UVa dominant in first round
By Whitelaw Reid wreid@dailyprogress.com| 978-7250
Published: May 11, 2009

Seventeen days had passed since the Virginia men’s lacrosse team stepped on the field for a game. That outcome was an 11-goal loss to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
When you consider that UVa’s two preceding games (against Dartmouth and Duke) weren’t anything to write home about, really it had been over a month since the Cavaliers had a performance that they could feel good about.
“We’d been a little frustrated I think,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “People would ask about the Duke games and I didn’t have answers in every case.
“Even in the Dartmouth game, it took us a while to get our hands on that game…”
On Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium, Virginia put those performances in its rearview mirror with one of its most dominating efforts of the season.
Behind five goals from Brian Carroll, four from Danny Glading and three apiece from Steele Stanwick and John Haldy, No. 1-seeded UVa (14-2) pounded Villanova, 18-6, in front of a crowd of 2,921. The 12-goal margin of victory matched UVa’s largest in the NCAA tournament since a 20-8 triumph over Georgetown in 2006.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster for us since we hadn’t been playing our best lacrosse,” Glading said, “[but] you really have to take one game at a time and we’re going to prepare just as hard and as diligently as we did this past week.
“It’s nice to be No. 1, but it’s anybody’s tournament. Whoever comes out ready to play is going to win these games.”
With the win, Virginia advanced to an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal showdown against Johns Hopkins in Annapolis, Md. on Sunday. Earlier this season, UVa
defeated the Blue Jays in Baltimore in a 16-15 thriller.
Virginia’s nine first-quarter goals were nearly double the amount that it scored in its 16-5 loss to Duke on April 24.
“I was glad we got off to a great start,” Starsia said. “I thought that was important because I’ve had some questions over the last couple of days about our confidence. You never quite know about that, so I thought it was important today that we got after it at the beginning. We clearly did.”
Virginia led 15-0 at the half and 18-0 at the end of three quarters. Villanova (11-6) didn’t get on the scoreboard until 8 minutes and 45 seconds remained in the fourth quarter as Tim Driscoll scored on an assist from Chris MacDonald. But, by that time, several sympathetic Virginia fans seemed almost pleased that the Wildcats had gotten off the snide.
The Cavaliers looked like a well-oiled machine in the first quarter. After being held scoreless for the first 4-plus minutes, Virginia exploded, scoring nine goals within the last 10:39 of the stanza. Villanova, making its first-ever NCAA appearance, looked shell-shocked.
“We’re obviously a little disappointed with the way we played today,” said Villanova coach Michael Corrado. “We knew Virginia was going to be a great test for our team.
“We came out and got a couple opportunities early and didn’t score, and then all of a sudden it was just an avalanche.”
Starsia said his team’s degree of dominance was a bit of a surprise.
“The game didn’t play quite the way we expected it to,” he said, “but I’m really proud of the team and the effort we put out.
“I thought we had been served a pretty significant piece of humble pie that we had to live with for the last couple weeks. I thought it was important for us to get back to the practice field.
“I give the older guys credit for making sure we were ready to play today.”
Carroll, the game’s high scorer, believes the team may have turned a corner.
“Against Duke we were settling for shots that might not have been the best shots,” Carroll said. “We were rushing things on offense.
“Today we were patient. We moved the ball around and pretty much all the shots we took were good shots.”
Groundballs
Virginia outshot Villanova, 42-27, and won the groundball battle, 46-37. …Seven players scored for UVa.
 

U.Va. whips Villanova in NCAA first-round lacrosse match
By Jeff White
Published: May 11, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The University of Virginia men's lacrosse team surrendered six goals and scored none in the fourth quarter yesterday.

Villanova could have outscored U.Va. 17-0 in the final quarter, and it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

In one of the more dominating performances in NCAA tournament history, top-seeded Virginia humbled Villanova 18-6 before a crowd of 2,291 on a postcard-worthy afternoon at Klockner Stadium.

Nearly five minutes passed before a goal was scored in this first-round game, and it came on a shot by U.Va. midfielder John Haldy. What followed was an awe-inspiring display of offense by Virginia, which made the shellshocked Wildcats (11-6) look helpless in their first NCAA appearance.

"All of the sudden, it was just an avalanche," Villanova coach Michael Corrado said.

The score was 15-0 at halftime and 18-0 after three quarters. The Wildcats didn't break through until 8:45 was left in the game, long after U.Va. coach Dom Starsia had begun inserting his secondand third-team players.

For a Virginia team that had suffered two one-sided losses to ACC rival Duke in the previous month, the victory was particularly satisfying.

"I thought that we had been served a pretty significant piece of humble pie that we've had to sit with, live with for the past couple weeks," Starsia said.

"People would ask about the Duke games, and I didn't have answers in every case. Even in the Dartmouth game" a 13-6 win for Virginia "it took us a while to get our hands on that game. It's been a little frustrating, frankly. That's just the way it's been."

The next round figures to be considerably tougher for U.Va., which is seeking its fourth NCAA title under Starsia. Virginia (14-2) faces No. 8 seed Johns Hopkins (10-4) in a noon quarterfinal Sunday at Annapolis, Md.

"Better save some of these for next week," former Cavaliers coach Bob Sandell quipped in the press box yesterday after junior midfielder Brian Carroll's goal made it 17-0.

Virginia has won four straight over Hopkins, including a 16-15 thriller March 21 in Baltimore.

"We've had some classic games with Johns Hopkins over the years," Starsia said, "and we expect this to be in the same mold."

Yesterday's game was the first in which the Wahoos led at halftime since their regular-season clash with Hopkins. By the end of the first quarter, it was 9-0, and senior attackman Danny Glading had two goals and two assists.

"I thought it was important to kick off the game today and get after it in the beginning, and we clearly did that," Starsia said.

Chad Gaudet's supremacy on faceoffs meant Villanova rarely had possession in the first half. Gaudet, a graduate student who transferred to U.Va. from Dartmouth, won 12 of 15 draws before intermission and 14 of 17 for the game.

"That was pivotal," Starsia said.

Carroll finished with five goals -- two more than his previous career high -- and Glading added four goals and two assists. In addition to Glading, Cavaliers playing at Klockner for the final time included another all-ACC selection, long-stick midfielder Mike Timms.

"I couldn't be happier about the way the game turned out," Timms said. "The day was perfect."

Starsia and company get back on track
By Jerry Ratcliffe Sports editor
Published: May 11, 2009

For more than two weeks, Virginia lacrosse coach Dom Starsia and his crew have had to chew on their worst performance of the season, a 16-5 thrashing at the hands of nemesis Duke in the ACC tournament.
The fact it was UVa’s seventh consecutive loss to the Blue Devils was bad enough. A lopsided score was salt in the wound.
About the only thing the Cavaliers could do about it was go back to the drawing board and attempt to figure out what went wrong. Virginia, though 13-2 at that point and seeded the No. 1 team in the NCAA Tournament, had tailed off at the end of the season and Starsia had to inspect the process a little closer.
Back to basics
Some of the team’s wins later in the season required come-from-behind performances and the team’s shooting percentage had dipped under 30 percent.
Defensively, something just wasn’t right.
Still, when Starsia put his team under the microscope, the answers he sought weren’t that complicated. During the two-week exam period and no opponent to take out the frustration on, Starsia allowed the team to pound on one another a bit more than usual and came up with a plan for postseason.
The Hall of Fame coach’s plan wasn’t anything complicated. Rather, it was as simple as well water.
“It was a return to fundamental execution,” said a more pleased Starsia after Sunday’s 18-6 rout of visiting Villanova in the first round of the NCAAs at Klockner Stadium. “It wasn’t any fancier than that.”
He had noticed that later in the season his team had become impatient on the offensive end and lost its poise. Defensively, the team wasn’t giving goalie Adam Ghitelman all the help he needed.
A balanced attack
Against the 16th-seeded Wildcats, Virginia seemed to have at least temporarily cured its woes. The Cavaliers bolted to a 9-0 first quarter lead that ballooned to 15-zip at the half and 18-0 after three quarters.
“I felt we just needed to play lacrosse at both ends of the field,” Starsia said. “There weren’t a lot of secrets. We had given up the ghost too quickly in [recent] games and started to settle for things.”
That wasn’t the case Sunday as UVa’s seniors, playing in their final home game, captured their school record 57th career victory.
Practices the past two weeks were a little away from the norm. Usually at this time of year, teams go a little lighter because of the wear and tear of the season.
Starsia went against the grain in order to gain his squad’s attention. They went first team defense against first team offense — a lot.
The work paid off.
“Today, we were patient,” said junior midfielder Brian Carroll, who scored a game-high five goals. “We moved the ball around and pretty much all the shots we took were good shots, which I think shows itself in the shooting percentage.”
Villanova was concerned about the Cavaliers’ attackmen and midfielders, an assortment of lethal weapons that lived up to their reputation on this day.
Meanwhile, the defense stepped it up to support Ghitelman in goal.
“In some recent games we haven’t given him enough of a chance to see the ball,” Starsia said. “That’s one of the things we spent time working on the past two weeks defensively, clamping down away from the ball and trying to minimize the quality of the shots Adam was seeing, so that you give him a chance to be a factor in the games.”
Ghitelman was solid from the beginning and Villanova didn’t start scoring until Starsia had called off the dogs and liberally substituted the final quarter of the cakewalk.
Things were a bit different at Klockner even before the rout began. Starsia changed up the pre-game routine a bit and he noticed in the locker room that his players were the most animated he had ever seen them prior to the contest.
“That doesn’t always manifest itself the way you think it’s going to ... it can be tricky sometimes,” the coach said. “But I will give our older guys credit for getting everyone ready to play.”
With a tournament win in their hip pockets, the Cavaliers’ focus now turns toward Johns Hopkins for an NCAA quarterfinals match next Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy.
This one won’t require much tinkering by the head coach, just good, old-fashioned lacrosse. Exactly the way Starsia likes it.



 

Cavs storm to lead, victory
Virginia scores the first 18 goals to win the NCAA first-round game easily.
Doug Doughty doug.doughty@roanoke.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In the five weeks leading up to Sunday's playoff opener, the Virginia men's lacrosse team had one victory to show for its efforts.

One victory and a No. 1 overall seed.

That latter development might have raised some eyebrows, but the Cavaliers made believers out of Villanova, scoring the first 18 goals in an 18-6 victory at Klockner Stadium.

Virginia (14-2) advanced to the NCAA Division I quarterfinals and will meet defending national champion Johns Hopkins (10-4) at noon Sunday in Annapolis, Md.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays slipped past Brown 12-11 in overtime.

"At this point in the season, it doesn't matter about making statements," said UVa senior Danny Glading, who had two goals and two assists in the first 7:45. "It's about playing your best lacrosse and preparing to play your best lacrosse."

The Cavaliers hadn't been at their best since early April. A 15-10 victory over North Carolina on April 4 moved them to 11-0, but they were beaten one week later by Duke, 15-10.

Two weeks later, the Blue Devils thrashed UVa in the first round of the ACC tournament, 16-5.

"I thought we had been served a significant piece of humble pie that we had to sit [and] live with for the past couple of weeks," Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said.

"We've been a little frustrated over the Duke games. People would ask me about the Duke games and I didn't have any answers. For all the work we've put in, you'd like to see some results."

Virginia was ranked fourth in one final regular-season poll and fifth in another, but the No. 1 seed enabled the Cavaliers to open with a Villanova team that was 1-12 in 2008.

The Wildcats, who begin Big East play next season, earned their first NCAA men's lacrosse invitation with a 9-7 victory over Hofstra in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

"We knew this would be a great test," Villanova coach Michael Corrado said. "We had a couple of opportunities early and, when we didn't score, suddenly it became an avalanche."

Virginia won nine of 10 faceoffs in racing to a 9-0 lead after the first quarter, and the Cavaliers increased their margin to 15-0 at the half.

"After one of the first breaks in the action, I told them, 'It's fools' gold; let's not fall asleep here,' " Starsia said. "We've worked too hard to give anything less than our best."

Glading had six points (four goals, two assists) and junior midfielder Brian Carroll had a game-high five goals.

Starting goalie Adam Ghitelman and most of UVa's regulars had been pulled before Villanova scored for the first time with 8:45 remaining.

The Wildcats (11-6) saved some face by scoring the last six goals of the game, which was OK with Starsia.

"If anything, at this time of year, you're beaten up," said Starsia, who had been scrimmaging his top attack against his No. 1 close defense in practice. "Late in the year, you're not usually doing that, but I felt we needed it.

"There weren't a lot of secrets behind [UVa's lackluster play]. I felt like we had gotten a little impatient at the offensive end of the field and lost our poise a little bit. We'd sort of given up the ghost too quickly and started to settle for things.

"We're good enough to get good shots and we let some of those games get away from us."
 

Cavaliers Rout Villanova 18-6 in NCAA First Round
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/10/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Brian Carroll scored a career-high five goals and Danny Glading added four to power Virginia past Villanova 18-6 in the first round of the NCAA Championship this afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.

With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 14-2 overall this season and will meet Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals next Sunday (May 17) in Annapolis, Md.

Villanova, the Colonial Athletic Association champions, was making its first NCAA Championships appearance. The Wildcats end their season with an 11-6 overall record.

Chad Gaudet won 12 of 15 faceoffs in the first half as the Cavaliers dominated possession throughout the first two quarters. For the game Virginia won 17 of 27 faceoffs, including 16 of 21 in the first three quarters. The Virginia defense was outstanding as well and did not give up a goal for more than 51 minutes of play; the Cavaliers scored the first 18 goals of the game.

“(Faceoffs were) the key, said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “That was pivotal. They’ve been pretty good facing off and against a team that came in here intending to play at a little bit more deliberate pace if they were going to have their way, it was important that we get the ball early and control the ball and keep the pressure on them. As soon as they fell behind by three, four, five goals, it’s so much harder to play slower ... that was paramount.”

The Cavaliers started slowly and missed their first three shots of the game before catching fire five minutes into the contest. John Haldy notched his first goal in four games by scoring off a Virginia miss at the 10:39 mark. Haldy’s score started the Cavaliers on a scoring spree that saw them score on seven of eight shots over a five and a half minute span.

Glading tallied the next two goals for Virginia and assisted on the next two, as Virginia’s lead quickly grew to 5-0 midway through the first quarter. Steele Stanwick benefited from Glading’s first assist and Rhamel Bratton the second.

Carroll scored his first of the game from 12 yards out and added his second on an extra-man opportunity late in the quarter. Shamel Bratton sandwiched his only goal of the game between Carroll’s two strikes. Haldy ended the first quarter scoring with his second of the period as Virginia held a 9-0 lead after 15 minutes of action.

Carroll tied his career high of three goals early in the second period to push Virginia’s lead to double digits at 10-0.

After taking just three shots in the first quarter, the visiting Wildcats didn’t have their first sustained offensive possession until after Carroll opened the second quarter scoring. They maintained possession for nearly two minutes before losing the ball on a turnover without attempting a shot. For the game Villanova took 27 shots, including 15 in the final quarter.

Stanwick scored twice and Garrett Billings and Haldy once as Virginia took a 15-0 lead to the locker room at halftime. The Cavaliers needed just 31 shots to score the 15 goals and committed just six turnovers in the half.

Adam Ghitelman started in goal for the Cavaliers and made four saves before being replaced by Mark Wade early in the third quarter; Wade finished with a career-high five saves.

Glading opened the second half scoring by taking a nice feed from Gaudet who won the opening faceoff and finding the back of the next for his first goal since the first quarter. Carroll tallied his fifth just over two minutes later. Glading then ended the quarter with his fourth goal of the game with 7.9 seconds remaining. His goal ended up being Virginia’s last as the Cavaliers packed in 18 goals in just over 40 minutes of play.

With Virginia substituting its entire line-up in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to get on the scoreboard. Tim Driscoll, the team’s leading scorer, scored the Wildcats’ first goal with 8:45 left to play and scored another just over a minute later. Matthew Fritts, the team’s second-leading scorer, scored his only goal of the game midway through the final period. Tim Langan, Jr., scored back-to-back goals for Villanova, while Michael Arvan closed the scoring with his second goal of the year.

Virginia thoroughly controlled play in the first 45 minutes, outshooting Villanova 38-12, winning 16 of 21 faceoffs and gathering 40 ground balls to the Wildcats’ 20 in the first three quarters.

“Clearly we were able to defend them early, we were on our toes defensively and it just seemed like we could get a good shot every time that we worked for it and exercised a little patience at the offensive end,” said Starsia. “And it seemed like that was what we were in the mood for most of the day. I don’t think we took three or four bad shots the entire day and we made pretty good shots against a pretty good goalie.”

Villanova 0-0-0-6—6 record: 11-6
Virginia 9-6-3-0—18 record: 14-2
att—2921

Scoring (G-A)— VILL: Tim Driscoll 2-0, Tim Langan, Jr. 2-0, Michael Arvan 1-1, Matthew Fritts 1-0, Mike Brennan 0-1, Chris MacDonald 0-1. UVa: Brian Carroll 5-0, Danny Glading 4-2, Steele Stanwick 3-2, John Haldy 3-0, Shamel Bratton 1-2, Rhamel Bratton 1-1, Garrett Billings 1-0, Chad Gaudet 0-1, Steve Giannone 0-1, Gavin Gill 0-1, George Huguely 0-1

Goalie Summary— VILL: Andrew DiLoreto 51:15 mins., 9 saves, 18 goals allowed; Mike Bogdanor 6:45, 2 svs., 0 GA; Dan Gutierrez 2:00, 0 svs., 0 GA. UVa: Adam Ghitelman 39:01 mins., 4 saves, 0 goals allowed; Mark Wade 15:36, 5 svs., 3 GA; Rob Eimer 5:23, 0 svs., 3 GA.

Shots: VILL —27, UVa —42
Ground Balls: VILL —37, UVa —46
Clearing: VILL —17x21, UVa —24x29
Faceoffs: VILL —10, UVa —17
Penalties: VILL —6-4:30, UVa —4-3:00
EMO: VILL —1x4, UVa —2x5

 

Cavaliers come up short in overtime
From staff reports
Published: May 11, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. — Virginia’s season is over.
The No. 10 UVa women’s lacrosse team’s late heroics weren’t enough to overcome No. 4 Duke on the road in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Cavaliers fell 15-13 in overtime to the Blue Devils.
The Cavaliers trailed by as many as four goals midway through the second half, before scoring eight of the final 10 goals in regulation to force overtime. Senior All-American Ashley McCulloch had three points in the run, while junior Brittany Kalkstein caused a turnover with 3:15 remaining and set up senior All-American Blair Weymouth to cap off the streak with a free-position goal with 2:34 remaining in regulation.
Duke won the opening draw control in overtime and controlled the possession, before Lindsay Gilbride slipped a shot into the next 2:22 into play. The Blue Devils then scored on an open net with five seconds remaining to secure the two-goal victory.
McCulloch led the Cavaliers with four goals and three assists, while freshman Julie Gardner completed her second hat trick of the season.
Weymouth had two goals and an
assist, while Kaitlin Duff had a goal and two assists. Kalkstein contributed a goal and an assist, while Whit Hagerman and senior All-American Jenny Hauser rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.
Kalkstein won five draw controls to break her own single season record in the category, collecting 73 this year and currently sits five shy of the program’s career mark. In goal, redshirt sophomore Lauren Benner scooped up a career-high five ground balls and stopped six shots.
For Duke, Caroline Cryer and Gilbride led the way with six points each, on four goals and two assists.
The Blue Devils got the scoring started quickly, scoring 22 seconds into the contest, but the Cavaliers
rallied to find the back of the net at 28:14, on an unassisted goal from Weymouth.
The contest remained heated throughout, with Duke converting a free position shot before McCulloch found Gardner, who fired a shot into the net, giving McCulloch her 200th career point with the assist.
Duke had an answer for the goal just 49 seconds later, but two-straight scores from Virginia — the first from Gardner, assisted by Kalkstein, and the second, a free-position goal from McCulloch — gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game, at 20:29.
The run was halted when Cryer flung a shot past Benner at 18:57, but McCulloch dished out her second assist of the contest, this time to Kalkstein to push Virginia ahead again, at 13:02.
The lead was the last the Cavaliers would see though, as the Blue Devils strung together four-unanswered goals to take an 8-5 lead into the intermission.
Virginia looked to get back on track at the beginning of the second
half, with McCulloch firing an assisted goal — from Duff — into the net just 27 seconds into play, before a fluke play — in which Duke’s own defender knocked down a pass from Hauser into its own goal, crediting Hauser with the score - pulled Virginia within one, at 8-7, with 24:08 on the clock.
The efforts weren’t enough to push Duke away, as the Blue Devils scored three straight goals to extend their lead to four, at 11-7, with 17:44 to play.
McCulloch stepped up in the next minute, scoring a goal from Weymouth before dishing a pass to Gardner at 15:29 to pull Virginia within two. The Blue Devils added another unassisted tally at 12:56, but back-to-back goals from the Cavaliers cut Duke’s lead to one, at 11-12 with 11:31 to play.
Another goal from the Blue Devils with 9:42 on the clock maintained the home team’s edge, but Virginia worked to even the score on free position goals, the first from Hagerman, and the game-tying score by Weymouth at 2:34, sending the game into overtime.

 

Late Game Heroics Fall Short Against Duke
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/10/2009

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 10 Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s late game heroics weren’t enough to overcome No. 4 Duke on the road in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, as the Cavaliers fell to the Blue Devils, 15-13, in overtime in Koskinen Stadium.

The Cavaliers trailed by as many as four midway through the second half, before scoring eight of the final 10 goals in regulation to force overtime. Senior All-American Ashley McCulloch had three points in the run, while junior Brittany Kalkstein caused a turnover with 3:15 remaining and senior All-American Blair Weymouth capped off the streak by converting a free position goal with 2:34 remaining in regulation.

Duke won the opening draw control of the overtime period and controlled the possession, before Lindsay Gilbride slipped a shot into the net 2:22 into play. The Blue Devils then scored on an open net with five seconds remaining to secure the two-goal victory.

McCulloch led the Cavaliers with four goals and three assists, while freshman Julie Gardner completed her second hat trick of the season. Weymouth had two goals and an assist, while junior Kaitlin Duff had a goal and two assists. Kalkstein contributed a goal and an assist, while redshirt junior Whit Hagerman and senior All-American Jenny Hauser rounded out the scoring with a goal each.

Kalkstein won five draw controls to break her own single season record in the category, collecting 73 this year and currently sits five shy of the program’s career mark. In goal, redshirt sophomore Lauren Benner scooped up a career-high five ground balls and stopped six shots. Sophomore Liz Downs caused two turnovers.

For Duke (15-5), Caroline Cryer and Gilbride led the way with six points each, on four goals and two assists.

The Blue Devils got the scoring started right away, scoring 22 seconds into the contest, but the Cavaliers rallied to find the back of the net at 28:14, on an unassisted goal from Weymouth.

The contest remained heated throughout the consecutive minutes, with Duke converting a free position shot before McCulloch found Gardner, who fired a shot into the net, giving McCulloch her 200th career point with the assist.

Duke had an answer for the goal just 49 seconds later, but two-straight scores from Virginia – the first from Gardner, assisted by Kalkstein, and the second, a free position goal from McCulloch – gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game, at 20:29.

The run was halted when Cryer flung a shot past Benner at 18:57, but McCulloch dished out her second assist of the contest, this time to Kalkstein, to push Virginia ahead again, at 13:02.

The lead was the last the Cavaliers would see though, as the Blue Devils strung together four-unanswered goals to take an 8-5 lead into the intermission.

Virginia looked to get back on track at the beginning of the second half, with McCulloch firing an assisted goal – from Duff – into the net just 27 seconds into play, before a fluke play – in which Duke’s own defender knocked down a pass from Hauser into its own goal, crediting Hauser with the score - pulled Virginia within one, at 8-7, with 24:08 on the clock.

The efforts weren’t enough to push Duke away though, as the Blue Devils scored three-straight goals to extend their lead back to four, at 11-7, with 17:44 to play.

McCulloch stepped up in the next minute, scoring a goal from Weymouth before dishing a pass to Gardner at 15:29 to pull Virginia within two, at 9-11. The Blue Devils added another unassisted tally at 12:56, but back-to-back goals from the Cavaliers cut Duke’s lead to one, at 11-12 with 11:31 to play.

Another goal from the Blue Devils with 9:42 on the clock maintained the home team’s edge, but Virginia worked to even the score on free position goals, the first from Hagerman, and the game-tying score by Weymouth at 2:34, sending the game into overtime.

Duke’s final two scores marked the season finale for the Cavaliers, and the final game for seniors Catharine Chambers, Sarah Hackman, Sara Hairfield, Jenny Hauser, Jen Holden, Ashley McCulloch, Katie Shannon and Blair Weymouth. The class ends their career with an overall record of 59-19 and three ACC Championships, while the 2009 season ended at 11-8.

 

No. 11 Baseball Downs Duke, 12-1, to Win Series
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/10/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Robert Morey (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) tossed seven strong innings and Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) hit a grand slam as part of a 4-for-6 outing as the No. 11 Virginia baseball team defeated Duke, 12-1, Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. The win gives Virginia a 2-1 series win over the Blue Devils. The Cavaliers have won or tied each of their last five ACC series.

Parker also drove in a career-high five runs and scored three times. The grand slam was the first of his career and his 14th home run of the season. Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) added a three-run home run.

Morey (2-0) allowed just one earned run, four hits and two walks while striking out five. Robert Poutier (Sr., Yorktown, Va.) and Brad Grove (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) each pitched an inning to finish the game.

Jonathan Foreman (2-2), the first of six Duke pitchers, suffered the defeat. He allowed four runs (three earned), four hits and three walks in 2.1 innings. Jeremy Gould had three of the Blue Devils’ four hits.

Virginia (37-10-1, 15-9-1 ACC), which had trailed for the entire series until scoring the winning run in the ninth inning Saturday, got off to a quick start Sunday with a run in the first inning. Parker led off with a single and moved to second when Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) walked. Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) sacrificed the runners over before Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) grounded out to first to score Parker.

Duke (33-19, 13-14 ACC) responded with a run of its own in the second inning. Gould led off with a double. He moved to second on a groundout and scored on a Will Piwnica-Worms sacrifice fly.

In the third inning, Virginia broke the tie when Hicks launched a three-run home run into the left-field bleachers. It was his fifth home run this year.

UVa tacked on three more in the sixth inning against Duke reliever Will Currier. With one out, Werman singled. He scored when Parker scorched a line drive down the right-field line. Gosselin then walked, prompting a pitching change. Reliever Kyle Butler fared no better, as Hultzen singled in Parker and Grovatt hit a sacrifice fly to plate Gosselin.

UVa sent 10 batters to the plate and posted five runs in the seventh inning, as Parker hit his first career grand slam – a shot to right field – and Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) hit into a fielder’s choice to score Gosselin.

Virginia plays at Davenport Field for the last time this season at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it welcomes VCU.

 

Virginia routs Duke in series finale
By Jay Jenkins jjenkins@dailyprogress.com| 978-7250
Published: May 11, 2009

Seeing pitching coach Karl Kuhn stroll to the mound just six pitches into a contest typically spells disaster for one of Virginia’s
starting pitchers.
That was not the case for Robert Morey.
After opening the game with six consecutives pitches outside the strike zone, Virginia’s No. 3 starter managed to block out a rough beginning and hurled a gem as the Cavaliers dominated Duke 12-1 at Davenport Field.
With the victory, No. 11 Virginia claimed the three-game series against the Blue Devils and improved to 37-10-1 overall and 15-9-1 in the ACC. Duke (33-19, 13-14) was outscored 19-1 in the final 11 innings of the series.
“I knew that I was hitting all my spots in warm-ups, but when I started the game I was missing left and right and I was still trying to get a feel for it,” Morey said. “Coach K settled me down and got me to focus on what I needed to do and that was to pitch strikes and try to induce ground balls.”
Morey pitched with a purpose.
Knowing that Sunday’s contest marked senior day, the right-handed pitcher longed to do his part to
ensure that three seldom-used fourth-year players (catcher Will Campbell, pitcher Brad Grove and pitcher Will Campbell) could play in a lopsided affair.
It happened after Morey scattered four hits and allowed one earned run over seven full innings.
“It was senior day … and I was thinking, ‘I want to get them in the game,’” said Morey, who stands at 2-0. “It’s not something that you can do in the first inning but I wanted to give those guys the ball.
“It was a combination of things and it just worked out that way.”
Morey had help — Virginia pounded out 13 hits off six Duke pitchers, including starter Jonathan Foreman (2-2).
After trading runs in the first two innings, the Cavaliers chased Foreman from the game as John Hicks lifted an offering into the bleachers in left field. It was Hicks’ fifth homer.
“They had been mixing and matching to me all weekend and he got behind on me and threw me a fastball up and in,” said Hicks, who got a rare start in left field. “I kind of got under it a little bit but the wind helped it out.”
Jarrett Parker, who finished 4 for 6 and drove in five runs, also added a grand slam in the seventh inning on a fastball from reliever Ben Grisz. Parker, who drew a roaring ovation for a diving catch in center, currently has 14 home runs.
It was more than enough offensive support for Morey.
“I thought after that first inning that Robert really settled in and pitched great baseball,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “We needed that kind of outing out of him. We had used our bullpen quite a bit the first two days.
“He was throwing his slider for strikes, pitching with his fastball and that’s four really good outings for him in a row now. I know he has a lot of confidence coming into the stretch run here.”
After closing out their home schedule on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Virginia Commonwealth, the Cavaliers will open their final league series at Virginia Tech on Thursday.
Virginia enters the series trailing North Carolina
(17-9) and Georgia Tech
(16-8-1) in the league’s Coastal Division standings.