Midfielders play big role for Cavs
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
May 25, 2005

In 2003, Virginia’s journey to the NCAA title was highlighted by significant contributions from its midfield of Chris Rotelli, A.J. Shannon and Billy Glading.

Last season with that trio graduating, current juniors Kyle Dixon and Matt Poskay and freshman Drew Thompson were charged with replacing them.

As Virginia’s 2004 season unraveled to a 5-8 finish, many pointed the finger at the inconsistency of the midfield as one of the main culprits. As fair or unfair as that was, it was almost natural given the confluence of a poor season and a youthful midfield.

“They bore an awful lot of the burden for last year’s inadequacies at the offensive [end]. They were all young players and you had three young guys forced into the schedule that we play,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “It was a hard go for them last year but they battled.”

This season, the trio should probably deserve credit equal to that of any criticism they received last season. Entering Saturday’s NCAA Semifinals against Johns Hopkins, Dixon has accumulated 16 goals and 16 assists; Thompson, 11 goals and six assists while Poskay has 28 goals. In total, the three midfielders have combined for twice the production that they had a season ago

(it should be noted that Thompson suffered an ACL injury in midseason last year that limited his play).

“This year, more than anything, they are a year older and year wiser. They have worked really hard and it’s nice for them to see the fruits of the labor,” Starsia said. “They have probably improved more than anyone in the program and you could see that happening last fall.”

In the most defining game of Virginia’s season - last Saturday’s 10-8 win over Navy in the quarterfinals - the trio combined for six goals, with Thompson netting the ultimate game-winner with 5:21 left in the contest.

Was it vindication? The trio opted not to claim that directly.

“I’ll say that I think we have matured greatly from last season. We were young and a little immature last season and this year we have gained confidence as the season has progressed,” Poskay said. “We know where we are on the field and have become more familiar with each other out there. Also, when the ball hits the back of the net that naturally increases your confidence.”

Added Thompson: “We’ve just grown up and are more confident. We work well with each other out there. I think game to game we are getting better and when opponents respect us, that opens things up for our attack.”

As for any criticism or shortcomings from last season, they heard it and in some ways acknowledged it.

“The seniors graduated last year and there was a big burden put on our shoulders and a lot of things were thrown at us. It just didn’t happen for us last year. We weren’t that experienced,” Dixon said. “This year we really stepped it up I feel and I think that’s because of the experiences and situations we went through last season.”

There is one small hurdle that one of the midfielders has yet to cross. Actually, it’s more of an oddity than anything else.

Poskay, a junior from Clark, N.J., has 28 goals and no assists this season. Poskay’s talents certainly are that of a finisher but no assists? As in zero?

It’s become something of a running joke for the Cavaliers.

“Coach tells us that if we get a pass from Matt and are about to score, we should drop it,” quipped Dixon.

In all fairness, Poskay’s role is to find the open spaces left by defensives. Some of those free pockets tend to be around the cage and if Poskay were to pass when receiving the ball in those positions, it would more than likely be a poor decision most of the time.

“I’m trying,” Poskay said with an exasperated smile.

Starsia just smiles about it when asked about his midfielder’s odd-looking stat line.

“At some point you would think if you are on the lacrosse field as much as him that at some point you’d throw the ball to someone else who had a shot. To be honest, he is really probably the most selfless player on the team,” Starsia said. “It’s really a statistical anomaly. … As long as he keeps putting the ball in the goal and we keep winning, I don’t care what his numbers look like. I have no problem with his game. I know zero assists looks kind of strange but I wouldn’t change a thing about him.”

Holmes ready for big challenge in Final Four
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
May 26, 2005

Virginia junior defenseman Steve Holmes is going home this weekend. He’ll have a chore to do when he gets there.
Holmes, a native Gwynedd Valley, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia, likely will draw the task of defending Johns Hopkins All-American midfielder Kyle Harrison in Saturday’s NCAA Semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field.
That personal battle may decide whether Saturday’s homecoming is indeed a happy one.
“If you ask any of our defenseman, they’ll say they always want to cover the other team’s best guy. Saturday I’ll probably get to cover the best guy. I love that challenge,” Holmes said. “Harrison is a great player and a great athlete. I feel more confident each time I play him. I’ve played him two times already and we’ll see what happens.”
In those two meetings - this year and last year - Harrison has just two goals and an assist.
In Virginia’s 10-8 victory over Navy in the quarterfinals last Saturday, Holmes drew Navy attackman Jon Birsner who entered the game with 11 goals and
31 assists. Holmes held Birsner scoreless and that had the overall effect of limiting the Navy offense as a whole.
“Steve is just beginning to blossom as a player. He probably had his best game Saturday as he shut out Birsner, who is probably one of the best attackmen in the country,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “He’s really emerged as a terrific player. … He’s a charismatic kid and that’s probably one of the reasons his teammates selected him captain.”
Holmes, along with fellow defensemen Mike Culver, Ricky Smith and Rob Bateman, have excelled this season in shutting down or limiting opponents. The Cavaliers have only allowed double-digit goals twice this season and if one were to exclude the 17-2 loss at Duke, the Cavalier defensive statistics in terms of goals against would rival the best in program history. As it is, Virginia is allowing just 7.26 goals per contest.
“If you took the Duke game out, and you can’t really do it, but I wonder if it would be the best defensive unit we’ve ever had,” Starsia said. “They are a bunch of guys who are athletic and work hard and are pretty fast. They listen and pay attention. They’ve quietly gone about their business and have been a very, very solid part of our team.”
Athletic is the key word for Holmes and the defense overall. All of them were standouts in other sports in high school and it’s usually that athletic component that Starsia seeks in his defensemen. In several instances, Starsia’s first views of defensive players have been while they were performing on the football field or the basketball court.
“We had a little thing in the fall when we ran four miles and I think the defensemen were our top finishers. … Obviously, I’m a coach that looks for athletic kids. This group here might have the best balance physically and athletically that we’ve ever had,” Starsia said.
It took a while for Holmes to decide to plug his athleticism solely into lacrosse. He was an outstanding football player at Germantown Academy and it was in that sport in which he saw his future. He was a standout quarterback and wide receiver and still holds the Germantown record for receiving yards in a season.
“Since I was young, football was my dream. Football was what I wanted to do. I picked up lacrosse later on and it was more something to do during the spring. … Now, I probably have the same love for lacrosse as I do for football,” Holmes said.
That process has taken time to evolve, even after his arrival at UVa.
Holmes spent the fall of 2001 as a wide receiver on the UVa football team and then competed that spring for the lacrosse team and started every game there as a freshman. Eventually, Holmes made the decision to focus on lacrosse after training camp with the football team in August 2002.
“Lacrosse gave me the opportunity to play right away and contribute more. Ultimately that’s the decision I made. It’s what I wanted for myself,” Holmes said. “It was tough to let football go but lacrosse was the best way for me to get on the field immediately and compete.”
Almost right after that decision, Holmes left UVa for the 2002-03 year for academic-related reasons. In so doing, Holmes missed out on being of Virginia’s 2003 NCAA title. Holmes no doubt would have been a key contributor on that squad. Thus, the homecoming this week is all that much more enjoyable.
“It’s really fun. I didn’t think we’d ever play a game like this close to Philly when I came here. All of my friends I think will be coming this weekend. The Philadelphia area has a much better lacrosse following than I think people give it credit for,” Holmes said.

Cavaliers clobber Clemson
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
May 26, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The monkey is off Brian O’Connor’s back.

Granted it wasn’t a big monkey, given the fact that O’Connor had lost only two career ACC Tournament games, but nevertheless Virginia’s baseball coach was excited to get his first win in the postseason event on Wednesday.

Virginia scored five runs in the top-half of the eighth inning, blowing open a pitcher’s duel on its way to a 8-1 win over Clemson, the second-seeded team in the tournament, at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

“That was a tremendous win for our team and our baseball program,” O’Connor said. “Clemson, I believed coming into this tournament, was one of the hottest teams in this tournament without a doubt. Our kids played with a little bit of an edge today with something to prove and Jeff [Kamrath] pitched outstanding.”

Kamrath, a fifth-year senior from Houston, went 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits, one walk and one earned run. The right-handed pitcher also struck out six batters and raced his record to 9-4.

Thanks to Kamrath’s solid start and some timely hitting from the bottom of the order, Virginia improved to 39-17 overall and added a key win for its NCAA Tournament resume. Clemson, which entered the game riding a nine-game winning streak, falls to 37-20 on the year and into the loser’s portion of Bracket One.

UVa, the No. 7 seed, returns to action today at 4 p.m. against sixth-seeded N.C. State, a 2-1 winner over third-seeded Miami. Wednesday’s two losers - Clemson and Miami - will square off today at 10 a.m. today in an elimination game.

Clemson appeared on the verge of taking an early lead in the bottom of the first as they opened with back-to-back infield singles off Kamrath. After a sac bunt from Taylor Harbin advanced each runner 90 feet, the Tigers had two runners in scoring position with one out.

Kamrath, who admitted after the game that he was a little nervous in the first, received a visit at the mound from his catcher, Scott Headd.

“Scott came out to the mound,” Kamrath said, “and he said ‘they didn’t hit the first ball hard and they didn’t hit the second ball that hard. Don’t worry about it. We can still get out of this.’”

Kamrath did just that, striking out both Tyler Colvin and Kris Harvey swinging.

“It would have been nice to have broken the ice there and gained some momentum, but we didn’t score in the first inning,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said.

In the third, UVa and Clemson exchanged single runs. The Cavaliers opened the scoring when senior Matt Street slapped a single to right to drive in Kyle Werman, who had reached on an error and advanced to second on a ground out by Tim Henry.

Clemson answered back for what proved to be its only run of the contest as catcher Adrian Casanova led off the frame with a double and later scored on a single by Taylor Harbin.

Virginia took a 2-1 lead in the sixth as Ryan Zimmerman was hit by a pitch from Clemson starter Stephen Faris and later came around to score when Headd hit into a fielder’s choice.

The score remained unchanged until UVa struck in the eighth.

Thanks to four hits, a walk and a hit batter the Cavaliers scored five runs and sent nine batters to the plate. Tom Hagan and Mike Campagna each drove in a run and Werman delivered a one-out, two-run single into left-center.

The bottom of Virginia’s batting order keyed the scoring spree in the eighth; something that O’Connor said was pivotal to earning the opening-round victory.

“To have a great offensive day, you can’t rely on one or two players,” O’Connor said. “We spread our hits throughout our team today and it was a day when guys like Hagan, Campagna and Werman got some clutch hits for us, helping us to open the game up.

“It is nice to know that you have the luxury of having the bottom of the lineup contribute like that. Typically we rely on Zimmerman, [Sean] Doolittle and [Brandon] Guyer and today it was the guys at the bottom of the order that we relied on.”

O’Connor also leaned on Doolittle in a relief pitching appearance.

The freshman did not disappoint.

Doolittle, who came in for Kamrath with one out in the seventh, pitched into the ninth. The freshman recorded six outs - two by strikeouts - and allowed just one base runner before giving way to senior Josh Myers, who recorded the final two outs.

While the win likely secures Virginia a spot in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, O’Connor said his focus was on win thing - finding a way to beat N.C. State.

“All we can worry about is what is in front of us,” O’Connor said. “I know these kids have a desire to win the championship here and I told our young men that if we take it game by game and play the style of baseball that is winning baseball for us, then those things will take care of themselves.

“I feel good about where we’re at.”

Note. Virginia junior Matt Avery is scheduled to start today on the mound against N.C. State. In his regular season start against N.C. State, Avery (5-5, 4.52 ERA) tossed eight scoreless innings and allowed just four runners to reach base (two hits, two walks). UVa won that game 2-0, but the Cavaliers lost the final two games of the series.

Virginia steals Clemson’s mojo
Late meltdown costly; Tigers now face an elimination game against Miami
By JON SOLOMON
Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Clemson baseball coach Jack Leggett’s worst fear, losing momentum, was realized Wednesday.

Virginia snapped Clemson’s nine-game winning streak, scoring five runs during a mistake-filled eighth inning to win 8-1 at the ACC Tournament.

A one-run ballgame over seven innings became a thorough victory for No. 7 seed Virginia during the final two frames. It was bad timing for second-seeded Clemson (37-20), which is trying to secure a bid to host an NCAA regional.

“It’s hard for me to explain,” Leggett said. “We knew we had a lot on the line, and I thought we would be ready to get done what we had to get done today.”

Instead, the Tigers move into an unusual elimination game today against No. 3 Miami, which lost its opener 2-1 to N.C. State. The Hurricanes-Tigers game will begin at 10 a.m. at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The ACC Tournament remained unkind to Clemson, which lost in the first round for the third time in five years. The Tigers need five victories over four days to win the championship.

“Some of those days nothing goes our way,” pitcher Stephen Faris said, “but we have to fight through that.”

Virginia (39-17) won its seventh game in a row and likely secured an NCAA Tournament bid. The Tigers helped the Cavs’ cause by committing three errors, hitting three batters, allowing three stolen bases, making several bad decisions in the outfield and throwing one wild pitch.

“Our kids played today with a little bit of an edge, with something to prove,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “The top six teams in the league were ranked in the top 25, and we feel like we can play with all those teams.”

Clemson trailed 2-1 entering the eighth inning. Faris hit the leadoff batter, bringing an end to his solid day. Reliever Jeff Hahn then failed to retire any of the three hitters he faced. Immediately after an unsuccessful pitchout, Brandon Guyer stole second base and went to third on Hahn’s wild pitch.

After Hahn issued a walk, Tom Hagan roped a change-up into the right-field corner for a ground-rule double and a 3-1 lead.

Virginia scored four more runs in the eighth against Hahn and Daniel Moskos, and added another run in the ninth against Moskos.

Clemson’s relievers have a 5.38 ERA in 29 games since the regular season’s midway point. The bullpen has allowed 114 hits in 98ð innings.

“We just didn’t relief pitch at all in the eighth or ninth inning,” Leggett said. “It’s a shame because we had a great starting performance out of Stephen, and we strung together 10 hits, one run. Funny game. The other day we got nine hits, eight runs.”

Virginia pitcher Jeff Kamrath (9-4) and relievers Sean Doolittle and Josh Myers held Clemson to 2-for-15 with runners on base.

The Tigers’ first two runners of the game reached base and were moved over on a sacrifice bunt. But Tyler Colvin and Kris Harvey both struck out.

In the fourth, Clemson had runners on first and second with one out after Stan Widmann fouled off seven pitches and drew a walk. The next batter, Adrian Casanova, ripped a grounder that third baseman Ryan Zimmerman back-handed to start a double play.

The Tigers dropped to 3-6 this season when they have two days of rest or more between games.

“Maybe it’s a good thing we get into the tournament and play a lot of baseball, because the more baseball we play, the better we get,” Leggett said.

Faris searched for a silver lining, too.

“I guess in another way, it’s kind of a kick in the butt to show us that we’re not just going to come out and just show up and play,” Faris said.

Recruiting will be a tough task for Leitao
Published May 25 2005
David Teel

Dave Leitao won't coach his first basketball game at Virginia until November. But already he's been thrown into the shark tank that is the ACC.

Duke is reloading, and North Carolina is poised to up the ante. Virginia Tech has landed two quality prospects, and a Big 12 marauder has heisted the state's purest shooter.

Good thing Leitao has hired two established recruiters as assistant coaches. He's gonna need 'em.

The gruesome details for Cavalier Nation:

Three high school juniors committed last week to Duke: Guard Jon Scheyer of Northbrook, Ill., near Chicago; guard Gerald Henderson Jr., of Merion, Pa., outside Philadelphia; and center Brian Zoubek of Haddonfield, N.J., also near Philly.

Three to-die-for juniors in as many days? For a program already dripping with talent? Next thing you know Warren Buffett will hit the lottery.

Scheyer, his shooting range prompting comparisons to Duke's J.J. Redick, averaged 33.5 points during postseason as Glenbrook North won its first state championship. Glenbrook North's coach is the brother of Illinois coach Bruce Weber, but Scheyer chose the Blue Devils over the Illini after a strong pitch from Duke assistant Chris Collins, a Glenbrook North alum.

Henderson's father, Gerald Sr., played at Virginia Commonwealth and in the NBA, where he was a teammate of Johnny Dawkins, the Blue Devils' associate head coach. Young Gerald's college choice narrowed to Duke and Villanova.

Zoubek, a 7-foot-1, 270-pound, back-to-the-basket center, picked the Blue Devils over Stanford. The anti-Duke crowd (you know who you are) can only hope he's more Greg Newton and Crawford Palmer than Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer.

While Mike Krzyzewski's program sprints to an early lead, the reigning national champs from next door lurk just off the pace. North Carolina coach Roy Williams also has secured three junior-class commitments, with more possible.

Tywon Lawson, a point guard from Oak Hill Academy in southwestern Virginia, announced for the Tar Heels earlier this month, and shooting guard Wayne Ellington, a high school teammate of Henderson's, followed suit after touring campus last weekend. They join forward William Graves of Greensboro, N.C.

Moreover, recruiting mavens (the equivalent of Capitol Hill savants who comprehend Senate filibuster rules) expect Oak Hill forward Kevin Durant to choose North Carolina over Texas and Connecticut. Lawson and Durant played together last month in Boo Williams' annual tournament in Hampton, and trust me, both are big-time prospects - Durant's 3-point range is outrageous for a 6-9 guy.

This neighborhood tug-o'-war may hinge on forward Brandan Wright of Brentwood, Tenn. He's considering the holy trinity of southern hoops: North Carolina, Duke and Kentucky.

Virginia Tech rarely travels in such company, but the Hokies this month received commitments from two notable juniors: forward Lewis Witcher of Franklin County in southwestern Virginia and point guard Nigel Munson of DeMatha High in suburban Washington, D.C., one of the nation's most renowned programs.

Munson, named DeMatha's most valuable player after a 26-1 season, considered offers from Miami, Clemson, Xavier and George Washington. Witcher, who commutes to Hampton to play for Boo Williams during the spring and summer, turned down Wake Forest, Maryland and Richmond.

The final horsefly in Leitao's rum punch: Junior Scottie Reynolds of Herndon, as sweet a shooter as you'll see, has committed to Oklahoma.

Granted, none of these players will don a college uniform until season-after-next. And some, unless the NBA Players Association swallows the castor oil of an age restriction, may head directly to the pros. Regardless, their college preferences illustrate (again) the scope of Leitao's challenge at Virginia.

Leitao inherited a junior-class commitment from former coach Pete Gillen: hometown shooting guard Stephen Kendall of Charlottesville. But both parties are re-evaluating the arrangement.

Meanwhile, Leitao and his top lieutenants are shopping for talent. Gene Cross was Leitao's lead assistant at DePaul, and Rob Lanier, Siena's head coach the past four seasons, served as an assistant at Texas and Rutgers.

Both appear to be top-shelf hires, and neither is a stranger to cutthroat recruiting. But neither has encountered a chore quite like this.

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 25, 2005

ON THE DIAMOND: Three baseball players from the University of Virginia were named all-ACC this week. Jeff Kamrath made the first team, and the second team includes Ryan Zimmerman and Sean Doolittle.

Kamrath, a senior pitcher from Houston, is 8-4 with a 2.28 earned-run average. He was named second-team all-ACC as a sophomore in 2002. He sat out the 2004 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Zimmerman, a junior third baseman from Virginia Beach, made the all-ACC first team in 2004 and has had another sensational season. He's batting a team-high .399 with 17 doubles, six home runs, four triples and 55 RBI. He's also stolen 15 bases (in 19 attempts).

Doolittle, a freshman from Tabernacle, N.J., pitches when he's not playing first base. He's batting .327 with a team-high 11 home runs and 53 RBI. On the mound, he's worked mostly in relief. The left-hander is 2-0, with a 0.87 ERA, and has fanned 58 batters in 411/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .158 against Doolittle.

LATE SURGE: After losing the first two games of its series at Clemson last month, Virginia had an ACC record of 5-10, and its prospects for advancing to the NCAA tournament looked bleak. But the Cavaliers beat the Tigers in the series finale, and the victory seemed to spark second-year coach Brian O'Connor's team.

U.Va. finished the regular season 14-14 in the conference and 38-17 overall, and O'Connor believes his club is a strong candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

"I feel good about it," O'Connor said. "Down the stretch, we did everything we could to prove we're an NCAA tournament team . . . I'd feel really good about it if we could win a game or two in this tournament."

In its ACC tourney opener, seventh-seeded U.Va. plays No. 2 seed Clemson (21-9, 37-19) today at 1 p.m. in Jacksonville, Fla. The Tigers are expected to start former J.R. Tucker High star Stephen Faris on the mound. Faris, a sophomore who was named second-team all-ACC this week, has a 6-3 record, with a 2.56 ERA. He didn't pitch against U.Va. in the series last month.

The ACC, best known for its men's basketball, is an exceptional baseball league too. The tourney's top six seeds -- Georgia Tech, Clemson, Miami, Florida State, North Carolina and N.C. State -- are considered locks to make the NCAAs.

"The ACC tournament is tougher to win than any NCAA regional," O'Connor said.

IN THE CREASE: Senior attackman John Christmas isn't the only U.Va. lacrosse player for whom this weekend's NCAA Final Four will be a homecoming. Junior defenseman Steve Holmes also is from the Philadelphia area.

A graduate of Germantown Academy, the 6-1, 180-pound Holmes started for the Cavaliers as a freshman in 2002 despite, coach Dom Starsia said yesterday, being "a very raw player."

Holmes, who took the 2002-03 school year off, rejoined Starsia's program last season. He reclaimed his starting job and has steadily improved, especially since he settled on one sport. Early in his college career, Holmes was a walk-on receiver for football coach Al Groh.

"He's started to emerge as a lacrosse player," Starsia said. "He's just gotten better and better, and I think this last weekend might have been his best game."

In an NCAA quarterfinal at Baltimore, Holmes held Navy's leading scorer, Jon Birsner, without a point, and U.Va. won 10-8. Fourth-seeded Virginia plays top-seeded John Hopkins in the semifinals Saturday at 2 p.m. at Lincolin Financial Field.

THE WAHOO WAY: No two universities are exactly alike, and U.Va. men's basketball coach Dave Leitao is making a concerted effort to learn about the culture of his new school. Leitao played and coached at Northeastern University in Boston. He's also been an assistant at the University of Connecticut and head coach at DePaul University.

"You can come in and say, 'We're going to impose our will, this is how I've done it for a bunch of years, this is how we're going to do it,' without regard to personalities and the structure, the uniqueness [of a university],'" Leitao said Monday, but that's not the path he's following.

He's had numerous speaking engagements since coming to U.Va. last month, one reason Leitao has yet to fill out his staff.

"And if I weren't out speaking, I might have hired everybody by now," he said. "But the great thing about it is, it forced me to take a step back and look at this place differently than I had walking in the front door, and realize that it takes a little bit of a different approach in order to do it the right way." -- Jeff White

New UVa. coach focuses on academics
On the Front Row
Chris Graham
chris@augustafreepress.com

Dave Leitao isn't your typical big-time college-basketball coach.

The new head man at the University of Virginia can sell recruits on playing time in the best basketball conference in America, bar none, and also let the nation's top prep stars know in no uncertain terms that they will be able to help open up a veritable basketball palace, the 15,000-seat, $150 million John Paul Jones Arena, in the fall of 2006.

So what's with all this talk about ... academics?

"In Virginia, you have a university that has always been known for its academic background. The direction that college athletics and specifically college basketball is headed in right now, the schools, the programs, the teams that focus on that more and more are going to be the teams that are looked upon to get the good kids and will be a shining light in the next few years. That attracted me here," said Leitao, who took the Virginia men's basketball coaching job last month.

Leitao knows that success in basketball at any level has to do with three things - recruiting, recruiting and, you guessed it, recruiting.

He also knows that success in life has to do with more than the ability to drain an open jumper or box out an overly aggressive offensive rebounder.

"As I look at recruiting, and as I look at how programs become successful, there isn't anything here that would prevent this university from being in the top echelon, not only in the ACC, but in college basketball," Leitao said.

"If you look at a profile of a young man, and ask that young man, do you want to play at the highest level, do you want to play in the best basketball conference in America, do you want to be in a social climate that allows you to grow as a human being and as a young person, Virginia thrives in that area," Leitao said.

"Do you want an academic institution with a reputation as we have that can do the things other than just get you a degree that will make you successful off the basketball court? Virginia is one of the nation's leaders in that," Leitao said.

Leitao has one other recruiting selling point that doesn't have as much to do with pure academics as it does with pop psychology.

"Obviously, from the standpoint of basketball success, and you mentioned moderate success, I think that's a good thing," Leitao said.

"Now that young man is going to be put in a position of not being one of several great players that have went to another university, but he can come to Virginia and make his mark at a place where he will be long remembered from the time that he leaves," Leitao said.

Time healed what was ailing Virginia, Starsia
Turnaround: After a nightmarish 2004 season, the Cavaliers have returned to form.
By Mike Preston
Sun Staff
Originally published May 26, 2005

Nearly a year ago, Virginia men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was happy the season was over. Not only did the Cavaliers go through one of the school's worst seasons in recent history, but Starsia had to endure several personal tragedies.

Four persons with whom he had a close relationship died within a year, including his father-in-law, a former teammate at Brown, a former college buddy and another close friend and confidant, longtime Virginia sports information director Doyle Smith.

A year after winning the national championship in 2003, Virginia finished 5-8, only the second losing season in the past 38 years. Both the Cavaliers and Starsia seemed worn out.

"People told me that I had lost control, that I wasn't tough enough," said Starsia, 53, a New York City native who took over at Virginia before the start of the 1993 season. "They told me I had lost it, but I'm sorry if I couldn't rake a kid over the coals for not picking up a ground ball."

There are no apologies needed, not in 2005. Virginia (11-3) is back among the elite of college lacrosse, preparing for its final four semifinal against top-ranked and unbeaten (14-0) Johns Hopkins Saturday at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

The X's and O's haven't changed much for Starsia since last season, but his attitude has. He has always been mellow, but he's taken it to another level this year.

"I've always been a bit open, and I've always thought building relationships with players is more important than the X's and O's," said Starsia, who coached at Brown from 1982 through 1992. "I've always talked about the willingness to sacrifice, putting self out of the equation and not ahead of the team.

"I'm even more open now, more willing to talk about things. I've tried to be more personable and listen. We've gone through this season with the luxury of enjoying it a little bit more, both the wins and the losses. At some programs, getting to the final four is not special enough for folks."

The change has been not only in Starsia, but in the players, too. After winning the title, the Cavaliers lost a lot of seniors. The 2004 team was smaller in numbers and in maturity.

Starsia didn't think his team practiced well in February, the month leading up to opening of the '04 season. With Virginia's schedule, there is no down time.

Starsia, in hindsight, made the mistake of going west to Colorado to play in the Pioneer Face-Off early in the season. The Cavaliers lost to Air Force, 7-6, and to Denver, 9-7. They then lost to Syracuse and Princeton, dropping to 1-4.

That's unacceptable in Charlottesville. Starsia had flashbacks of a conversation he had with Princeton coach Bill Tierney about trying to repeat as national champion. According to Starsia, Tierney was complaining about some of the pitfalls of being champion.

He didn't know then that the Cavaliers would be swallowed up.

"Bill was talking about how tough it was, and I thought, 'Hey, Bill, nobody gives a hoot,' " Starsia said. "It's tough, really tough. Emotionally, we didn't handle it as well as we should have."

Injuries didn't help, either. They came often and early. Senior defenseman Brett Hughes was involved in a major collision early in the Denver tournament and eventually had to have surgery for a double hernia.

Midfielders Drew Thompson and Ricky Smith each suffered anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the same game of the ACC tournament, and both needed knee surgery. In total, six Cavaliers experienced season-ending injuries.

There was more. Before the regular-season finale against Duke, nine players were suspended for violating the team's alcohol policy. That came after an incident involving Virginia players earlier in the season.

The old season couldn't end - and a new one couldn't begin - fast enough.

"It's terrifying when you're losing," Starsia said. "You start to question yourself, if you've lost it. There is uncertainty as you prepare for games. But after the season, I was surprised how fast I was able to put it all behind me. I was overwhelmed with a new willingness to go back to work. It was like I had gotten the right shot in the arm."

This is a good Virginia team, one given a decent chance to upset Hopkins. The Cavaliers have enough power and speed in the midfield with Thompson, Kyle Dixon, Will Barrow, J.J. Morrissey, and Matt Poskay. If goalie Kip Turner can come up with a big game, Virginia will be tough to put away, much like their coach who rebounded this season.

"I'm not blowing any smoke, Hopkins has the best team," Starsia said. "But they have a style that lets you hang around for a little while. But you have to stay close enough to be able to make a play at the end of the game. If we can get some faceoffs, make some big saves, shoot well and be efficient on offense, then we've got a shot."

Maryland coach Dave Cottle said: "We talked last year about the season he was having. It was difficult for him. You never know how kids are going to respond after a season like that. Dom deserves a lot of credit."