It felt surreal. I really wanted to go out with a bang.”
The win was Virginia’s 40th consecutive win over an ACC opponent (regular season and tournament) and 47th consecutive home victory, extending both school records.
The Cavaliers have now won at least a share of the ACC regular season title every season since 2004.
“What an honor to have in one of the best leagues in country,” Boland said. “We are proud of the accomplishment, but also realize that we have a lot of work in front of us. I see us improving an awful lot in the coming weeks.”

Cavs win final home match
Virginia remains undefeated, prepares for road trip to finish regular season; Inglot narrowly wins second set en route to win at No. 1
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Published: Monday, April 6 2009

Sophomore Michael Shabaz, who won 6-2, 6-2, helped Virginia honor its seniors with a 7-0 win. Dominic Inglot would not be denied a victory on his senior day. After he and sophomore partner Michael Shabaz lost to North Carolina in doubles for the second consecutive match, Inglot made a stand.

“Senior day, last day here, regular season — I didn’t want to lose two matches in a day,” Inglot said. “I haven’t done that all year, and I didn’t want that to be the first on senior day. I really just tried to figure a way to win ... and go out with a bang.”

Despite the motivation that spurred on the No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team (24-0, 9-0 ACC), No. 17 Inglot’s comeback did not come easily against North Carolina’s No. 35 junior Clay Donato. Inglot dropped the first set 5-7 and trailed for much of the second set.

“It was really warm today, so the tension in my racket was pretty loose,” Inglot said. “I was serving really big, I just couldn’t make any ground strikes — everything was flying.”

With the chance to win his last home match slipping away, Inglot altered his strategy. Trailing 2-3 in the second set, he said he could no longer sit back on his returns.

“I just told coach, ‘Listen, I’m just gonna try to come to the net on everything, even off this serve, because it’s just not working me staying in the back,’” Inglot said. “‘I can’t rally right now, and he’s just waiting for me to make mistakes. I’m gonna make the slice, come in, and let’s see if he can pass — let’s make him step up and win this match.’”

Inglot’s new strategy proved effective, as he broke Donato to tie the set at 3-3. The senior then grabbed the next three games to win the set 6-3. Riding the momentum gained from winning four consecutive games, Inglot burst out to a 3-0 lead in tiebreakers, and went on to win 10-7.

“I think he didn’t expect that,” Inglot said. “I felt that was the momentum shift right there. It was 3-2, he was serving and I got the break to go 3-3. I felt really good ... I knew that was the game tactic to carry on.”

No. 20 Shabaz also bounced back from both a disappointing day Friday against Duke and the loss in doubles against No. 39 North Carolina (14-7, 3-5 ACC) to play nearly flawless tennis in singles against junior Andrew Crone. Shabaz jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and never trailed, winning each set by a 6-2 margin.

“Right now I’m feeling really good,” Shabaz said. “I was serving well — and when I serve well, usually if I can get on a few returns, it makes my life a lot easier. I felt like the ball was coming off my racket nicely, so I could kind of bully him around the court.”

Virginia coach Brian Boland said Shabaz’s performance in singles was encouraging after he struggled in the previous match against Duke.

“Michael had a really off-day on Friday ... he was extremely frustrated ... and came ready to play today,” Boland said. “They were a little shaky in doubles, but with all that being said, Michael was extraordinarily sharp in singles — I think everybody saw that. He must have hit 20-25 aces. He was moving well and completely engaged in the match.”

The success for the Cavaliers continued further down in the lineup with the play of freshman Drew Courtney and junior Lee Singer. Playing in No. 3 doubles, the tandem clinched the point with an 8-5 win, rendering the Inglot/Shabaz loss irrelevant. Singer and Courtney then grabbed the first two singles points with 6-4, 6-2, and 6-2, 6-2 victories, respectively.

“You gotta give a lot of credit to Lee Singer ... he stepped in and did an excellent job,” Boland said. “And of course, Drew Courtney — he just keeps getting better. What a freshman campaign he’s had.”

Sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick completed the 7-0 victory for Virginia, which notched its 10th shut-out this season.

In Friday’s match against No. 25 Duke (12-6, 5-3 ACC), Virginia dropped its first doubles point since Feb. 14 against UCLA. Although the pair of Singer and Courtney grabbed the first doubles match for the Cavaliers by a score of 8-3, Duke stole the next two to win the point.

The Cavaliers immediately bounced back in singles, however, winning the first three points. No. 25 Singh quickly put away No. 55 senior Kiril Dimitrov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. In the No. 1 spot, Inglot defeated No. 38 sophomore Reid Carleton, 7-6, 6-0. Courtney’s 6-3, 7-5 win extended the lead, which proved to be insurmountable. Barrick sealed the 4-3 Virginia victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the fourth slot.

The Cavaliers will head to Wake Forest and N.C. State next weekend in their final tune-up before the ACC tournament.

Notes: Seniors Nick Meros and Leif Sunderland also were honored at the intermission of the North Carolina match ... Singer replaced freshman Steven Eelkman Rooda in singles ... Inglot’s singles win against Duke broke a two-game slide.



 

Virginia Defeats Harvard, 13-9
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/05/2009







Box Score



Courtesy: Matt Riley / UVa Media Relations

Kaitlin Duff

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team rallied for a 9-0 run midway through Sunday afternoon’s contest with Harvard to pull away from the Crimson, en route to a 13-9 win in Harvard Stadium.

Senior Jenny Hauser got the scoring started at 24:51, but after five scoreless minutes, the Crimson rallied for three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead by 15:13.

Senior Ashley McCulloch knotted the score at three all, with two-straight goals, before Hauser and junior Kaitlin Duff combined for the final four goals of the half to give Virginia a 7-3 advantage at halftime.

Virginia opened the second half with three goals in the first six minutes, before Harvard halted the Cavaliers’ 9-0 run with a tally at 21:25. The Crimson notched a second-consecutive score at 17:45, before senior Blair Weymouth found the back of the net at 16:36 to mark the 22nd straight game she’s scored a goal in – the ninth longest active streak in the NCAA.

Jess Halpern attempted to spark a comeback for the Crimson, recording two-straight goals, before Duff tallied her fourth of the contest at 9:26 to push Virginia ahead 12-7.

Halpern would fire another goal into the cage for Harvard, before Shannon Flynn capped the scoring for the day, tallying a goal at 1:10 to account for the final 13-9 score.

Overall, Duff led the Cavaliers with a career-high four goals and seven caused turnovers – moving her into Virginia’s top-10 single season caused turnover records with 36 this season. Hauser and McCulloch each contributed three goals, while Weymouth had two goals and an assist. Gardner added a goal, while junior Brittany Kalkstein had an assist. Senior Katie Shannon also had an assist and won a career-high five draw controls.

In goal, senior Sara Hairfield made her first career start, recording a career-high 11 saves for her second win of the season.

For Harvard (4-7), Halpern led the way with four goals, five draw controls and three ground balls. Kerry Clark collected 10 saves in cage.

The Cavaliers (9-5) will take a week off before heading to Fairfax, Va., to face George Mason on Tuesday, April 14. Opening draw is slated for 7 p.m.

 

Virginia tops Tar Heels in 11-10 nailbiter
Team overcomes inconsistency, continues perfect record; UNC attack Bitten scores five goals

Blair Capps, Cavalier Daily Gameday Editor
Published: Monday, April 6 2009



Bennett Sorbo
Shamel Bratton
Freshman midfielder Shamel Bratton scored three straight goals against North Carolina at Giant Stadium. Down-to-the-wire finishes are nothing new for the men’s lacrosse team. Virginia dispatched ACC foe North Carolina 11-10 Saturday in another nail-biter, this time in Giants Stadium during the inaugural Big City Classic.

“I was struck yesterday walking in here just feeling like ‘Boy, we are fortunate to be playing through to the final weekend of the season,’” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “An experience like this has got to help us. I think it’s a treat for lacrosse fans everywhere and for our guys to come and play in this venue in front of a crowd like this.”

At times, Virginia’s play against the Tar Heels seemed somewhat inconsistent. The Cavaliers (12-0, 2-0 ACC) jumped out to an early two goal lead off scores by senior attackmen Danny Glading and Garrett Billings, but North Carolina (8-4, 0-3 ACC) came back to take a 7-3 lead in the second quarter.

“I never thought we lost our poise,” Starsia said. “That’s probably the defining characteristic of this team. I felt like throughout the game we were in the fight. I wasn’t sure how it was going to come out but I thought we had a shot at this thing.”

Some necessary adjustments on both sides of the ball were made during the game, restricting the Tar Heel’s success. The biggest issue defensively was that North Carolina sophomore attackman Billy Bitter accounted for five goals overall, four in the first half alone. Virginia defensemen senior Matt Kelly and junior Ken Clausen switched assignments, allowing Kelly to mark Bitter. The senior defenseman’s physical play limited Bitter to just one goal in the second half.

Offensively, the Cavaliers could not exploit the Tar Heel defense like they had against other teams this season. Freshman attack Steele Stanwick has found much success this season going up against teams’ defenses, but North Carolina held him in check, forcing Virginia to find other scoring outlets. The change did not pose a problem for the Cavaliers, however, as Glading netted three goals on the day while junior midfielder Brian Carroll and Billings each found the net twice.

It was not until the end of the second quarter, however, that Virginia’s comeback effort started to truly take shape. Sophomore midfielder Shamel Bratton’s speed and dodging ability left Tar Heel defenders stumped as to how to guard him, and he managed to score three quick goals in the last five minutes of the half to send the Cavaliers into the locker room down only 7-6.

“I was a little anxious in the first quarter,” Bratton said. “We just wanted to get the ball in the back of the net so badly that we weren’t taking our time. We needed a little bit of a spark and I felt like I was in the position to do it.”

Two huge blows to North Carolina’s defense came in the form of injuries. The Tar Heels lost starting freshman defender Charlie McComas to a shoulder injury early in the contest, and senior goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman, a four-year starter for the Tar Heels, went down with 10 minutes left in the first half with a knee injury that made many in attendance cringe when it was shown on replay. He was replaced by true freshman goalie James Petracca, who recorded 11 saves on the day.

In the second half, Virginia struggled to stay ahead of North Carolina, as the Heels managed to tie the score several times. The largest Virginia lead in the game was two goals; Billings scored the final Cavalier goal in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 11-9. Carolina got within one shot of sending the game to overtime, but sophomore goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman prevented the Tar Heels from scoring in the final 30 seconds of the game.

Virginia will look to maintain its undefeated record as it heads into its final ACC match this weekend against Duke.

 

Almost perfect


Jack Bird
Published: Monday, April 6 2009


The good news is that I made it out of Giants Stadium alive and still wearing my Redskins sweatshirt. The bad news is that the Redskins are still ... bad.

Some other good news is that Virginia maintained its undefeated record after facing North Carolina during the weekend at Giants Stadium in the inaugural Big City Classic. I have to say it was a fun trip — I even got to play “teams-the-Virginia-men’s-lacrosse-team-has-beaten” bingo while driving through Maryland. My fellow reporter won that bit with three points: Maryland, Hopkins and Towson, most likely because I was sleeping at the time. Who wants to see Maryland anyway?

Now North Carolina can be added to that ever-growing list after the 11-10 result. The Virginia men’s lacrosse team is good — very good. The Cavaliers have held the undisputed No. 1 ranking for five weeks. And they deserve it. Virginia has taken down Syracuse, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Maryland and now North Carolina — not to mention a rag-tag salmagundi of other opponents — all of which were ranked in the top 10 at the time of the match-ups.

As a fan and a sportswriter, I have little to complain about. Virginia’s so-far undefeated season has been fun just because the Cavs have yet to add a tally to the loss column — undefeated seasons are always thrilling — and because it has been filled with heavy doses of both drama and excitement. Drama — like Virginia holding off an explosive then-No. 1 Syracuse comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Orange by one goal in the Carrier Dome. Excitement — like the last two frenetic minutes against Hopkins at Homewood Field when Virginia held onto a one-goal lead. And, of course, there was that seven-overtime, one-goal Virginia victory at Klöckner against Maryland — that was pretty exciting, too.

When a team sets its goal as high as winning a national championship, though, as Virginia has, it needs to constantly improve and fine-tune its game going into the postseason. That being said, I’ve noticed a few ways Virginia could improve. I don’t want to seem like a stereotypically jaded and pessimistic sportswriter, but as Virginia carves a path through its tough season leaving destruction in its wake, I can’t help but be reminded of the 2007-08 Patriots. Both the Pats and Cavs, in the midst of potentially historic seasons and possibly on their way to be one of the best teams to ever play the game, seemed immune to criticism. The Cavaliers will now look to do what the Patriots couldn’t and finish the historic season with a bang. If the Cavaliers make these tweaks, they might avoid the curse of being almost perfect.

In my humble opinion, here is what the team has to do:

1. Step up the defense.

This is an absurdly general suggestion to make, I know. It’s something every team should strive to do. But in Virginia’s case, there is really no excuse why its defense has broken down like it has pretty regularly in important games throughout the season. Several Cavalier defenders, close defense and midfielders alike, are regarded individually as some of the most athletic and talented players in the country. They have shined in many one-on-one situations.

As a unit, however, the Cavs have shown a tendency to be caught sleeping on the crease or sliding late in help defense situations.
Though lacrosse is a sport in which quick offensive bursts are common, the Cavalier defense needs to be able to slow down such runs by their opponents. If they find themselves up five on Syracuse with five minutes left, the defense needs to be able to lock down on the Orange. As high-powered as the ‘Cuse offense is, a championship defense should be able to hold a team off well enough that it isn’t even a close game.

If Virginia builds a 12-6 lead against Hopkins, that lead shouldn’t dissolve in just longer than a quarter.

The cliché is that defense wins championships, and so defense is the first thing the Cavaliers need to strengthen heading into the postseason.

2. Reduce penalties.

Credit the Virginia man-down defense for its ability to limit opponents’ extra-man offenses in several penalty situations. Banking on that, however, is not a viable option for trying to win close games.

In games this season that have finished with scoring margins of four or less, Virginia has out-penalized its opponents 18-9. Although the Cavalier man-down defense has held opponents’ extra-man offenses to only five scores, that’s still a large number compared to the two goals Virginia has scored on penalties. This discrepancy could be fixed if the Cavaliers can find a way to limit their penalties. In a close game, it could mean the difference.

3. Play smart offense for an entire 60 minutes.

Virginia has shown an extremely effective ability to milk long possessions and finish them with a high percentage of successful shots. Possessions like those allow Virginia to score in a controlled and methodical manner, which works a much higher percentage of the time than a rushed offense can. Additionally, it is a defensive strategy because it limits the number of possessions opponents have.

This trait of the Virginia offense, however, has been a bit inconsistent. Virginia would have more quality wins and fewer squeakers if quality possessions were emphasized throughout the game.

Against North Carolina during the weekend, for example, the Cavaliers dug themselves into a 7-3 hole caused for the most part by rushed possessions. Only when Virginia started to take its time did it quickly climb back into the game.

“I thought offensively ... from about five minutes into the game until we started to get going I just thought we were either just rushing offensive opportunities or settling for shots,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. Sophomore midfielder Shamel Bratton “has an uncanny ability to get to the front of the cage. And the quality of the shots he was scoring on [was impressive].”

4. Shamel Bratton needs a right hand.

Let me preface anything I say about Bratton’s game by saying he is an incredible lacrosse player. Right now he is only a sophomore and is already well on his way to being an All-American. It is my contention that by the time he is a senior, he will be the best lacrosse player in the NCAA — no pressure if you are reading this, Shamel. Currently, he is tied for third on the team in goals even though he missed a game. He draws the defensive, long stick midfielder every time he is on offense, and he still manages to completely dominate for stretches of games.

As unguardable as he currently is, however, he still strongly favors his left hand and therefore gives defenders the slight edge of knowing what side he’ll shoot from. Because he is as fast and athletic as he is, he can still find space for a lefty shot, but it’s not always there if a defender is playing Bratton smartly. With the ability to go righty or lefty, Shamel would be nigh unstoppable. Something like this can also be relatively easily improved. Developing a weak hand doesn’t require natural-born strength or athleticism, but instead develops from practice and repetition. Bratton just needs to get a bucket of balls and take 500 shots a day, and it will come.

Again, I’d like to emphasize that I still think Virginia is the best team in the country right now. But lacrosse playoffs are unforgiving. In the one-and-done setup of the postseason, it only takes one off day for a team — however great — to lose its chance at winning a title. As many close games as the Cavaliers have had, they are no doubt staring over the edge of the cliff as playoff time approaches. Improving these aspects of their game could go a long way to ensuring complete dominance. To win a national championship, Virginia can’t just be the best overall team of the year — it has to be the best team every minute of every game. When the confetti dropped on the championship-winning Giants at the end of Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots’ perfect regular-season record was just a small consolation prize.