McLeod showing promise for U.Va.
By Staff Reports
Published: April 21, 2009

McLeod shows promise
Almost from the start of spring practice, football coach Al Groh raved about the potential of Rodney McLeod, and the rising sophomore from Oxon Hill, Md., did not disappoint Saturday at Scott Stadium.

In the Cavaliers' spring game, McLeod had two tackles for loss, intercepted a pass and blocked a punt.

"He's a big addition to our secondary back at the safety position," Groh said.

As a true freshman last year, the 5-10, 180-pound McLeod played cornerback, distinguishing himself in passing situations. He moved to safety before spring practice, though, and quickly earned a starting job next to another rising sophomore, former Henrico High star Corey Mosley.

"The shortest safeties," McLeod said with a smile. Mosley is listed at 5-10, too. But both run well and have excellent instincts. They're working now to master the other requirements of the position.

"In our defense [the safeties] have to call a lot of calls, get everybody in place, the linebackers and the corners as well," McLeod said. "So everybody's looking for you back there to make the calls. If we don't give the calls, then the D is kind of out on a limb."

Next generation
The starting outside linebackers Saturday were rising seniors Denzel Burrell and Aaron Clark, and Groh praised their play. He also singled out two others at that position: Billy Schautz and Cameron Johnson.

Schautz, who's listed at 6-4, 220 pounds, will be a redshirt freshman in the fall. He was credited with a game-high 12 tackles. Johnson, who impressed as a true freshman last season, made five stops and forced a fumble.

"Billy Schautz has taken all the snaps on our first dime," Groh said, referring to the scheme in which U.Va. uses six defensive backs. "He's a very versatile player, was a high school quarterback, safety, wide receiver, so he's got that kind of athletic ability. He doesn't yet have a linebacker's body, but he's got four years to get that.

"And Cameron Johnson has got a chance to really be a standout player at the position. We'd like to have three or four of those on the team at one time. He's a 6-4, 250-plus guy who can run. Was a free safety and wide receiver as recently as his junior year in high school. So kind of like Schautz, he brings that kind of athletic ability. Now he's just got to learn how to play the position."

Signs of progress
Subpar kicking hurt the Cavaliers last season, and rising sophomores Robert Randolph and Chris Hinkebein were inconsistent this spring.

In the kicking period that preceded the scrimmage Saturday, however, Randolph was 5 for 5 on field goals against a live rush. He connected twice from 47 yards, twice from 27 and once from 37.

Hinkebein was good from 27, 37 and 47 yards. He missed from 37 and 52.

Mixed review
No depth chart was released this spring, but Marc Verica, who started nine games last season, appears to be lagging behind Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall at quarterback.

In the spring game, Verica, a rising junior, completed 14 of 19 attempts for 148 yards and threw the day's only touchdown pass-a flanker screen that wideout Raynard Horne took 21 yards to the end zone. But Verica, who threw seven interceptions in his final three games last year, threw another one Saturday.

"This was one of his better days today - minus that one bad play," Groh said. "But you can't minus those plays. They count, you know. So the other team had the ball deep in our territory as a result of that. That affects the game, as we have seen."

- Jeff White

 

10 questions for the UVa football team after spring practice
Check in with quarterbacks Jameel Sewell and Marc Verica and head coach Al Groh
By Doug Doughty | doug.doughty@roanoke.com | 981-3129

Q: How do the players like the spread offense?

Quarterback Jameel Sewell: "It's [a lot of] fun. It's so fast. You get to abuse the defense even more. If they're not in condition, then they're out of luck. It gives us a big advantage over the defense as long as we run our plays precisely.

"I like to run the ball a lot. I just like having the ball in my hands because I feel I can contribute. It's like a play-action. If the quarterback is running, you've got to do something different because usually the defense is not set up to keep the quarterback from scrambling."

Q: Will the quarterbacks run?

Head coach Al Groh: "That's an integral part of the scheme. It's not essential to it. There are teams that do very well without the quarterback being a primary runner. But, it's as if the offense has 12 players out there when a quarterback can run. The defense can never multiply. The defense has always got 11.

"But, when you've got multiple players on the offense who can do other things -- runners who can catch, catchers who can run -- it just keeps adding up and the offense has more than 11 weapons. When the quarterback does that, it adds another dimension."

Q: What is the quarterback competition like?

Quarterback Marc Verica: "I think everyone is trying to find their niche right now. [Learning the offense] is important. We're really looking for a manager out there to know what everybody's assignment is and make sure that everybody is doing the right thing. Grasping the offense as quickly as you can certainly will play to your advantage."

Q: How is the offense progressing?

Groh: "We're one-third through the practices that are allowed to us. We're allowed 44 before the first game and we've had 15. If we make twice as much progress in the second [two-thirds] as we made in the first third, then that will give us a chance to be ready on Sept. 5, which we ought to be ready to do because the groundwork on the two new units -- the offense and special teams -- has been laid."

Q: How has Ron Prince changed?

Groh: "Ron and I have talked about it. I was the head coach [at Wake Forest], then I went for 13 years to being an assistant coach. Ron had a similar experience at Kansas State. He was trying at a certain point, as I was, to be the best position coach that we could be.

"But, having become a head coach and knowing what the head coach needs from each assistant coach, Ron's words were, 'I think I'll be a better assistant coach than I ever was before.' I certainly experienced that."

Q: Why the emphasis on special teams?

Groh: "It's significant that the teams that participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game the last two years each year were the top two teams who led the conference in non-offensive touchdowns. Points count no matter how you get them.

"Ron's team last year at Kansas State led the country in blocked kicks. One year out there, they led the country in punt returns. Another time in kickoff returns. There's a method here. It's not just a try-hard deal. There's proven results."

Q: Is Javaris Brown for real?

Groh: "What you saw today [on a flanker reverse] is something that shows once a day. Sometimes in practices, it's multiple times. He'll do something to make you think something exciting is going to follow. [He's] one of the bright young players in his class. [Rodney] McLeod, Torrey [Mack] and Javaris bring more speed to the field than what we've had in the past."

Q: What is an area of concern?

Groh: "Probably the biggest transition personnel-wise on our team comes at linebacker, having had three players who played virtually every play at their position for three years and a couple at a very high skill level.

"We're going to be pretty solid in the secondary, but that layer in between is designed for guys to make a lot of plays. It's been a positive spring for Darren Childs and Steven [Greer] in particular.

"Darren was a nice story for all of us last year, never having played in a game before he stepped in and was productive against North Carolina. He made a lot of tackles, but, quite frankly, didn't play that well. Ever since the first day of spring practice, he's been on key with his game."

Q: Who rushes the passer?

Groh: "Cameron Johnson has a chance to be a real standout player [at outside linebacker]. We'd like to have three or four of those on the team. He's a 6-4, 250-plus guy who can run. He was a free safety and wide receiver as recently as his junior year in high school.

"Now, he's just got to learn to play the position. [New assistant] Bobby Trott has done a nice job with those guys. He's been in [UVa's] system at three different places. Every time I go by his office, one of them is sitting in there."

Q: Who is the most improved?

Groh: "I don't think [offensive tackle] Lamar [Milstead] appeared in a game last year. Lamar is a great example of, every player progresses at a different rate. And, it's a great example to us on the coaching staff to just keep coaching kids.

"He's really applied himself and has moved his game light years from where it was. The players recognize that. When [Rock Weir Award winners Milstead and Dom Joseph] were announced, both of these players were roundly applauded by the rest of the team."
 

Heir apparent? Mack gets chance
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 22, 2009

After his memorable career at Virginia was complete, running back Cedric Peerman made a bold prediction.
Peerman said Torrey Mack would eventually carry the torch at the position that has produced numerous NFL standouts including Tiki Barber, Thomas Jones and Terry Kirby.
“I think he has a very promising future,” said Peerman, who will learn his professional employer this weekend with the NFL Draft.
“Torrey is really a shifty guy. He has a lot of speed. He has really made good strides this year. He has been one of the guys that impressed a lot of the guys on the team.”
The reason for the high praise was on display Saturday during Virginia’s annual spring festival as Mack rushed six times for 18 yards and hauled in a pair of passes for 12 yards.
Hearing after the game that Peerman delivered the highest praise for Mack, the redshirt freshman offered a grin.
“That makes me feel real good because I look up to Cedric as a role model,” said Mack, who was a SuperPrep All-American at Stratford High in Connecticut. “That’s real good praise coming from him. We all saw what he could do.”
Mack joins a crowded backfield that includes apparent starter senior Mikell Simpson and sophomore tailback Max Milien, as well as veteran fullbacks Rashawn Jackson and Keith Payne.
It was during his time last fall that Mack said he witnessed how to play at the highest level of college football.
Every step that Peerman took and every hit that was leveled on a defender caught the rookie’s attention.
“I learned how to make one cut and just go,” Mack said. “I learned how he carried the ball — high and tight.
“I learned a lot of stuff about defenses and when to cut back.”
Peerman said Mack would be a guy that could avoid taking a pounding by avoiding contact all together.
Mack agreed.
“When there is no grass around you have to lower you shoulders a little bit, but if I don’t have to take a hit … well, I just take as few hits at possible and I just try to go.”
Having been away from the program for a year, quarterback Jameel Sewell watched Mack in person this spring for the first time.
The senior was blown away with Mack’s skill set.
“When he definitely knows what he has to do, he makes plays,” Sewell said. “Heck, even when the quarterback busts the play, he makes something happen. He finds a way to squirt through there and find a hole.
“A lot of people think he is undersized or underweight, but he is still running like he has a lot of weight.”
Mack, a four-star recruit, rushed for almost 1,200 yards on just 86 carries as a senior in high school. He also scored 20 touchdowns.
For now, Mack is happy with his decision to play at Virginia.
There was a period when Mack was uncertain if he would be also to say that with such conviction.
“When I came in I knew it was a powerhouse running game and when [new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon] changed it to the spread offense I said, ‘Oh, we probably won’t get the ball as much,’” Mack proclaimed. “But I like how they mix it up and move us around from the backfield to the slot.
“We are still getting a lot of touches on the ball but just from different positions. It is a lot of fun.”

 

Packer starts, leads Cavs to dominant win against VCU
Proscia hits towering grand slam in third to help Virginia to 8-1 victory in Richmond; Parker’s struggles at plate continue with a 1-for-5 performance
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Published: Wednesday, April 22 2009

Junior pitcher Matt Packer, often used in his Virginia career for relief, made his first start of the season against Virginia Commonwealth yesterday. RICHMOND, Va. — Baseball coach Brian O’Connor had envisioned many roles for junior Matt Packer this season. Midweek starter likely was not one of them.

On the heels of his fourth loss of the season Saturday as a reliever against Boston College, though, Packer toed the mound for his first start of the year Tuesday against VCU in Virginia’s only true road contest of its non-conference schedule this season. He started the game with a three-pitch strikeout and never looked back, throwing five shutout innings as Virginia cruised to a 8-1 victory at The Diamond.
“I’ve felt for a couple of weeks quite honestly that we needed to change things up for [Packer],” O’Connor said. “I just felt at some point we needed to find the time to change his role so he could go out and have a little success, and he did [last night].”

The reigning ERA title winner for Virginia, Packer started the season as the backbone of an inexperienced bullpen in the closer role. Going into Tuesday’s game, however, his ERA had ballooned to 5.47 and all four of his losses had come during ACC play.

Packer held the Rams, though, to two hits and one walk while striking out six. Through the first 4 1/3 innings, the only hit allowed by Packer was on a play that could have easily been an out; on a groundball up the middle in the third, junior shortstop Tyler Cannon’s throw on the run pulled freshman first baseman John Hicks off the bag.

It was the first win for Packer since March 17 against Marshall, and his first win as the starting pitcher since May 15, 2008 against Radford.

“It helps my confidence, because my last few outings I’ve had a hard time,” Packer said. “It really feels good to pitch the way I know I can.”

Out of the bullpen, the difference for Packer, O’Connor has said, was often one bad pitch that broke the game open. In last night’s start, however, Packer appeared relaxed, kept pitch counts lower, and stayed out of jams.

“The difference is, when you’re pitching at the end of the game, or when it’s even in the seventh inning, it’s so tight, and every pitch can determine ... whether you win and lose the ballgame,” O’Connor said. “I think the kid handles pressure fine, but it’s a very fine line. When you start or when you’re in long relief, you’ve got a little more margin for error.”

Packer said in general that “no one knows” the answer to why he had struggled of late, but did offer a couple potential explanations.
“My changeup’s been a little faster than it has in the past and guys’ have been hitting that,” Packer said. “I’ve been walking guys, and I haven’t been getting ahead in the count. I get in a position where I have to throw a strike, and hitters know that.”

Now, with three conference series remaining on Virginia’s schedule, the question is where Packer will factor into the pitching staff as the Cavaliers prepare for the postseason. Packer is no stranger to the starting pitching role; he spent the early part of his freshman season as the Saturday starter. With his struggles out of the bullpen coinciding with the emergence of sophomore Kevin Arico at closer, one possibility is for Packer to return to the niche of midweek starter he occupied at the beginning of his career.

“It depends on what happens this weekend whether or not he might start next Tuesday against Liberty,” O’Connor said. “I know he’s not going to be available for [this] Friday and Saturday, but after that we’ll just see what our needs are.”

Packer, though, was not the only Cavalier to bounce back from a difficult weekend in Boston. With the bases loaded in the third inning, freshman third baseman Steven Proscia smoked a towering 400-plus foot shot that cleared the left-centerfield wall and the telephone poles behind it, giving Virginia a 5-0 lead. It was the fifth bomb of the season for five-hole hitter Proscia and Virginia’s third grand slam of the season.

After a 2-for-13, six-strikeout performance in the three-game series against Boston College, the pop off Proscia’s bat also was music to the ears of O’Connor.

“It was absolutely a no-doubter,” O’Connor said. “It was a 2-0 count, and he sat fastball, and he got it.”

A compilation of VCU pitchers, however, did manage to keep the Cavaliers quiet for much of the evening. None of the five VCU pitchers Tuesday threw more than two innings, and after Proscia’s grand slam, the Rams shut out Virginia through the next four innings.

“Fortunately we got that [grand slam], because other than that we didn’t score a lot of runs,” O’Connor said.

The Cavaliers return to Davenport Field for the prospect of their first full game in Charlottesville since April 8, after both midweek games at home last week were cancelled.

Notes:

Virginia’s previous trip to The Diamond was eerily similar to the one last night. The Cavaliers defeated the Rams by an identical score of 8-1 in Richmond on April 10, 2007. In both games, now-junior Phillip Deane was the starting pitcher and took the loss ... Following Matt Packer on the mound for Virginia was senior Robert Poutier (1 2/3 innings pitched, two hits, one run) and junior Neal Davis (2 1/3 innings pitched, one hit, no runs) ... Davis earned his first save of the year and the third of his career ... After going 1-for-12 with 10 strikeouts over the weekend, sophomore Jarrett Parker went 1-for-5 with no strikeouts while hitting seventh ... The Cavaliers improved to 54-6 against in-state opponents since the current coaching staff arrived in 2004.

 

Packer gets back on track as Cavs drop Rams
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: April 22, 2009

In Richmond, the smooth left-handed pitcher that led the nation in earned run average in 2008 was finally back in his purest form Tuesday night.

Matt Packer, starting his first game of the season, dazzled through five innings of work on the mound as No. 11 Virginia hammered Virginia Commonwealth 8-1 at the Diamond in a game that was delayed over an hour by rain.

Packer, who has struggled at times out of Virginia’s bullpen this season in various roles - typically as a closer - allowed just three baserunners and fanned six batters.

“I thought a change of pace was good for Matt,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought he looked really, really good. It was good for him to get out there and stretch it out a little bit and get his pitch count up and have to use all of his pitches.

“I think he will be much improved as we move on.”

Packer (2-4) said he welcomed the move to get additional work after assuming the role of Virginia’s closer through the first 39 games, most of which were lopsided affairs for a team that now boasts a record of 31-8-1.

“It was a lot of fun. I really felt like I needed something like that to kind of get back on track,” said Packer, who entered having allowed 15 earned runs in 24.2 innings of work.

Message board chatter had blasted Packer in recent days.

“I don’t pay attention to that and I know that I can do it on the mound,” Packer said. “I just like knowing that my teammates have confidence in me and it is just a matter of getting everything back to the way that I can pitch.”

As a starter, Packer was able to use his full compliment of pitches. That, he said, explained the high strikeout total.

“I used my breaking ball a lot today,” he said, “and I hadn’t really thrown that at all this year.”

It was a move that O’Connor wanted to make previously as Packer failed to get in enough work.

“I actually wanted to do it a week or so ago but we had games rained out last week and it just seemed like the right time to make the move,” the coach said. “Matt just wants to get it right and he has tried so hard all year to do the best that he can and like I said before I don’t think that he has been very far away; he’s just had some hard luck.”

Packer was able to get comfortable on the mound in the third inning after third baseman Steven Proscia hit the first grand slam.

However, it was a blast that Packer missed.

“I had my head down, but I heard it went, like, 500 feet,” he said.

O’Connor added: “That was a big grand slam by Proscia that gave us breathing room and allowed Matt to go out and pitch. I was happy to see him be able to go five innings and hopefully we can build on that.”

Robert Poutier and Neal Davis combined to throw the final three innings.

Virginia finished with 11 hits and stranded eight runners on base.

Proscia drove in five runs and fellow rookie John Hicks added two hits and scored three runs.

Virginia plays today at 6:30 p.m. tonight at home against Georgetown.

O’Connor said he plans to start rookie RHP Will Roberts (2-0, 3.75) on the mound tonight.

 

Virginia track hits its stride
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: April 22, 2009

The biggest upset in any ACC sport so far this season had to be Virginia battling Florida State to a share of the conference’s track and field championship last weekend in Miami.
Consider that FSU has owned not only the ACC, but the national collegiate track scene for some time. The Seminoles have stringed together three straight national championships and five consecutive ACC titles in the sport.
Now consider Virginia.
To say that the Cavaliers’ program kept a low profile would be an understatement. While it has its small core of dedicated fans, UVa track hasn’t really registered a blip on the Wahoo radar since distance man Paul Ereng brought home the gold in the 800 meters at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Long time coming
Up until Virginia shared Florida State’s glory over the weekend, the Cavaliers’ previous best finish in the ACC meet was second-place in both 1984 and 1979 under coach Dennis Craddock. When Craddock pleaded with then-UVa athletic director Dick Schultz to upgrade the track facilities and didn’t get a favorable response, the coach left for North Carolina, where he built the Tar Heels into a national power in the sport.
Since then, about the only thing to get excited about was Ereng’s remarkable career and four consecutive fourth-place finishes in the ACC outdoor meet between 2005 and last season.
Enter Jason Vigilante, an energetic, young coach who helped build Texas into a winning track program.
An East Coast guy from New Jersey, he was eager to return to the seaboard. And he’s no stranger to the ACC — Vigilante was on N.C. State’s track team in 1996.
Didn’t matter to him that he was taking over a program that had been woeful for so long. Didn’t matter than Virginia’s track facility isn’t exactly the Taj Mahal of the sport.
A not-so-bare cupboard
He wasn’t surprised that there was a good core of athletes on hand to build the program.
“My thought is that the University of Virginia is attractive to this kind of athlete,” Vigilante said Tuesday during his team’s practice for this weekend’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
While perhaps the rest of the ACC and all of us were shocked at the performance in Miami, Vigilante wasn’t.
“No one, other than the coaches and athletes, saw this coming ... particularly the competition,” said Craig Littlepage, UVa’s director of athletics. “Our athletes really competed the entire championship and that made all of us very proud.”
Track and field championships are produced by balance, and for the first time — maybe ever — Virginia got contributions from all areas, sprints, distances, relays, throws and jumps.
Vigilante had been part of the Texas turnaround, and he figured if there, then why not here?
He noted that while recruiting has been good, it should get even better after gaining a share of the ACC crown, a real door opener.
Meanwhile, congratulatory notes keep popping up on Vigilante’s e-mail, in addition to a long, personal letter from Littlepage.
Even Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland, whose program has dominated the ACC for several years now, was impressed with the quick reversal of the Cavaliers’ track fortunes.
“He wrote me that even he wasn’t as successful this quickly,” Vigilante chuckled.
The one note that meant the most to the young coach was from an old coach, Vigilante’s college coach, Rollie Geiger, who has directed N.C. State’s program since 1985.
“He just said that he was very proud of me and my team,” Vigilante said. “That meant a great deal to me.”
What should be noted here is that Littlepage and associate AD Jon Oliver came up with a plan, a mold, several years ago for hiring coaches and so far the dividends have been eye-popping.
Baseball coach Brian O’Connor, women’s golf coach Kim Lewellen, Boland, and now Vigilante.
For Wahoo hoops fans, the duo also used that mold to lure Tony Bennett here from Washington State.
Vigilante said he didn’t look at Virginia’s less than impressive past in the sport as a negative, but instead tried to adjust and make the best of what he was given.
“I believe the approach of coach Vigilante and his staff is what has helped things change so quickly,” Littlepage said. “They’ve focused on what we are good at doing and not on perceived shortcomings.
“[Vigilante] is especially upbeat and never seems to have a bad day,” Littlepage said. “He is always trying to make something good happen in whatever circumstances he’s in. His personality and positive outlook are infectious. Those qualities have built confidence among the student-athletes in both the women’s and men’s programs.”
The Virginia women finished fourth in the ACC meet, a major stride for them as well, completing a weekend that Littlepage said would be forever recognized as one of the biggest moments in UVa’s track and field history.
Vigilante credits his staff for all their hard work.
Now, about the track facilities ...
The new coach said he’s not going to whine and hound the school about an upgrade.
Rather, he has placed his trust that Littlepage and school leaders will take care of the situation.
“I’m very patient,” Vigilante said.
Except when it comes to winning championships.

 

Faceoffs play key role in team success
Lacrosse’s unique variation of faceoff determines possession, can control game momentum
Jack Bird, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Published: Wednesday, April 22 2009

Senior Chad Gaudet leads Virginia’s faceoff efforts. Football has the coin flip. Basketball has the jump ball. Men’s lacrosse, however, has the faceoff to initiate the start of the game and decide who first holds possession. Unlike other sports, however, a lacrosse faceoff does not simply begin the game; it is used at the start of the second half, as well as after a score.

One key difference between lacrosse and other sports is that at no point will possessions decided by faceoffs necessarily balance out. For example, in football, if a team does not win the coin toss, it still receives the ball in either in the first or second half.

Faceoffs “are really important,” senior long-stick midfielder Mike Timms said. “It’s one of the few sports where after you score you have a chance of getting the ball back. It can really make a difference in terms of going on runs.”

In a game, a team can gain control of the ball by winning one faceoff after the other, which proves important in a sport like lacrosse in which possessions are long and the scoring is relatively low. In Virginia’s game against Dartmouth, for example, Dartmouth won nine of 10 faceoffs in the first half and led the Cavaliers 5-3 at halftime. Virginia ended up winning the game with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, winning eight of 10 faceoffs during the unanswered scoring streak.

The faceoff occurs at the center of field between three players from each team. Two line up at each wing along the midfield line with the third lining up at the “X,” which is located in between the two wings. Two players from each team face each other in a crouch position and line their sticks up parallel to the midfield line along the ground. The ball is placed between the two and the referee’s whistle starts the play.

“Every time you take one, it’s the opportunity to create a turnover and take possession,” senior faceoff man Chad Gaudet said. “It’s kind of like a game of rock-paper-scissors in that there are three basic moves that everyone goes with.”

Because faceoffs can make or break a lacrosse game, knowing how to handle a faceoff takes skill. At the collegiate level, teams often possess one or two players whose sole role on the team is to win faceoffs. For the Cavaliers, Gaudet plays the unique role. He chooses between three different moves each time he is part of a faceoff.

“First there is the clamp, that’s the most common,” he said. “Second is the rake ... and the third move is the jam. The jam beats the clamp, and the rake beats the jam.”

The clamp works exactly the way it sounds: the player tries to clamp his stick onto the ball as quickly as possible after play starts. The rake involves using the stick to bring the ball out into the open before an opponent can get control of it. A jam is a counter-move in which a player tries to hold an opponent back by bringing his hands and stick over the ball and tangling up the opponent’s tries at gaining possession.

One unique aspect of Gaudet’s faceoff strategy is that he uses a long stick — one a close defender would use — as opposed to the more common short stick.

“I’m not that great on the actual draw,” Gaudet said. “But as long as I can get the guy to put the ball in certain place, I can have a pretty good chance to get there or knock it out of his stick. Then you have Mike Timms coming from the other side.”

The draw is the portion of the faceoff that occurs immediately after the official’s whistle and is comprised primarily of play between the two faceoff men as they struggle to gain an edge. After the whistle is blown, however, the wing men — usually Timms in Virginia’s case — are allowed to leave their respective ends of the field to join the fight for the ball.

“The most important part is your actual faceoff guy and how well he can control where the ball is going and where the draw is going,” Timms said. “We do different things on the wings depending on what the other guy facing off is doing. We try to match out strategies best to stop that. You always want to be kind of in control of the guy on the wing next to you.”

Once either team gains possession of the ball — even if it is for a split second — the rest of the players on the field are “released” and allowed to join the fray.

Considering the number of goals scored in the average lacrosse game, the ability to win faceoffs contributes significantly to a match’s outcome. In a close game, an edge in the faceoff department means more possessions more scoring opportunities.