UVa women's lacrosse team falls in final
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 28, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Raucous boos cascaded from the stands at Franklin Field on Sunday night in the NCAA women’s Division I championship lacrosse game.

Virginia fans were not pleased.

Top-seeded Northwestern, clinging to a one-goal lead with more than 10 minutes remaining, had gone into a complete stall.

But suddenly the boos turned to cheers.

Virginia had finally forced Northwestern, which had run 5 minutes off the clock, into a shot.

There was hope.

The Cavaliers worked the ball to the other end of the field and got two great shot attempts - one by Blair Weymouth, the other by Brittany Kalkstein.

However, neither found the back of the net.

Northwestern’s Hilary Bowen retaliated with a goal at the other end and Virginia’s quest for its fourth NCAA title was over.

The Wildcats defeated UVa, 15-13, in front of 6,075 fans to win their third straight championship.

“We take a lot of pride getting to the championship game,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “Northwestern is clearly a great team, but I’m hugely proud of our team. A couple opportunities here and there and maybe it’s a different result in the end.”

Junior Megan O’Malley led third-seeded Virginia (20-3) with three goals. Megan Havrilla, Kaitlin Duff and Ashley McCulloch had two apiece.

Northwestern (21-1), which was led by Bowen’s five goals, finished the season on a 21-game winning streak. The Wildcats’ only loss of the year came against North Carolina in their season opener.

“We are just so excited,” said Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. “This is something we’ve wanted all year long. This senior class has wanted it more than ever. This is pretty special.”

In the aftermath of her team’s miraculous comeback from a nine-goal deficit on Friday night against Duke - the greatest comeback in NCAA Division I postseason history - Myers said it wouldn’t be a very wise idea for her team to get down by a wide margin against top-seeded Northwestern.

She was right about that.

In the first half, Virginia came out strong. UVa won three of the first draw controls and jumped out to 2-0 lead after goals by O’Malley and McCulloch.

McCulloch’s goal, which was assisted by Brittany Kalkstein, came on a pretty quick-stick maneuver.

“That was the way we wanted to start the game,” Myers said, “but we also knew there were 58 minutes left.”

Northwestern quickly awoke.

Northwestern roared back to build a five-goal lead. The Wildcats scored seven straight goals to take a 7-2 lead. Virginia had no answer for Bowen. The sophomore attacker penetrated the Cavaliers’ defense at will.

Like it did in its semifinal win over Duke, UVa was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.

Virginia goalie Kendall McBrearty, who finished with eight saves, had little chance at stopping the Wildcats’ many point-blank attempts.

“A lot of their shooters were wide open, and they have great shooters,” Myers said. “Kendall didn’t make many saves, but they had some amazing shots.”

Virginia, which trailed 11-6 at the half, began to peck away after the break.

On three occasions, UVa was able to pull within a goal. But the Cavaliers’ only chance to tie the game came after Northwestern’s stall.

“I just wanted to take a little air out of the ball,” Amonte Hiller said. “They were being so explosive and basically scoring at will at that point. I wanted to slow things down a little bit.”

Said Myers: “I thought it was a great concept on their part.”

Myers said her team has nothing to be ashamed of.

“Northwestern is really good,” she said. “Their stick work is exceptional. They’re very disciplined and know exactly what they’re doing.”


 

Seniors fall just short in final
Outgoing Cavaliers lose to Northwestern in title game again
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 28, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Virginia’s seniors were hoping they could end their careers the same way they started them - with an NCAA Championship.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

Sunday evening’s 15-13 loss to Northwestern in the final of the NCAA Tournament wasn’t the way they wanted to go out.

To figure that out, all you had to do was look at the face of Jess Wasilewski, who was teary-eyed following the game.

However, Wasilewski and the team’s four other seniors are taking solace in a 19-4 season that included an ACC Championship.

“I think we had the hardest work to get to the finals,” Wasilewski said. “We were able to work through it and learned that if you put your mind to something, you can definitely accomplish it.”

Virginia had to go through Princeton, North Carolina and Duke to make it to the title tilt.

Wasilewski, a Pennsylvania native who was playing in front of numerous family and friends, had a goal in her final collegiate game.

Fellow senior Megan Havrilla, also a Pennsylvania native, had two goals.

Senior Kate Breslin had a goal, while senior defender Jessy Morgan helped hold Northwestern’s Kristen Kjellman in check down the stretch.

Virginia coach Julie Myers said her senior group provided excellent leadership throughout the year.

“The fourth-year players were really phenomenal and set the tone for everyone else to follow,” Myers said. “I couldn’t be more proud.

“We really asked more of them than we have any other group and they never balked. I think the character on this team is amazing and the bonds they’ve created through overcoming challenges are amazing.”

As freshmen, the group defeated Princeton to win the NCAA title. The following season, they lost to Northwestern in the title game. Last season, they were shocked by Princeton in the first round.

“This has definitely been the hardest year as far as training goes,” Havrilla said. “We put up with it because we knew it would take us to the finals. And it did. All our hard work paid off.

“We’re not only connected well on the field, but off as well. We’re all great friends and it’s been a great experience.”

And who’s ever going to forget Friday night’s semifinal win over Duke - the greatest comeback in Division I postseason history?

Wasilewski believes that victory gave the team confidence when it got down by five goals to Northwestern.

“We knew we could come back,” Wasilewski said. “We did it on Friday and knew we could do it again.”

They just came up a little short.

 

Three Cavs named all-tourney
By Barney Breen-Portnoy / Daily Progress correspondent
May 28, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Three Virginia players - freshman midfielder Kaitlin Duff, sophomore attacker Ashley McCulloch and senior midfielder Jess Wasilewski - were named to the NCAA’s All-Tournament team.
Over the course of the two games, Duff scored two goals, both of which came against Northwestern, and picked up four ground balls. McCulloch notched three goals and five assists, while Wasilewski tallied four goals, including the game-winner with 9 seconds left against Duke on Friday.
Northwestern’s Hilary Bowen was named the Tournament MVP. Four other Wildcats - Christy Finch, Aly Josephs, Kristen Kjellman and Hannah Nielsen - made the All-Tournament team.
Caroline Cryer (Duke), Kim Imbesi (Duke), Karen Jann (Penn) and Hilary Renna (Penn) rounded out the selections.

Rough weekend between the pipes
Virginia goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty finished the season with 179 saves, a new school record. With her second save of the game, which came early in the first half, she surpassed Heather Dow’s previous mark of 172.
Dow, who graduated from Virginia in 1982, is currently in her 11th season as an assistant coach under Julie Myers. Dow held the career saves record until 1994.
McBrearty was not at the top of her game in the two Final Four contests, yielding 28 goals, while making 12 saves, but Myers was quick to point out that many of the goals were not McBrearty’s fault.
“Kendall is a really athletic and dynamic keeper,” Myers said. “This was probably not one of her best weekends, but a lot of those shooters were wide open.”

A packed house
The crowd of 6,075 set a new record for the NCAA women’s lacrosse title game.
The previous title game attendance record was 5,684, set at Boston University last year.
“It was great,” Wasilewski said of playing in front of such a large audience. “The crowd was really getting into it, and the players feed off of that so it was a great atmosphere.”
The overall crowd for the weekend - 12,503 - also was a record. That number was boosted by the presence of the fourth-seeded University of Pennsylvania in Friday’s semifinals.

Ground balls
After Northwestern’s Meredith Frank scored her second goal of the game with a little more than 20 minutes remaining in the second half, the Wildcats fans in attendance began chanting “Frank the Tank,” in reference to Will Farrell’s character in the movie “Old School.” … The last team to win three straight national titles was Maryland, which won seven consecutive NCAA Championships between 1995 and 2001. … With the runner-up finish, Virginia earned 90 Directors’ Cup points.

'Cats thwart Cavs in final
Northwestern holds off U.Va. rally, takes third straight crown
Monday, May 28, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By VIC DORR JR.
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Virginia women's lacrosse team reached deep into its bag of tricks in hope of finding one more miracle. But this time it withdrew only dust and lint.

Northwestern's top-ranked Wildcats captured their third Division I championship in as many years by defeating the third-ranked Cavaliers 15-13 in last night's 2007 NCAA title game at Franklin Field.

Virginia, which trailed by six goals late in the first half and five at the break, closed to 14-13 with 10:21 remaining. Northwestern freshman Katrina Dowd scored the biggest goal of the Wildcats' sensational season when she whipped a 20-footer into the Virginia net following a restart created by a Virginia foul at 2:35.

"Clearly, Northwestern is a great team," Cavaliers coach Julie Myers said. "But as great as they are, I'm hugely proud of my kids. They competed with [Northwestern] every step of the way."

Wildcats coach Kelly Amonte Hiller agreed. "Virginia is an unbelievable team, and tonight they did almost everything right," she said. "They're amazing on offense. They're so explosive."

Amonte Hiller could do little more than shake her head when asked about Virginia's second-half surge, a surge in which the Cavaliers rang up five goals in less than nine minutes. "It seemed like they were scoring at will, almost."

Northwestern's relief was palpable. So giddy were the Wildcats that they did not wait for the traditional trophy presentation. They grabbed the championship trophy from a table near the scorer's tent and, while startled NCAA officials watched, carried the prize onto the field for the most rambunctious portion of their celebration.

But then, the Wildcats had reason to party hearty. Virginia trailed by nine goals with just under 21 minutes remaining in Friday's semifinal shootout with Duke. The Cavaliers then rode the largest and most improbable comeback in NCAA tournament history to a 14-13 victory. Another such rally seemed likely, if not inevitable, during long stretches of the second half last night.

Virginia (19-4) shaved Northwestern's lead to one goal three times after the break -- the last when junior attacker Megan O'Malley scored off a behind-the-net feed from Ashley McCullough. Dowd scored off a feed from midfielder Hannah Nielsen on the Wildcats' ensuing possession.

Memories of the resurrection against Duke played a key role in last night's rally, said Virginia midfielder Jess Wasilewski. "Friday night gave us a lot of confidence," Wasilewski said. "We knew anything was possible. We knew we could do it again."

Well, almost. The Cavaliers never pulled abreast of the Wildcats. Only once once did Virginia have possession with a chance to tie the game in the second half. Northwestern goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop spoiled that possession by turning aside Brittany Kalkstein's shot from close range with 3:20 remaining.

Junior attacker Hilary Bowen, the tournament's most outstanding player, scored five goals for Northwestern. Four of those came in the first half. She also collected a pair of assists. Dowd scored three goals. O'Malley scored three times for Virginia, which collaborated with Northwestern to produce the highest-scoring final in the tournament's 26-year history.

Northwestern (21-1) completed a season of dominance. The Wildcats became only the second team to win back-to-back-to-back titles. And they earned that distinction in a manner that was little short of breathtaking. Their only loss (9-8 in double overtime) occurred on opening day against North Carolina. They scored 18 or more goals on 10 occasions and won their last nine games, including last night's, by an average margin of 10.6 goals.


 

Devvarman back in singles final, will face Isner
UVa junior tops Illinois' Anderson; Cavs doubles team eliminated in semifinals
Staff and wire reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
May 28, 2007

ATHENS, Ga. - Few players in college tennis can match Georgia’s John Isner when he is serving well. Today, he’ll get a chance for redemption against the last one who did.

The top-seeded Isner will play No. 2-seed Somdev Devvarman of Virginia for the NCAA men’s singles championship, after defeating Washington’s Alex Slovic, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals Sunday.

Devvarman, who defeated Illinois’ Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3, to reach the finals, beat Isner in straight sets in the team semifinals last Monday. The two will be meeting for the fourth time this season.

“He is an unbelievable competitor,” Isner said. “I will have to earn every point. My serve was nothing to him the last time we played.”

Isner’s serve - nicknamed “Big Bertha” by former Georgia coach Dan Magill - has never been measured with a radar gun, but Slovic estimated it at 130 miles per hour. It yielded 19 aces in the semifinal, giving Isner 103 in the NCAA championships.

“My game goes as my serve goes,” said Isner, a 6-foot-9 senior from Greensboro, N.C. “It gives me confidence in the rest of my game.”

Devvarman, a junior from Chennai, India, lost in the final last year to Benjamin Kohlloeffel of UCLA.

In doubles action, Devvarman and Treat Huey, the No. 2 seed, suffered a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to No. 5-8 seed Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom of Middle Tennessee State.

The first set was on serve until the Middle Tennessee team broke Huey’s serve at 3-4 and followed by holding serve to win the opening set 6-3. In the second set, both teams served well and neither side could get a break point opportunity. The set went to a tiebreaker, which was tied at 4-4 before the Blue Raider duo won three of the final four points to seal the win.

“We are obviously disappointed with the loss,” Huey said in a press release. “We played well, but they played well too. They forced us into some errors that we didn’t make in the earlier rounds. We are proud to reach the semifinals but felt that we could have gone further.”
 

Cavs will be host for regional
Virginia is among 16 sites; seeds, rest of field will be announced today
Monday, May 28, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As expected, the University of Virginia will host a regional in the 64-team NCAA baseball tournament.

The NCAA yesterday announced the tournament's 16 regional sites. The hosts include four teams from the Southeastern Conference and three from the ACC: Florida State, North Carolina and U.Va.

The remaining teams in the tourney field will be announced at 12:30 p.m. today on ESPN, as will the top eight seeds.

At each regional, four teams will play a double-elimination tournament. Two games are scheduled for Friday, two for Saturday and two for Sunday at U.Va.'s Davenport Field. If necessary, a final game would be played next Monday.

Virginia Commonweath University, which won the Colonial Athletic Association title Saturday, could well be sent to Charlottesville.

"Logic says yes," longtime coach Paul Keyes said yesterday, but the Rams' destination may depend on the seed they receive from the NCAA.

FSU and UNC, which yesterday won the ACC title, are locks to earn two of the eight national seeds. Those eight teams, if they win their respective regionals, are each assured of hosting a Super Regional, the last hurdle on the road to the College World Series, which begins June 15 in Omaha, Neb.

The Cavaliers (43-14) have put themselves in consideration for a top-eight seed, but their chances would be better if they'd beaten UNC on Saturday to advance to yesterday's ACC title game.

U.Va. is headed to the NCAAs for the fourth consecutive season and will host a regional for the third time in Brian O'Connor's four years as coach. The Wahoos have yet to advance past the NCAA tourney's opening weekend under O'Connor.

Virginia will be one of six teams hosting a regional for the second straight season. The others are Arkansas, UNC, Mississippi, Rice and Texas.

Fans may pre-order tickets at www.virginiasports.com and through U.Va.'s athletic ticket office at (800) 542-8821 or (434) 924-8821. The ticket office will be closed today for Memorial Day, but tickets may be purchased online.

 

Virginia to host regional
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 28, 2007

Mike Mitchell and his classmates on the Virginia baseball team will happily walk into Davenport Field on Friday with a huge chip on their shoulders.

Virginia, having hosted a regional in the NCAA Tournament twice already in the past three years, essentially has nothing to show for earning the privilege to play at home in the postseason.

Another chance to save face comes this weekend - Virginia was one of 16 schools awarded a regional on Sunday. The three teams that will join Virginia in the regional will be announced today at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.

“We have high expectations for this team and we think we should be able to go past a regional,” Mitchell said. “It has definitely been a challenge for us the past three years to get past that point, but I think this year we have the best opportunity because we are all pushing to get past that point.”

Virginia, which was bounced from the ACC Tournament on Saturday with a 5-0 loss to North Carolina, was one of three ACC teams to secure the right to host a regional, joining Florida State and UNC. The Cavaliers enter the tournament with a 43-14 record.

“I am excited that the NCAA rewarded our team for what we accomplished all year,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “This bid also shows the quality that our administration, field crew and everybody with our event staff involved with the past regionals has done.

“The reports must have been very positive in the past for them to reward us with another regional.”

Virginia is expected to play on Friday in the regional opener at 4 p.m. The second- and third-seeded teams will battle at 8 p.m. in the double-elimination event. The contests Saturday and Sunday will be played at 1 and 6 p.m.

Despite failing to win the Charlottesville Regional in 2004 and 2006, O’Connor said there is an obvious reward to play at Davenport Field. With that comes the potential to hit a glaring landmine.

“There is an advantage to hosting because you have your fans and your ballpark, but also with that comes pressure, too,” O’Connor said. “We have hosted two and we haven’t made it out of one yet, so hopefully we have learned what it takes to win and move on.”

 

Virginia Finishes Second In Team Competition At NCAA Women's Rowing Championships
UVa wins championship in the varsity four.
May 27, 2007

OAK RIDGE, Tenn.--The Virginia women's rowing team won the championship in the varsity four competition and finished second to Brown in the team competition on the final day of the 2007 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships Sunday (May 27) on Melton Hill Lake.

The second place finish equals UVa's best team finish at the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships. It's the second time in the last three years and the third time overall UVa has finished second in the team competition. Virginia also finished second in 2005 and 1999.

In the final event of the NCAA Championships, Brown finished fourth just under two seconds ahead of fifth place Virginia in the varsity eight Grand Final to give the Bears the team championship. Entering the Grand Final of the varsity eight, California led the team competition with 32 points, followed by Brown (31) and Virginia (30). Yale won the varsity eight with Brown earning 27 points for its fourth place finish and UVa receiving 24 points for finishing fifth. California did not participate in the Grand Final of the varsity eight.

The Cavaliers' championship in the varsity four marked the third time in the last four years Virginia has won the NCAA Championship in that competition. UVa also won the NCAA Championship in the varsity four in 2004 and 2005. Brown finished second to Virginia in the varsity four Grand Final on Sunday.

UVa's second varsity eight boat finished fourth in the Grand Final in that competition with Brown finishing third. Minnesota won the Grand Final in the second varsity eight.

"We came into the NCAA Championships with a goal of winning the team title," said Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer. "Obviously we're disappointed we weren't able to accomplish that goal, but I'm very proud of this team for its second place finish. We did not participate in the NCAA Championships last year and to come back and finish second this year is quite an accomplishment. It's also a significant accomplishment to be one of just two teams to have all three of its boats in Grand Finals.
"I'm pleased with the varsity four winning another championship and I congratulate assistant coach Steve Pritzker for his work with that crew. In the varsity eight and the second varsity eight competitions, we came up a little short of what we needed to win the team championship."

Brown won the team championship with 58 points followed by Virginia with 54 and Ohio State with 52. Yale was fourth with 51 points followed by Southern California (48), Minnesota (47), California (38), Princeton (34), Tennessee (29), Washington (25), Harvard (19) and Notre Dame (13).

Virginia took the lead in the first 500 meters and dominated the 2,000-meter varsity four Grand Final race. The Cavaliers won by more than 10 seconds. UVa finished in a time of 7:35.03 with Brown second (7:45.54) and California third (7:47.87). Princeton finished fourth with a time of 7:50.90 followed by Washington (7:53.75) and Yale (7:54.41). Virginia's varsity four boat was comprised of Chrissie Monaghan, Amanda Chase, Rebecca Ryall, Mindy Fiesler and coxswain Mary Eddy.

UVa was second behind Minnesota after the first 1,500 meters of the second varsity eight Grand Final, before crews from California and Brown passed the Cavaliers in the final 500 meters of the race. Minnesota took the lead in the first 500 meters and led the rest of the way to win the championship in that competition with a time of 6:56.39. California finished second in a time of 6:59.15 followed by Brown (6:59.71), Virginia (7:01.52), Ohio State (7:08.52) and Washington (7:11.29). UVa's second varsity eight boat was made up of Anna Samaha, Andria Haneman, Kelsie Chaudoin, Heather Gardner, Emelia Colman-Shepherd, Desiree Burns, Yvonne Epp, Bridget Fowler and coxswain Michelle Ellison

Virginia was second to Yale after the first 1,000 meters of the varsity eight Grand Final, but the Cavaliers dropped back to fifth after 1,500 meters and remained in that position over the final 500 meters. Yale won the varsity eight Grand Final with a time of 6:37.08 followed by Ohio State (6:38.77), Southern California (6:39.45), Brown (6:39.55), Virginia (6:41.50) and Princeton (6:45.38). UVa's varsity eight boat was comprised of Melanie Kok, Sara Lippa, Katrin Sydlik, Lauren Hutchins, Augusta Stratos, Libby McCann, Kerry Maher, Jennifer Cromwell and coxswain Caitlin Mixter.

The 2007 championships were the 11th NCAA Women's Rowing Championships and Virginia has competed in 10 of the 11 events. UVa has finished in the top seven in the team competition at each of the 10 NCAA Championships in which it has competed.