Cavs solve White, blast Tar Heels
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 23, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. - For the first time ever, Virginia managed to get the better end of a duel with All-ACC pitcher Alex White.

The Cavaliers can thank their bats and patience at the plate and they continue to control their own destiny in a quest to return to the ACC tournament championship game.

With a 10-run inning fueling the charge, sixth-seeded Virginia whipped No. 2 North Carolina 11-1 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The contest was stopped after eight innings due the tournament’s 10-run rule.

Thanks to the most productive offensive inning of the season, Virginia (41-12-1) merely needs a win tonight over seventh-seeded Duke at 8 p.m. to advance to Sunday’s title game against Florida State. A loss would eliminate the Cavaliers from the eight-team, pool-play event due to the tiebreakers in place.

“Obviously, this was a huge win for us to have an opportunity to battle it out with Duke [tonight] to go to the title game,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “It is really one of the stranger games that I have been involved in during my coaching career.”

The unique events came during the bottom half of the third inning, as Virginia sent 15 batters to the plate, with every player in the lineup scoring at least one run.

In all, the Cavaliers registered nine hits and drew three walks off White and reliever Brian Moran. It marked the shortest outing of White’s career, as the right-hander that is considered a lock to be selected early in the first round of the MLB Draft next month retired just seven batters

White, who had not lost to Virginia in five previous showdowns, allowed eight earned runs and watched his ERA balloon to 4.84.

Virginia rookie Danny Hultzen took advantage of the offensive support. The left-hander worked 6.1 innings and allowed just five hits, two walks and one earned run, a solo homer drilled to left by UNC second baseman Levi Michael.

“Danny was brilliant tonight,” O’Connor said. “He seemed to pitch better as the contest progressed.”

Hultzen (8-1) fanned six batters in his first start in two weeks.

Virginia, which finished with 14 hits, is slated to start sophomore RHP Robert Morey on the mound today. Duke is scheduled to counter with rookie LHP Eric Pfisterer. The southpaw did not appear in the series Virginia-Duke series played earlier this season in Charlottesville.
 

Big inning lifts Virginia
UNC needs win, help to advance
BY ROBBI PICKERAL - Staff Writer
Published: Sat, May. 23, 2009 05:04AMModified Sat, May. 23, 2009 05:24AM E-Mail

DURHAM -- North Carolina has something to play for this afternoon at the ACC Baseball Tournament.

It just wishes it didn't.

By allowing 10 runs during the implosive third inning at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, succumbing to the mercy rule in the bottom of the eighth, and losing to Virginia 11-1, second-seeded UNC blew an early chance to win 'B Division' of the tournament -- and to secure an early berth in Sunday's championship game, regardless of today's game against Clemson.

Instead, the Tar Heels, now 1-1 in the tournament, must top the Tigers at 4 p.m. today and root for rival Duke to beat the Cavaliers at 8 p.m., in order to face Florida State for the title.

"I think every game is an opportunity to make your team better and get a win," UNC coach Mike Fox said. "If it happens that we game it to Sunday, great. If not, I think we need to get back on the field and play better and hopefully get that bad taste out of our mouth."

It all fell apart for UNC (42-15) in the third inning, with the score 0-0.

All-ACC junior Alex White, who had struck out four Cavaliers in the first two innings, gave up his first hit of the game when Cavs shortstop Tyler Cannon doubled off the left-field wall.

It all went downhill from there.

"It was just one of those innings where I made some bad pitches and they got some hits, made some pretty decent pitches and they got some hits," White said. "I couldn't get an out when we needed it, or a strikeout."

By the time UNC junior lefty Brian Moran checked in, Carolina trailed 5-0 and White (7-4) had given up six hits, five earned runs, two walks and a wild pitch -- and had left the bases loaded with only one out.

With Cannon back at the plate, Moran struck him out -- earning a standing ovation from the restless crowd. But the Cavaliers, who lead the league in batting average, weren't done yet. Moran gave up three more hits and a walk, and Virginia led 10-0, by the time he ended the inning with another strikeout.

"We had one of those innings where as a coach you have a nightmare about, wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night," Fox said. "One of those innings where you just can't get an out -- can't get the first one, can't get the second one, can't get the third one."

And by the time the Heels finally did, the drama wasn't about who would win the game -- but just how long it would last.

In the top of the fifth, UNC freshman Levi Michael belted a solo home run to put UNC on the scoreboard. It looked as if that might keep his team from succumbing to the "10-run rule," which ends the game if either team is leading by double digits after seven innings.

But in the eighth, Virginia got a walk with the bases loaded, ending the game.

White's 21/3 inning outing was his shortest of this year and his eight allowed runs tied his career high.

Meanwhile the last 10-run inning allowed by Carolina's pitching staff came in April 1998 in the second inning against FSU.

Freshman Danny Hultzen (8-1) picked up the win for the Cavaliers (41-12-1).
 

No. 14 Baseball Uses 10-Run Inning to Run Rule No. 4 UNC
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/23/2009

DURHAM, N.C. – Behind a 10-run third inning and strong pitching, the No. 14 Virginia baseball team defeated No. 4 North Carolina, 11-1, in the ACC Baseball Championship Friday night in front of a crowd of 6,319 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. The game was called during the eighth inning because of the tournament’s 10-run rule – the first run rule at the event since 2006.

Virginia, the tournament’s sixth seed, is 2-0 in Division B and can clinch a spot in the ACC Championship game with a win Saturday against No. 7-seed Duke. No. 1-seed Florida State already has clinched a championship-game berth out of the other division. North Carolina, seeded second, drops to 1-1 in the tournament.

Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) worked 6.1 innings, allowing one earned run, five hits and two walks while striking out six. The ACC Freshman of the Year improved to 8-1 this year and lowered his season ERA to 2.15. Robert Poutier (Sr., Yorktown, Va.) pitched 1.2 perfect innings in relief.

Five Cavaliers recorded two hits – Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.), Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.), John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.), Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) and John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.). Every UVa starter scored at least one run.

The Cavaliers (41-12-1) tagged North Carolina ace Alex White (7-4) for eight earned runs and six hits in 2.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Virginia handed the All-American a loss for the first time in his six career starts against the Cavaliers.

White dominated in the first two frames, needing just 17 pitches to record six outs, including four strikeouts. UVa started the third inning with a double to left-center by Cannon. Valdes then singled up the middle to score Cannon and break the early deadlock. Barr flew out to deep center before the next six Cavaliers all reached base – and each scored.

Parker singled to center and Gosselin followed with a bloop single to center to load the bases. Hicks singled to center to score Valdes, and Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) drew a walk to force in Parker. Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) followed with a single to right to plate Gosselin, and White then uncorked a wild pitch to score Hicks and give the Cavaliers a 5-0 advantage. After the wild pitch, White walked Hultzen, spelling the end of the Tar Heel right-hander’s evening – his shortest outing since the 2007 College World Series against Rice.

Southpaw Brian Moran came on and struck out Cannon for the second out, but Valdes then worked a walk to force in a run after an 11-pitch at bat. Barr ripped a single to center to score Proscia and Hultzen, and Parker followed with a single through the right side to bring in Valdes. Gosselin wrapped up the offensive onslaught with a single to left to score Barr with the 10th run of the inning.

The 10-run inning was UVa’s first since Feb. 24, 2001, against Penn State. Virginia sent a season-high 15 batters to the plate and all nine Cavaliers in the lineup scored at least one run, while Valdes scored twice. UVa had nine hits in the inning – eight were singles.

North Carolina (42-15) got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning on a solo home run to left field from freshman Levi Michael – his 13th homer of the year.

The Cavaliers put up their final run in the eighth inning, loading the bases with none out before Scott Silverstein (Fr., Olney, Md.) coaxed a two-out walk to force in Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) and evoke the run rule.

 

Virginia’s Carraway goes to slider school
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 23, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. — A pitch that had vanished from Andrew Carraway’s arsenal became an ace up his sleeve Thursday night.

After struggling to fool batters in his two previous outings, Virginia’s senior rediscovered a pitch that ultimately propelled the Cavaliers to a 6-5 upset over third-seeded Clemson at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in the ACC tournament.

“The command of his slider is something that he struggled with the last few weeks,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “It has always been a good out pitch for him, along with his fastball. It was nice to have him back pitching like he is capable of.”

Relegated to the bullpen after recent struggles as the team’s No. 2 starter, Carraway retired 13 of the 14 batters that he faced, fanning seven batters in the process of boosting Virginia to 40-12-1 overall.

Credit some lengthy classroom hours that Carraway and pitching coach Karl Kuhn logged for the improvements in the senior’s mechanics.

“That [slider] has been the one that has hurt me the last couple of weeks,” Carraway said. “During finals, Coach K and I did a lot of work with it. I hadn’t had it all year and it is a pitch you need against right-handed teams.

“You are going to want that to move it away from right-handed batters, which is the advantage of being a right-handed pitcher against a right-handed hitter. I hadn’t had it so we sat there and talked about it.”

Even though Carraway was nearing the end of a career that includes a 17-4 record on the mound, Kuhn started from scratch.

“He completely revamped the pitch,” Carraway said. “We were doing a lot to fix it. After Virginia Tech, we probably did 20 hours worth of skill work on my slider and fine-tuning my mechanics.

“He put in all the work you could ever ask a coach to do.”

The story gets even better.

On Tuesday, after the team arrived in Durham, N.C., Carraway was summoned to a meeting room late in the night for one final lesson.

“He had me down there at 10 p.m. working on it,” Carraway chuckled. “We were doing a towel drill, just working on mechanics.

“He wanted me to get my glove up high and be able to continue forward with my body. He thought once I fixed that, my slider would come along with it.”

Kuhn said Carraway’s willingness to listen made it an easier task.

“Not only is he a tremendous worker, but what makes the work take on a new life is the way that he communicates with you,” said Kuhn, the tutor of a pitching staff that boasts an earned-run average of 3.34. “Andrew is a great communicator and that is because he is an intelligent kid.

“He lets you know what he is thinking and feeling. He will let you know if it is a little too much or not enough. It’s not just leaving all the work on you as a coach. He is taking such an active part with it and he takes responsibility for it.”

Carraway entered Thursday’s contest in relief of embattled starter Matt Packer with Virginia trailing 5-2 in the fourth inning.

After the Cavaliers added four additional runs in the fifth, taking a 6-5 lead, Carraway kept the margin exactly there until giving way to closer Kevin Arico in the ninth.

His willingness to approach the role as a reliever did not come without an uneasy feeling. When he was called into a meeting Monday with O’Connor, Carraway feared the worst.

“I thought that it might be happening so I had some expectations of what he might be telling me,” he recounted. “When he first said it, I was obviously disappointed. You want to end your career starting in the ACC tournament, and that always meant there was a chance that I wasn’t even going to pitch here.”

O’Connor told Carraway that Virginia needed to win its first two games, which included Friday’s late game with second-seeded North Carolina, to have a shot at playing for the title.

“It hits you — that’s not why you are here. You are not here as a Virginia Cavalier to start in the ACC tournament,” Carraway said. “You are here to win championships. You are here to do everything your team can do to win.”

Watching fellow captain Robert Poutier, in his fifth year, on a daily basis also brought a helpful remember for Carraway to remove any selfish feelings.

“Watching Poutier — I mean, that guy gets to the stadium an hour early every single day just to hit fungoes to infielders,” Carraway said. “He literally does everything he can even if he is not pitching.”

The outing by Carraway against Clemson, the Cavaliers’ lone meeting this year with the Tigers, required just 50 pitches and was greeted by numerous text messages and an e-mail from Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage.

“He said, ‘Huge relief effort,’” Carraway said with a smile.

Virginia will close out action in the pool-play portion of the tournament today at 8 p.m. against seventh-seeded Duke.
 

Virginia twins provide double trouble for foes
By Mike Preston | The Baltimore Sun
May 23, 2009

About 30 minutes after Johns Hopkins had absorbed one of the worst playoff losses in the school's history, Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala made it a point to state the obvious, but it was a comment that was long overdue.

The Bratton brothers, Virginia's twin midfielders from New York, are two pretty good lacrosse players, he said.

"I wish they would have just stayed home," Pietramala said after they combined for seven goals in the No. 1 Cavaliers' 19-8 quarterfinal win over the Blue Jays last weekend. "We recruited them. I watched them play basketball in high school. They are phenomenal athletes, but they are more than just athletes. They are quality lacrosse players."

How about that?

Very few times have we heard that about the Brattons, or any other black lacrosse players. If they are successful, it's usually said to be because of their athleticism, not because of their skill.

Someone is determined to be a good lacrosse player if he can switch the stick from hand to hand with ease, or if he has a good understanding of the game. But like any other sport, good lacrosse players come in different heights, weights and colors, and have different skill sets.

To say the Brattons, Rhamel and Shamel, are just good athletes would be an omission of their overall abilities because they are the total package. In fact, their game reached a new level this season, and they are just sophomores. The scary part is that they are only going to get bigger and better.

"I think it's the case of two young guys who are starting to get it," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said.

"For these guys, playing with players who are close to their level was probably an adjustment they had to make. Learning to play in a team setting is not something you can take for granted.

"Their development over this season and over their first two seasons here at Virginia has meant a lot, and we certainly expect them to continue to blossom."

Translation: When Rhamel and Shamel were at Huntington High in New York, they had to carry the team because they were clearly better than the other players on the roster. At Virginia, they've had to learn how to share the ball more and do other things because the Cavaliers have others who are of equal talent.

But the Brattons are special. They are good shooters who can rifle shots with either hand. Both are solid on offense and defense, and they have game-changing speed, which makes them invaluable on clearing situations and fast breaks.

Their foot- and hand-speed sets them apart from other midfielders. They can change direction in a second — even at full speed — or just blow by defenders.

They can play anywhere on the offensive end of the field but are especially dangerous in the middle, near the top of the restraining box, because it forces a defense to cover the entire field. If you don't slide, the Brattons can burn you for goals.

Shamel has 30 goals and Rhamel nine, though Rhamel missed extensive playing time this season with a back injury.

The Brattons have combined for 15 assists, so they can hurt you even if you do slide. They are multidimensional players.

"The Brattons were a handful, and we did not have an answer," Pietramala said. "They command a lot of attention. It's pick your poison."

Shamel Bratton said: "A lot of time when we are out there and (Rhamel) has the ball in the midfield, I think we create a lot of tough matchups for the opposing teams. Him playing well takes a little pressure off me and allows me to play off-ball more so that I can pass and dodge a lot more. He gives this team another option. Any time we're out there, it makes it a real tough time for opposing defenses."

Virginia will play Cornell in the semifinals today. If you want to see a team of athletes, check out Cornell. The Big Red will outrun and out-hustle most teams. The squad likes to play physically, but Cornell also has a lot of one-dimensional athletes at midfield.

One of Cornell's priorities will be to slow the Brattons, who are more athletic, and more important, better all-around lacrosse players.

It's about time they finally got the recognition.

 

Virginia freshman Stanwick goes from couch to hot seat
Mike Preston
May 23, 2009
OXBOROUGH, MASS. —

FNearly a year ago, Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick lay on a couch in his Roland Park home watching the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse final four on TV.

Occasionally, his mind would drift and he would find himself on the playing field ...

Stanwick doesn't have to dream anymore. The former Loyola High star will start Saturday for No. 1 seed Virginia as the Cavaliers play Cornell in the semifinals. Stanwick is the latest freshman phenom to play attack at Virginia, joining a list that includes Michael Watson, Conor Gill, Ben Rubeor and Danny Glading.

"That's one of the reasons I came to Virginia: I wanted to play in the final four and get a shot at the national championship," Stanwick said. "But yes, I'd have to say I'm a little nervous."

Stanwick will be just fine. He is used to pressure. In the previous two seasons, he led Loyola to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship, which is the toughest high school league in the country.

Last summer, Virginia coach Dom Starsia called Stanwick and told him he should spend time shooting with his off, or left, hand because the Cavaliers needed an attackman on the left side.

No problem. On the first day of practice in the fall, the 6-foot, 180-pound Stanwick seized the moment and the position.

"Steele jumped into the front of the left-handed shooting line and promptly drilled his first two shots in the upper corner, almost to be saying to me, 'I will take care of this for you, coach,' " Starsia said. "Most of his points this year have been scored on the left-handed side."

It hasn't been all easy for Stanwick. He has great skills, but he plays on a team full of offensive standouts. At one attack position is Glading, and at the other is Garrett Billings. On the midfield there is Brian Carroll and Steve Giannone, and the game's greatest twin combination of brothers, Shamel and Rhamel Bratton.

Somehow, Stanwick had to find his role, and it wasn't going to be the way it was at Loyola, where he was the quarterback. He might be the star one day, but it's not his time yet.

"The biggest adjustment was playing at a faster pace," Stanwick said. "Look around. I'm on the same line with two of the best attackmen in the game. We've got some great players at midfield. It just takes time to build some chemistry, and I had to learn the other players and their tendencies. I also had to use my left hand more, and get better at moving off the ball. In high school, I was the initiator. Now, I'm more of a finisher."

Stanwick is deadly. He has 34 goals and 21 assists this season. If he gets his hands free on a shot, count it. Stanwick has scored a lot of goals around the crease, and paid for it physically. He's glad he added 20 pounds since last season.

"It has been a seamless transition with Steele," Starsia said. "Anyone would be impressed with his field sense and skills, but it is his toughness, hidden under that skinny little Baltimore body, that stands out for me. The real attackmen know they have to turn the corner and they have to bring it to the defense to get the job done."

Stanwick didn't appear to be a tough guy in the MIAA. He is quiet, unassuming, respectful and extremely polite. He likes every kind of music imaginable and can fit in with almost anybody.

"He is the only freshman in his class playing big minutes, but I don't sense any resentment or jealousy," Starsia said.

Stanwick comes from a lacrosse family. Three of his sisters were All-America lacrosse players at Georgetown, while his older brother Tad is a junior attackman at Rutgers. He has another younger brother playing at Boys' Latin and a younger sister at Notre Dame Prep. The last of the bunch is Shack, a 14-year-old in middle school whom both Boys' Latin coach Bobby Shriver and Loyola coach Jack Crawford are already jostling over.

"Personally, I'd like for him to go to Loyola, but I'm staying out of that one," Steele Stanwick said.

He has more important business. He has Cornell in the final four today.

"They are a great team, well-coached," Stanwick said. "They can run and they have two of the best midfielders in the game. But I'd like to think we're playing well, and we certainly have the past two weeks. I just hope we keep getting better. I'm excited for my teammates and what we have a chance to accomplish. When we're moving the ball well, we're a pretty tough team to beat."

And when that happens, Stanwick is a tough attackman to cover.

 

U.Va's road to lacrosse final four paved with anguish
Posted to: Sports
Final four
NCAA lacrosse semifinals
The Roanoke Times
© May 23, 2009
By Doug Doughty

As Virginia's players and coaches prepare for the NCAA men's lacrosse final four, Will Barrow is never far from their thoughts.

They want to be reminded of him, hence the team T-shirts that bear the expression, "Just the boys."

It's a saying many associate with Barrow, a co-captain for the Cavaliers' team that reached the Division I men's lacrosse semifinals in 2008.

"It's a term that morphed into a rallying cry for the team," said Max Pomper, one of U.Va.'s co-captains. "When everything hit the fan, all we had was each other. When the going gets tough, it's just about us, just about the boys.

"If anyone coined the phrase, it was probably Will."

Barrow would not have been a member of this year's team. He completed his eligibility last year, but he was around in the fall and was living in Charlottesville when he took his life Nov. 22.

"We lost one of our best friends, and we still think about him every day," said Pomper, who was on the same midfield unit as Barrow. "We loved him like a brother. We don't really have to say much to get fired up for games. We're playing for Will now."

Top-seeded Virginia (15-2) will meet fifth-seeded Cornell (12-3) at 2:30 this afternoon in Foxborough, Mass. Third-seeded Duke (15-3) and No. 3 Syracuse (14-2) will play at noon.

Syracuse defeated Virginia in a 2008 semifinal that featured a strong effort by Barrow, who absorbed multiple checks while spinning his way through the Orange defense for a second-period goal.

"I've seen the highlight plenty of times," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said. "It's one of the really, really remarkable plays I've ever seen made in our sport.

"When we're doing our scouting sessions, we're always referencing back to previous games with our opponents and I told our team before our first game, 'Be prepared to see Will on the screen, fellas. If we need to talk about it, let's talk about it, but we're not going to be able to avoid it.'

"It's always sort of bubbled just below the surface, not necessarily in a bad way. It's always there with us."

Virginia was a favorite going into the 2009 season, but the lacrosse family has been through a lot.

Matt Poskay, an All-America midfielder on the U.Va. team that won the 2006 national championship, recently was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Chris Sanderson, goalie for the Cavaliers' 1997 national championship team, has a brain tumor.

"It's been a tumultuous year, but Will's thing is very, very real for kids this age to have to deal with," Starsia said.

Said Pomper: "More than anything, it kind of brought us all together and told us how special this program is and how much we care for each other. Coach Starsia was a big help in keeping us together."

Barrow's first name is embroidered on the sleeves of U.Va.'s game jerseys, but the tribute has been intentionally understated.

"I wasn't completely comfortable with having a big sign on our chests," said Starsia, who was voted into the lacrosse hall of fame this year.

"Parents have to explain these things to kids and I said, 'Hey, look, I would prefer that we low-key this the rest of the way and maybe we'll do something at the end of the year.' "

Before each game, a Virginia senior addresses the team, sometimes reading from notes that run a page or more. Invariably, Starsia said, this year's seniors mentioned Barrow.

"We're both from Long Island," Pomper said. "When I was being recruited here, Will was one of the guys I stayed with.

"We started alongside each other for three years. Basically every memory I have on the lacrosse field involves Will."
 

Cornell must overcome Cavs' X-factor
Ex-Dartmouth player excels for Virginia
By Brian Delaney
bdelaney@gannett.com

If history is any indication, John Glynn will have his hands full against Virginia.

Cornell's fifth-year senior, second-team All-American and faceoff extraordinaire, Glynn will be staring across at a familiar face come opening whistle of Saturday's NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse semifinal at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass..

Virginia's orange-and-white uniform fits Chad Gaudet well, but it can't change the green blood that pumps beneath. A graduate student and top faceoff option for the Cavaliers, Gaudet graduated from Dartmouth in 2008 after playing a year of football and two of lacrosse for the Big Green.

"Obviously I would have loved to stay at Dartmouth," he said Wednesday by phone. "That's where my loyalty is."

But with his Ivy academic requirements fulfilled and a season of playing eligibility unfulfilled, Gaudet sought a new home.

He landed at Virginia, and has won 56 percent of his draws for the top-seeded Cavaliers (15-2). If he and his wingmates can get the best of Glynn, Pierce Derkac and Roy Lang on Saturday, Cornell's chances of swinging an upset will be drastically reduced.

Extra possessions for Virginia generally lead to blowouts. Just ask Villanova.

Gaudet helped Virginia win 12 of 15 draws in the first half of their NCAA first round game two weeks ago, and the result was a 15-0 halftime lead. Somewhat unusually, Gaudet faces off with a pole. Teammate Mike Timms, a second pole, rushes in from one of the wings to use his 6-foot-5 frame and long reach to pressure opponents into turnovers or missed ground balls.

"Pretty much his basic move is to try and create that loose ball, and then get all over your hands and try and lay a couple checks on you," Glynn said. "So they make that scrum at the X, and they have those two poles to cause a lot of havoc. We got a good look the first time against them, but we didn't have that much success."

History gives a slight edge to Gaudet.

On March 8, Virginia scored eight of 11 second-half goals to beat Cornell, 14-10. Gaudet finished the day 16 of 24 at the X, and Glynn just two of seven, as classmate Tommy Schmicker took the bulk of the draws. In 2008, Gaudet finished 14 of 29, and Glynn seven of 14, in Cornell's 16-11 home victory over Dartmouth.

With Schmicker sidelined since mid-March with an ACL injury, Glynn understands there will be additional pressure on his shoulders this weekend. In practice, he's worked against longsticks Michael Howe and Pat Kirwan.

"Kirwan, he knows faceoff guys inside and out, so he gives us a great look every week," Glynn said. "It's been very beneficial.

"I think we'll be much more prepared for it."

Cornell's wing play was devastatingly good against Princeton last weekend, as Glynn won nine of 14 faceoffs with help from Pierce Derkac, Roy Lang and others. Cornell has out-ground balled opponents by a margin of 128 this year.

"In Cornell, I see a team playing right now with the confidence of a team that's had a very successful regular season," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "You watch them in the game against Princeton, and they have great determination and great confidence in who they've become over the course of the season."

The same can be said of Gaudet, who felt like a freshman all over again when he arrived in Charlottesville, Va., late last summer.

From a pure lacrosse standpoint, life is much different as a Cavalier. February, March and April temperatures aside, Virginia's great depth meant Gaudet would be challenged on a daily basis in practice.

"You can't take a play off," he said. "To be honest with you, when we tried to have intrasquad scrimmages (at Dartmouth), we had some problems trying to get two teams that could be competitive against each other. Down here, it's not a problem. We can scrimmage every day and have pretty good battles at every position."

Glynn and Gaudet, and their respective teammates along the wings, will be one of several matchups to watch Saturday. But none will be as important for Cornell.

"Possessions are going to be key, obviously," Glynn said. "The faceoff X, kind of slowing down the game. ... Ground balls are really a difference-maker in the game. We really pride ourselves on that, and that's going to be something we continue to look for."

 

U.Va. could meet its archnemesis—Duke—in lacrosse title game
By Jeff White
Published: May 23, 2009

Every obstacle they've encountered this season, they've cleared -- except one.

Duke.

In men's lacrosse, nothing has brought out the Virginia Cavaliers' worst in 2009 like a date with the Blue Devils. Duke whipped U.Va. 15-10 during the regular season and 16-5 in the ACC tournament.

Both teams are in Foxborough, Mass., this weekend, and a third meeting may occur Monday, on the game's largest stage. For that to happen, though, each must win in today's NCAA semifinals.

At noon, third-seeded Duke takes on No. 2 seed Syracuse, the defending NCAA champion. Top-seeded Virginia (15-2) and No. 5 seed Cornell (12-3) follow around 2:30 p.m.

For U.Va., one of the more memorable regular seasons in school history included wins over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field and North Carolina at Giants Stadium. At Klockner Stadium, the Cavaliers rallied to beat Cornell 14-10, and they edged Maryland 10-9 in a seven-overtime epic.

The Wahoos' final game before the NCAA tournament, however, was their 11-goal loss to Duke. Nobody knew how they'd bounce back from that debacle, but the Cavaliers have been dominant in the NCAA playoffs thus far.

They opened with a 18-6 rout of visiting Villanova, then hammered Hopkins 19-8 in the quarterfinals last weekend at Annapolis, Md.

"They played like the team we expected to see at the beginning of the season," Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said.

So what's come over Virginia since the end of the regular season?

"I've been asked a lot about that," said U.Va. coach Dom Starsia, who's seeking his fourth NCAA title. "I would tell you that I'm not sure I know exactly what the answer is. I don't think it's a simple thing. But what I would tell you is that 1, I've got a bunch of quality older guys on the team; and 2, this is a group I really like.

"When the regular season ended, frankly, we had been punched in the nose pretty good, and we were rocked back on our heels. It may have been that there was a little bit of fear mixed in with sort of the disappointment of how it ended and the increased focus of knowing that we were about to start the playoffs . . . There was no waving of a magic wand or anything like that. It was simply trying to do the best we could in getting back to fundamentals on the practice field."

Little seemed to come easily on offense for the Cavaliers for most of March and April, but they've produced goals at a furious clip in the NCAA tourney.

"I think we've just been moving the ball really well and being patient on offense, trying to get a good shot," sophomore midfielder Shamel Bratton said after scoring five goals against Hopkins. "We're not settling on offense and taking average shots, which we can get pretty much anytime we want."

Associate head coach Marc Van Arsdale, U.Va.'s offensive coordinator, said: "When the ball starts going in early, like it has in both those games, then I think that tightness goes away. Guys loosen up, and you just play . . . If you have a possession and it doesn't go well and the ball goes to the other end, you're not freaking out and thinking, 'Man, we gotta get that back and score in two seconds the next time we get the ball.'"
 

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No. 3 Duke vs. No. 2 Syracuse
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Noon ET | ESPN2, ESPN360.com

Records: Blue Devils 15-3, Orange 14-2

STORYLINES

Mike Manley vs. Kenny Nims: It is expected that Duke sophomore defenseman Mike Manley will defend Syracuse senior attackman Kenny Nims (27 goals, 41 assists). Manley is a native of Keuka Park, N.Y., and nearly attended Syracuse. Players whom Manley has defended in the NCAA tournament -- Navy's Bruce Nechanicky and North Carolina's Billy Bitter -- have combined for one goal and two assists. Manley was left off the All-American lists, and might enter Saturday with even more incentive than usual.

Spicy wings: The wing play on faceoffs will be fascinating. Duke junior defenseman Parker McKee has 26 groundballs in the NCAA tournament. Syracuse counters with two of the best wings in the game in sophomore longstick middie Joel White and senior midfielder Matt Abbott (12 goals, 7 assists). Duke's 6-on-6 defense has been ironclad in its nine-game winning streak; Syracuse will do well to push the tempo even more than usual, and will try to get 4-on-3 and 5-on-4 opportunities.

Special K: Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski gave the lacrosse team an impassioned speech before the NCAA tournament and also gave each team member a copy of his new book, with a personalized inscription in each one.

Opposites attract: Syracuse has won a record 10 NCAA championships; Duke has not won a title. Yet both teams enter with similar playing styles: They are loose and confident, and each has a swagger. This game has classic potential.

Noise: The crowd in Foxborough is likely to be very heavily in Syracuse's favor. Not only are there numerous New York teams playing this weekend (Division I, II and III), but it's hard to imagine Virginia fans rooting for Duke, considering the Blue Devils swept the season series by a combined 31-15 and have won seven in a row in the series.

Syracuse was rather listless in a semifinal against Virginia last year and trailed by four goals when Abbott scored a man-down transition goal in the third quarter. That goal got the Syracuse fans into the game. They were a factor the rest of the weekend. Given the momentum the crowd can help generate, it will be easier for the Orange to make a comeback than for Duke to do so.

QUINT KESSENICH'S THOUGHTS

These two programs haven't met since 2002, and both sets of players are eager to square off against fresh faces. The Orange defense was outstanding in the quarterfinals against Maryland, but Duke has a more talented lineup than the Terps. Syracuse has shown improvement in the slide and the recovery phase of half-field defense.

Duke presents a unique challenge in that they will pressure SU midfielders in the middle third of the field. I expect to see some terrific ground-ball scraps, with the victor potentially getting transition as a prize.

The biggest question mark will be covering both Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani. John Lade has slick feet but I'm not convinced that Matt Tierney and Sid Smith can match strides with Duke's speedy duo. Lade is super; he's tough, feisty and relentless. And Quinzani has never been better, just being himself hustling for ground balls, picking his spots when to attack and finishing at a high rate. We'll see who Cuse decides to put on the native New Englander. Cuse must also navigate through picks at X when Crotty initiates.

When I watch tape of Duke's past five games, I see a radically different Zach Howell. Wow. This kid is all of a sudden putting up huge point totals on a weekly basis. The former high school quarterback isn't the fastest, strongest or most skilled athlete on the field, but he understands his role and is coachable.

Maryland stayed on its defensive double-teams last week; at times, Syracuse midfielders struggled with this tactic. In the second half, Orange midfielders "pull" passed against pressure as opposed to rolling away from the double and throwing back.

Duke has done a remarkable job improving its midfield defense. The Blue Devils were banged up in this department in March. Covering the off-ball movement of Dan Hardy, Pat Perritt and Josh Amidon will be their toughest chore.

Syracuse has been extremely deliberate in its half-field sets this year. Kenny Nims is the trigger man behind, and if Duke stays true to form, he'll be guarded by Mike Manley. Defender Parker McKee scooped up an amazing 33 percent of Duke grounders last week (12 of 26). McKee owns the ideal combination of technique and desire and has a hockey background, which comes in handy in big pileups. Duke's defense must bear down and prevent SU scoring runs.

Faceoffs will be fun to watch in this matchup. Both teams have some of the nation's elite wingmen. Duke is more aggressive in this category, pressing the ball off a faceoff loss and pushing the rock in transition when CJ Costabile controls the draw. The freshman is No. 2 in the nation in long-pole points.

John Galloway should be back between the pipes for SU. He missed last week's game with flu-like symptoms but has practiced all week. Al Cavalieri proved to be a valuable insurance policy. For Duke, Rob Schroeder has developed from a longtime backup (behind Aaron Fenton and Dan Loftus) into a trusted starter. Schroeder's progress is directly proportional to his game experience.

Roll up your sleeves … this first semifinal could be an instant classic.


No. 5 Cornell vs. No. 1 Virginia
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
2:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2, ESPN360.com

Records: Big Red 12-3, Cavaliers 15-2

STORYLINES

The watchers: Cornell attackman Rob Pannell (21 goals, 38 assists) takes advantage of ball-watching defenses with quick passes to cutting midfielders and attackmen. He did it twice last week against Princeton and added two goals and four assists in the regular-season meeting against Virginia. He so unsettled the Cavaliers that they had to change their matchup on him midway through the game.

Pannell is a freshman, though he has uncommon poise and also spent a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy. Virginia's defense has been known to ball-watch at times; if it does so Saturday, Pannell will make the Cavs pay.

"He throws some unbelievable passes," Cornell attackman Ryan Hurley said of Pannell. "We've had Cornell alums tell us that he reminds them of Eamon McEneaney. He's not scared. He likes having the ball in his stick."

Short story? Virginia used junior shortstick defensive middie Max Pomper on Johns Hopkins attackman Kyle Wharton last weekend. Earlier in the tournament, Maryland face-guarded crease attackman Ryan Hoff to great effect: Hoff finished with no shots and had about five touches on offense.

It will be tempting for the Cavaliers to face-guard Hurley (41 goals) with a shortstick. Hurley scored four goals in the regular-season meeting and, in particular, had success using ball-fakes in close against Virginia sophomore goalie Adam Ghitelman.

Moyer vs. Glading: The game within the game features a pair of first-team All-Americans: Virginia senior attackman Danny Glading (30 goals, 30 assists) against Cornell senior defenseman Matt Moyer. In the regular-season meeting, Moyer played as a righty and lefty and held Glading to one assist and no goals. The problem is Cornell can win this matchup and still lose the game. It has little chance of winning if Glading has a big game.

Virginia's midfield: Cornell has some decisions to make with its matchups on Virginia sophomore middie Shamel Bratton (30 goals, 11 assists). Junior longstick middie Pierce Derkac might get the nod, though freshman shortstick defensive middie Roy Lang (7 goals) is a tremendous athlete. An intriguing option is freshman Chris Langton; he was a highly regarded track and field athlete in high school.

"We're stressing not leaving anyone on an island," Derkac said. "On defense, we have to communicate, play seven as one and not worry as much about the individual matchups."

Mad Max: Cornell senior Max Seibald (25 goals, 9 assists) had his 48-game scoring streak ended last weekend against Princeton. Yet the streak nearly ended when Seibald faced Virginia longstick middie Mike Timms on March 8; a last-minute goal gave Seibald his only point.

Meantime, senior midfiedler John Glynn (20 goals, 91 ground balls) was held scoreless against Virginia. Virginia used a defenseman against him.

"Being the competitors they are, I know they are pretty motivated to come back and play better," Hurley said of Cornell.

QUINT KESSENICH'S THOUGHTS

Virginia's postseason success can be attributed to the team's speed and decisive ground-ball play. The Cavaliers exposed a Johns Hopkins defense that looked sluggish and a step behind. They have been led by a senior class that has won more games than any class in UVa history.

Dom Starsia has turned up the heat in practice late in the year, and that intensity and sharpness has been showing up on game day.

Shamel Bratton scored five goals in the quarterfinals. He cannot be covered by one defender; the question is whether his left-handed shots hit the goal. When he snaps it off overhand, goalies are helpless. It's not fair to put Rhamel Bratton in the same sentence as his brother, and too often I've been guilty of coupling the twins in general statements. Shamel is a first team All-American, while Rhamel is still very much a work in progress.

The big question in semifinal No. 2: Does Cornell have the team speed to hang with Virginia? Can Cornell midfielders Max Seibald and John Glynn own the middle of the field and successfully transition the ball into the offensive end? In set scenarios, the Big Red's offense revolves around freshman Rob Pannell. The Smithtown (N.Y.) product always has his eyes up, and he makes Rocco Romero a weapon as an off-ball cutter. When Cornell's second midfield is in the game, Pannell and Hurley like to work two-man games behind the goal.

Virginia must account for Cornell cutters; the Big Red move well off the ball with middies buzzing around off-ball. UVa must also communicate through big-little picks at the X and manage on-ball picks set for Seibald when he dodges at the top of the box. The Cavs must make sound decisions when Cornell plays their substitution games with their long pole. The Big Red do a great job of keeping opponents' offensive midfielders on the field, and if you chase the pole off the field they can sting you with a 6-on-5.

In the regular-season matchup between these schools, Cornell was hesitant to slide to Cavalier midfielders. That strategy might need to be tweaked if Shamel Bratton maintains his current shooting tear. Will Cornell mix defenses and play some zone? It's a scheme that might slow down UVa but it puts the game in the hands of goalie Jake Myers. Cornell must choose who they are going to put the shorties on. This is probably the toughest decision coach Jeff Tambroni has this week.

Cornell has been successful under Tambroni because the Big Red understand who they are. They rarely beat themselves and they compete with heart and smarts. They will themselves into wins and don't care who gets the credit. Watching them on tape, I'm continually amazed at the individual sacrifices players make to win games. Their experience in the 2007 championship weekend will come in handy this weekend, and a cooler day in the 60- to 70-degree range will help the Big Red as they tax their first midfield.

 

Cavaliers, Big Red set to battle in Boston
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 23, 2009

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Last spring, right here in this Boston suburb, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team was on the precipice of an NCAA championship. Playing in the tournament semifinals, UVa had a five-goal lead over Syracuse in the second half.

But Virginia was outscored down the stretch, 9-3, and lost in overtime, 12-11.

Making the defeat especially excruciating: Duke — the odds-on favorite to win it all —wound up losing in the other semifinal to Johns Hopkins, whom the Cavaliers had beaten during the regular season.

It was Syracuse who would go on to win an NCAA title.

Now, 364 days later, Virginia finds itself back in a nearly identical predicament — the only difference being the opponent.

This afternoon at Gillette Stadium, top-seeded UVa (15-2) looks to get back to its first championship game since 2006 when it takes on Cornell. The winner plays the Duke-Syracuse winner on Monday.

“They’re a very talented team,” said Virginia junior Max Pomper, “but I think as of late we’ve been playing really well, really unselfishly, and I think our defense has been clicking.

“We’re very confident.”

Today’s game will be a rematch of a March 8 clash that Virginia won, 14-10. In that contest, Cornell outplayed UVa in the first half. The Big Red led 7-6 before the Cavaliers, behind Shamel Bratton and Steve Giannone, turned it on in the second half.

One of the keys to the victory was the play of Virginia defender Mike Timms. The fifth-year senior put the clamps on Max Seibald, Cornell’s top player.

This season, Seibald has 25 goals and nine assists, but against UVa in March he was held to just one goal.

“Even though it would appear that Mike controlled that matchup, I would tell you that we need to be prepared to help Mike out,” Starsia said. “I don’t think that you can hang Mike out against a player like Max Seibald all by himself.

“He’s strong enough to be able to get his own shot against anybody … he’s a handful.”

Timms is looking forward to another battle with Seibald — this time on a national stage.

“Going up to the Final Four is probably the coolest thing you do in the sport, in my opinion,” he said. “It’s great.”

Cornell (12-3), which won the first-ever NCAA title in 1971, is no stranger to the Final Four. The Big Red lost a semis heartbreaker to Duke back in 2007.

Virginia, having manhandled Villanova and Johns Hopkins in the first two rounds of the tournament, comes in riding a huge wave of momentum. UVa has seemed to put two demoralizing losses to Duke in its rear-view mirror.

Cornell, behind great defense, held off Princeton in its quarterfinal win last weekend.

“I think we’ll have to do the same against Virginia with our team-defensive scheme,” said Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni, “and think less about each individual matchup.

“They’re so deep. Even their third-line middie, who they’ve got on the bench — they’ve got high school All-Americans. We’re going to have to play well on both ends of the field, and as a team, if we’re going to have a chance to generate the success we need to win this game.”

If Virginia can beat Cornell, it will get a chance at avenging last year’s tournament loss to Syracuse or possibly an opportunity to get off the schneid versus the Blue Devils.

“Your final goal is so close now,” Starsia said. “You just have to find a way to make it happen.”

Ground balls

Today’s game will be broadcast on ESPN2. … Virginia leads the all-time series with Cornell, 5-2. … Recently, Seibald won the USILA Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award, for the Outstanding Division I player of the year, as well as the USILA Lt. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Award as the outstanding midfielder. … Of the four teams in Foxborough, Cornell has the most history. Founded in 1892, the Big Red has fielded a men’s lacrosse team for all but four seasons (1897; 1917-1919). Virginia, which had a team from 1904-07, took a 12-year hiatus before resuming the program in 1925. Syracuse began fielding a team in 1916, while Duke began play in 1938.
 

Cavaliers Take One Step Closer to Ultimate Goal Saturday vs. Cornell
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/22/2009

The disappointing end to the regular season, including a 16-5 loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament, gave the Cavaliers plenty to think about as they headed into the NCAA Championship. Not only did they have to contend with final exams, they also had to find ways to rebuild their confidence.

“After the ACC Tournament we benefited from having a week where we didn’t know who we were going to play two weeks later, so we really got to focus on ourselves for a week and we got after it,” said senior attackman Danny Glading. “The defense and the offense were chippy, a lot of trash talking, a lot of physical play going on, so we were able to work on what we needed to work on and it was key for us. Now we’re moving harder and we’re playing more patiently on offense.”

The offensive patience has paid off with two convincing wins over Villanova and Johns Hopkins, games in which the Cavaliers shot better than 40 percent each time.

“We’re not taking bad angle shots and that’s been a huge key for us,” Glading said. “We’re really not worried about who is breaking down the defense but the defense is breaking down and we’re getting the ball hot and we’re getting the ball to areas where we’re going to be able to get in high percentage places to shoot the ball. That’s what’s really working for us right now, the patience and the unselfishness.”

According to Virginia head coach Dom Starsia the late season disappointment helped get his team focused for the postseason.

“I think we were a little disappointed how the season ended,” he said. “I think we’ve gotten after it in practice the last couple of weeks. Clearly getting into the playoffs has gotten everyone’s attention, just getting to it. I’d say if anything it’s just been our relentless approach in both these games. We’re on the loose balls, we’re pressuring the play at the offensive end.

“I’m a little bit surprised by it frankly. We’re clearly playing our best lacrosse of the year and we’ve picked a good time for that.”

As the Cavaliers get ready to face Cornell in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship tomorrow at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., a lot has happened since the two teams clashed in Charlottesville in early March and to the players that 14-10 victory in the first meeting is a distant memory.

“I think it was so long ago that at this point in the season teams have come such a long way that I’m not sure the first match-up is going to have that much of a bearing on this one,” said senior longstick midfielder Mike Timms.

“I don’t know if there’s that many things that they’re doing differently, I think that they’re just doing them better. They’ve had all season to get better.”

Starsia sees a Big Red team with a lot of firepower, particularly on offense. Player of the Year Max Seibald earned All-America honors for the fourth time this season. He is second on the team with 25 goals and third with 34 total points.

Freshman attackman Rob Pannell is Cornell’s leading scorer with 59 points; he also leads the way with 38 assists and is one of four players with at least 20 goals (21).

“I wouldn’t say that they’ve changed a great deal (since the first meeting),” Starsia said. “Their first six on offense, in particular, while they’ve changed one guy on the attack who played some against us but now he’s settled in as a starter, I think what you’re seeing more than anything else is a team that is playing with a confidence and experience of a team that’s had a great deal of success over the course of the regular season. They’re playing with great energy. In the game they just won over Princeton I thought they played very, very hard. In a lot of ways they look the same on tape, but they’re just playing at a much higher level.”

With overwhelming victories over two very good defensive clubs in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Virginia is also playing at a higher level than before.

“No one saw this coming really,” Starsia continued. “I think what you’re seeing is what we always felt we were capable of. But if you don’t do it, it doesn’t matter what you’re capable of, you haven’t done it.

“We had our spurts early in the year but I don’t think we had the balance in any of those early games that we’ve had in these first two playoff games. I would have told you that the whole key to success in the playoffs is to get hot at the right time of the year and if we’ve just played our best two games we’ve picked a good time for it. All of our efforts have been toward whatever we’ve been doing; let’s see if we can keep it going.”

All-Americans Announced
Seven Cavaliers received All-America recognition this season, including three named to the first team—attackman Danny Glading, defenseman Ken Clausen and midfielder Shamel Bratton.

Glading, who is the only player in the country with at least 30 goals and 30 assists. moves up to the first team for the first time this season. He was a second-team choice last year and a third teamer as a sophomore in 2007. He leads the team in assists (30) and total points (30). After a slow start, he’s been on a tear with 28 goals in the last 13 games.

Clausen is the first Virginia defenseman named to the first team in back-to-back years since Ryan Curtis in 1999-2000. He shut down some of the most explosive offensive players in the country this season and is third among Atlantic Coast Conference defensemen with 48 ground balls and second with 27 caused turnovers.

Bratton has exploded this season into one of the most electrifying players in the country. He is Virginia’s first first-team middie since Kyle Dixon in 2006. Bratton is ranked fifth in the country among midfielders with 30 goals, more than double his total from a year ago (14).

Senior attackman Garrett Billings and junior midfielder Brian Carroll were named to the third team. Billings leads the team with 37 goals and is second with 57 total points; he was an honorable mention selection last season. Carroll was named to the third team for the second year in a row. He is seventh among middies with 29 goals this season.

Senior defenseman Matt Kelly and senior longstick midfielder Mike Timms were honorable mention choices. Kelly has started more games (66) on defense than any player in school history. He has scooped 35 ground balls and is second in the ACC among defensemen with 27 caused turnovers. This is the third season in a row Timms has received honorable mention recognition. He is sixth among longstick midfielders with 59 ground balls this spring and is ranked second in the ACC with 31 caused turnovers.

Timms Named First-Team Academic All-District
Longstick midfielder Mike Timms has been chosen to the ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District III At-Large squad. Timms received his degree in economics last May and is currently enrolled in a master’s of commerce program in UVa’s McIntire School of Commerce. He has been named to the ACC Honor Roll the previous four years and to the ACC All-Academic men’s lacrosse squad. As a first-team selection, he advances to the national ballot.

 

Old Guard vs. New Blood in Lacrosse Semifinals Sign in to Recommend
By PETE THAMEL
Published: May 22, 2009

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Flipping through the rosters of the teams in the N.C.A.A. men’s lacrosse semifinals, one notices a potpourri of geography unique to this generation. Some players are from untraditional lacrosse bases like Denver, Seattle and San Diego.

The Quad: What to Watch for at the Lacrosse Final Four | Legacy and Lacrosse at CornellBut for all of the game’s growth over the last two decades, the old guard continues to dominate college lacrosse. Syracuse, Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Virginia have combined to win the last 17 national championships. Those teams and North Carolina have won the last 31.

“I’ve gone to almost every final four since I was born,” Matt Abbott, a Syracuse midfielder, said. “And it’s pretty much been the same teams.”

So, with No. 1 Virginia facing No. 5 Cornell and No. 2 Syracuse playing No. 3 Duke on Saturday afternoon to set up the title game Monday, the central tension this weekend will be whether some new blood can join the bluebloods.

There is some mystery about the monopoly. Virginia Coach Dom Starsia, whose Cavaliers are the top-seeded favorites, says the dominance comes down to teams stockpiling top-tier skill players.

“There are still only a limited number of really, really skilled offensive players, in particular,” Starsia said. “Those kids are mostly Northeast kids, and those kids still grow up wanting to go to Syracuse and Virginia and Hopkins and those schools.”

Starsia should know. Cornell Coach Jeff Tambroni joked that Starsia’s Cavaliers include quite a few high school all-Americans who do not get to play often. Virginia’s midfield features six scoring threats, including the explosive twin sophomores Rhamel and Shamel Bratton. The team also has three savvy attackmen in Garrett Billings, Danny Glading and Steele Stanwick.

It is the nuanced skill of those kinds of players, Starsia emphasized, that is lacking in players from nontraditional lacrosse areas. Players who receive top-flight instruction in junior high school in the mid-Atlantic states are the ones, he said, who typically end up as college all-Americans.

“There are lots more athletes out there,” Starsia said. “We have two players from Illinois. We have a kid from Florida and a kid coming from California. There’s no question that those kids are out there. But you win with that really skilled middie and attackman. That kid that’s really good close to the cage. You would be hard pressed to find one of those kids in the emerging areas.”

Syracuse Coach John Desko agreed with Starsia to a point. He feels the gap is shrinking.

Desko recalled Syracuse’s first national lacrosse championship, in 1983, to illustrate his position. In the ’83 title game, Syracuse trailed Johns Hopkins, 12-5, in the third quarter, and Desko said a lot of fans began streaming for the exits at the old Rutgers Stadium. But Syracuse came back to win, 17-16, in one of the program’s seminal moments.

“It’s getting there and getting the first one that is the toughest part,” Desko said. “In some ways it’s because of ability and in some ways it’s because we’ve been through it and experienced it.”

Duke’s lack of experience in the national semifinals might have hurt it last year. The Blue Devils were seeded first and considered one of the sport’s greatest teams before being upset by Johns Hopkins in the semifinals.

The Blue Devils have rebounded nicely, especially considering the firepower they lost from last year’s team, including Coach John Danowski’s son, Matt, who finished as the career scoring leader in Division I.

Duke returns in a more familiar role: it joins Cornell as a potential spoiler. Syracuse and Virginia have won 7 of the past 10 titles, and if they meet Monday, it will be engaging because of their history of epic games.

Duke lost in the championship game in 2005 and in the semifinals last year. To get the program’s first national title, it will rely on its two elite attackmen, Max Quinzani and Ned Crotty.

Cornell won the last of its three national titles in 1977 but has reached the semifinals in two of the last three seasons. The Big Red is led by Rob Pannell, a freshman attackman, and a defense anchored by the long sticks Pierce Derkac and Matt Moyer.

Although Duke and Cornell have flirted with the top echelon of the sport lately, they will not be considered true members of the present-day elite until they win a national title.
 

CHASING A DREAM: For Virginia's Starsia, matchup with Cornell means more than just a trip to the finals
By: Conor Orr
Posted: 5/7/09
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - For Dom Starsia, the powerhouse Cornell teams of the late 1970's were a muse.

Watching as head coach Richie Moran's Big Red amassed two straight titles and 10 consecutive conference championships, the future hall-of-famer Starsia, then an assistant coach at Brown, knew he wanted his teams to play like those Cornell squads when he became a head coach himself someday.

"We hosted them in the NCAA finals in 1976, and I was one of the hosts for Cornell," said Starsia, now the head coach at Virginia. "And they rolled out of the bus looking all messy. I mean, they played great, with a lot of passion, energy and discipline, so I always felt like I want my teams to play lacrosse like that."

Thirty-three years and three NCAA championships later, Starsia finds his top-seeded Virginia team facing off against a No. 5 seed Cornell program that cultivated his foyer into coaching. At Gillette Stadium Saturday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, Starsia will channel his past watching the Big Red in order to propel his Cavaliers to the championship game.

The winner will face either Syracuse or Duke in the national championship Monday.

"That team was profoundly influential, I would say," Starsia said of the old Cornell teams. "That was the beginning of it for me."

Flash forward three decades, and things have changed. Starsia moved south to start a dynasty in Virginia. Moran stepped down at Cornell for future John's Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala and eventually current head coach Jeff Tambroni, and an unspoken bond between Starsia and that untouchable Cornell program distanced.

In Starsia's tenure at Virginia, the two teams have only played once: an 11-10 thriller in favor of the Cavaliers in the quarterfinals of the 2002 NCAA tournament.

But the fading relationship between Starsia and the Big Red was recharged at the end of last season. After Tambroni learned Virginia had lost longtime opponent Princeton from its schedule, he got on the phone and called Starsia in order to fulfill a bit of lacrosse destiny.

"I got a call and heard that game would be open and got on the phone with coach Starsia immediately," Tambroni said. "We had it done within the day and scheduled a four-year contract. We had to do a little changing of our schedule, but I'm glad it worked out."

Now, a top team that Starsia's players hadn't seen their entire collegiate career was on the calendar at the beginning of the year. Little did they know them they would be meeting in the final four nearly three months later.

"It's weird," Virginia senior attack Danny Glading said. "It's strange that the one year we play them in my four years here, we're going to end up playing them a second time, but I think there's benefits and disadvantages to it."

And now, visions of that 1976 Cornell team walking off the bus come back to Starsia. But in a different way. Instead of suffering beatings at the hands of the Big Red as a player and coach, Starsia is dealing it out. Earlier this season, in the two teams' first regular season matchup since 1971, the Cavaliers used its vicious scoring attack to edge the Big Red, 14-10. The victory gave Starsia two straight victories over a program that left him in awe years ago.

It's a feeling of leverage Tambroni is looking to steal back from the Cavaliers. He'll have to, if he's going to take down a Virginia team ranked in the top five nationally in assists, ground balls, points per game, scoring margin and scoring offense.

But Tambroni is ready to put in the work to bring the Big Red back to its glory days.

"It would be nice to do that," Tambroni said. "But it's going to take some hard work."

Underdog CU has some bite in NCAA's
Big Red seeks first title-game appearance since 1988
By Brian Delaney
bdelaney@gannett.com

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Cornell's lighthearted 75-minute workout on the Gillette Stadium turf Friday afternoon was the fourth and final Division I practice session of the day, meaningless by design and yet symbolic of the Big Red's perceived status as the tag-along little brother at this weekend's NCAA men's lacrosse semifinals.

In the last three seasons alone, Virginia, Duke and Syracuse have all won games in the NCAA Final Four, including two of the last three national championships. Each reached this stage last year.

Cornell, meanwhile, hasn't played in the NCAA title game since 1988, and 32 years have passed since the Big Red's last championship.

Step 1 to ending both streaks is today's semifinal against top-seeded Virginia (15-2), which ravaged Villanova and eighth-seeded Johns Hopkins by a combined 37-14 margin to return to the Final Four. Their cumulative play this postseason has made the Cavaliers an easy pick to reach the championship game at 1 p.m. Monday.

And that's just fine with Cornell (12-3).

"We've gotten that all year long," Big Red goalie Jake Myers said. "No one's really expected us to get here. Throughout this whole season, there's been upsets every week. There's always someone beating someone like Duke upsetting Virginia 16-5. I mean, games like that, where you're scratching your head. So people like to pick favorites, but there's always an upset waiting to happen."

Virginia is stacked at every position and in all phases, as evidenced by its three first-team All-Americans- attackman Danny Glading, midfielder Shamel Bratton and defenseman Ken Clausen.

The Cavs have overwhelmed opponents offensively - they have six players with 25 or more points - and ridden them into submission defensively. When they aren't at their sharpest, sophomore goalie Adam Ghitelman has proven capable of stealing a win anyway.

Their potency has evoked memories of Dom Starsia's 2006 national title team, considered one of lacrosse's best.

"People want to compare us to 2006, and I don't think we're as deep offensively as that team was, so we didn't have as many lead guys that could make things happen throughout the course of the season," he said. "So having some balance has been really, really important. We need to kind of be able to attack you from every position in order to be good enough offensively. It's always part of my plan to have lots of good offensive players."

Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni said it would have been easy this week to get overwhelmed by detailed scouting reports on Virginia's personnel.

Instead, the ninth-year head man said, the coaching staff has kept things as simple as possible. But he doesn't doubt his club will get caught up in the "just happy to be here" mentality.

"This group of guys, part of it is we've already been there in 2007, and that doesn't mean we're going to be more prepared to win, but I think we'll have more poise and less starry eyes walking into the stadium knowing we already played at Gillette," he said. "Knowing we've already seen the magnitude of the stage."

Cornell's also seen Virginia in person.

On March 8, the Big Red lost at Klockner Stadium, 14-10, despite holding a 7-6 lead at halftime. Freshman Rob Pannell had two goals and four assists, and said Cornell knows from that experience it can beat the Cavaliers.

"I think individually they're unbelievable," he said. "Just a group of unbelievable athletes. As far as their defenders, they're great athletically. Clausen is one of the best athletes in Division I lacrosse, but as a unit I think is where we can beat them. Our unit versus their unit. They're a bunch of individuals, but together they're a little shaky I feel like. Off ball, with a lot of movement, they tend to lose track of their guys."

Cornell also has a valuable asset in senior midfielder Max Seibald, who Friday was named the USILA Division I Player of the Year. Seibald was held pointless in last weekend's quarterfinal win over Princeton, but still impacted the game significantly between the 30-yard lines.

Still, Tambroni said, Seibald needs to be a difference-maker today on the scoreboard.

"We need our big players to carry us," Tambroni said.

One win would surprise. Two would stun.

If there's a certainty, Cornell senior John Glynn said, it is that the Big Red will play loose.

"There hasn't been that much pressure on us," he said. "We have nothing, really, to lose."

 

Virginia Finishes Best-Ever 8th at NCAA Championships
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/22/2009

Owings Mills, Md. – The Virginia women’s golf team made history at the 2009 NCAA Championships held at Caves Valley Golf Club. The Cavaliers finished the 72-hole tournament eighth, the first top-10 showing in the program’s six-year existence. UVa was 12th last season and finished 13th in 2005 in its previous NCAA appearances.

The Cavaliers completed play with a final round of 304 for a four-day total of 60-over 1212. Top-ranked Arizona State distanced itself from Pac-10 rivals USC and UCLA during the final round to claim its seventh NCAA title. The Sun Devils shot 3-over 291 for the second straight day to place first at 1182. UCLA was the runner-up at 1190 and USC took third place at 1191. Oklahoma State finished fourth at 1199, Denver was fifth at 1206 and Duke rallied during the final round to take sixth place at 1207. North Carolina was seventh, two shots ahead of the Cavaliers.

“I’m extremely excited about how we played this week,” said Virginia coach Kim Lewellen. “We played very well as a team. We were consistent. I don’t see why we can’t do this every season. We have a great program and a great group of girls playing for us. We really enjoyed our week here. It was a great experience. You only play college golf once and being at a championship like this is a very memorable time. Having the best finish in the program’s history is something this team can always look back on with pride.”

Virginia sophomore Calle Nielson turned in another stellar performance Friday to tie for sixth-place overall. She shot even par 72 for a 72-hole total of 294. Nielson started the tournament with scores of 75 and 76 before finding her groove in the third-round when she carded a 1-under 71. She played the final two days at 1-under par on a course that produced an average score of 77.38 during the tournament.

“I wasn’t patient enough the first two rounds,” Neilson said. “I got frustrated and let bogeys turn into double bogeys. It just tumbled down from there. I didn’t do a good job of regaining myself those days. The last two days I stayed a lot more patient than I usually do. When I stay patient, I play my best golf.

“This is one of my favorite golf courses I have ever played,” Nielson said. “I like hard golf courses because they make me think. I do better when I have to think and I’m in the moment. One-under, over two days, is not bad here. I’ll take it.”

Nielson’s finish marked the sixth time in the UVa’s last seven tournaments she has led or shared the team lead in scoring. It was the sixth top-10 finish she recorded this season. She entered the tournament ranked No. 25 by Golfweek and No. 37 by Golfstat.

“It doesn’t feel like I finished in the top 10 because of the way I played the first two days,” Neilson said. “If I had just played better the first two days, look where I would have finished. I have two more years to hopefully win an individual title and a team title for UVa.”

Nielson becomes the second Cavalier to turn in a top-10 performance at the NCAAs. Leah Wigger was the runner-up in 2005.

“There isn’t going to be a test in college golf that will be tougher than what we faced this week and for her to play as consistent as she did on a course that was this difficult says a lot about her abilities,” Lewellen said. “I think she realized this is a hard test. I think that helped her to be patient and to perform better as the tournament went on. She realized she had the game for this course.”

UVa’s second-best finish came from senior Lene Krog, who was 48th overall at 305. She had an 80 during her final round. Junior Whitney Neuhauser was 54th at 307 including a 75 during her final day. A year ago she placed 101st in her first NCAA Championship appearance. Senior Kristen Simpson shot 80 during the final round and was 70th at 311. Joy Kim finished 75th at 312, including a 77 Friday. The field for this year’s event included 126 players.

Purdue’s Maria Hernandez took medalist honors at 1-over 289. She vaulted to the top of the leaderboard when USC freshman Jennifer Song double-bogeyed her final hole, pushing her to second place at 290. It was Hernandez’s sixth tournament championship this season.

By virtue of their place in the final standings, the Cavaliers earn a spot into next year’s PING Fall Preview, the site of the 2010 NCAA Championships, at The Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.

NCAA Championships
Caves Valley Golf Club
Owings Mills, Md.
Par-72, 6,443 yards
Final Results

Team Results 1. Arizona State (1) 302-298-291-291-1182 2. UCLA (2) 296-293-304-297-1190 3. USC (4) 301-295-294-301-1191 4. Oklahoma State (5) 303-297-309-290-1199 5. Denver (14) 294-304-309-299-1206 6. Duke (11) 308-301-302-296-1207 7. North Carolina (10) 299-301-306-304-1210 8. Virginia (3) 305-302-301-304-1212 9. Pepperdine (13) 312-298-302-301-121310. Purdue (9) 306-301-311-298-121611. Alabama (6) 305-302-311-299-121712. LSU (7) 302-304-309-304-121913. Michigan State (17) 307-303-315-300-122513. Wake Forest (12) 303-300-318-304-122515. Georgia (15) 316-307-301-310-123416. Arizona (20) 310-305-314-306-123517. Tennessee (24) 307-313-306-311-123718. TCU (27) 314-316-301-307-123819. New Mexico (22) 311-314-307-310-124220. Tulane (29) 312-305-317-312-124621. UT Chattanooga (44) 316-307-305-320-124822. UC Irvine (18) 320-316-312-301-124923. Texas (38) 314-311-313-314-125224. Ohio State (26) 323-311-314-310-1258Number in parenthesis is Golfstat rankingIndividual Leaders 1. Maria Hernandez, Purdue 74-72-72-71-289 2. Jennifer Song, USC 72-73-71-74-290 3. Pernilla Lindberg, Oklahoma State 74-72-76-69-291 4. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke 75-73-74-71-293 4. Azahara Munoz, Arizona State 78-71-72-72-293 6. Nannette Hill, Wake Forest 72-71-79-72-294 6. Calle Nielson, Virginia 75-76-71-72-294 8. Alice Kim, UC Davis 74-75-70-76-295 8. Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA 75-66-77-77-29510. Lisa McCloskey, Pepperdine 74-69-78-75-296*Individual competitorVirginia 6. Calle Nielson 75-76-71-72-29448. Lene Krog 78-74-73-80-30554. Whitney Neuhauser 75-76-81-75-30770. Kristen Simpson 77-76-78-80-31175. Joy Kim 79-77-79-77-312
 

UVa or Virginia Tech: Who has the better athletic program?
Tech and UVa face different challenges
By Doug Doughty

Far be it from me to describe The Roanoke Times’ sports Timescast as thought-provoking – “inane” might be a better adjective – but something that Randy King and I were discussing the other day has gotten me to thinking.

If you are a Virginia Tech fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia’s?

If you are a Virginia fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia Tech’s?

I’m guessing the answer for both demographics would be a resounding “no.”

(Of course, you’ve got to figure in the pride factor).

The thought came to mind when King and I were discussing the various UVa teams that are still involved in NCAA postseason play – men’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s golf, women’s golf, baseball and track and field).

Virginia was ranked 19th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings after the winter season and should make a big jump in the spring, which already includes a trip to the men’s tennis quarterfinals (the equivalent of a fifth-place tie).

UVa almost certainly will improve on last year’s 17th-place showing in the Directors’ Cup and could approach the top 10. The Cavaliers’ best finish ever was in 1999, when they were eighth.

If you rank in the top 10 in all-around athletic competition, does that make you an elite program?

I told King that I wouldn’t consider UVa to be an elite athletic program unless it played in a college football game or made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament – most years, if not every year.

Maybe football and men’s basketball performance could be measured by Top 25 rankings, but this year Virginia didn’t have postseason bids or Top 25 rankings in either of the two marquee sports.

THE HOKIES ARE 48TH in the most recent Directors’ Cup calculations (as of April 23) after finishing 37th last year. It is unlikely that Tech will approach last year’s 38th-place finish, fueled by a bid to the softball final four.

The Hokies were 45th in 2006 and 48th in 2007. A top 50 finish would seem to be a reasonable goal.

As long as the Hokies are winning ACC football championships and going to BCS bowls and performing respectably in the other sports, the fans will be happy.

No way the Hokies would trade their 2008-2009 athletic year for Virginia’s.

In recent years, Tech also has had a more successful men’s basketball program than Virginia, although UVa’s hiring of Tony Bennett as its new head coach presents a different dynamic.

The reason Virginia fans wouldn’t trade their athletic program for Tech’s is the hope for better times to come, both for men’s basketball and football.

That could come under football coach Al Groh, who turns 65 in July, or it could under his successor, whenever that transition takes place.

Virginia has a lot of things going for it, including $128-million John Paul Jones Arena, but the Cavaliers can’t consider themselves superior to their in-state rival until they beat the Hokies on the football field, and not just once every 10 years.

Tech has won the last five games in that series and nine of the last 10.

The Hokies have drawn big crowds and enlarged their stadium and increased their athletic fundraising, to go along with heretofore lucrative TV payouts. Maybe that could last forever but, in the meantime, Tech needs to continue to push for improvement in its other sports.

Aside from football, Tech has not another ACC championship this year. In 2007-2008, the Hokies collected titles in football, women’s indoor track, softball and women’s outdoor track. The year before that, Tech won the ACC men’s golf championship.

Virginia this year has won titles in men’s cross country, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis and men’s outdoor track and field, but no men’s basketball since 1976 and no football since 1995 (the second of two shared titles).

There is room for two elite athletic programs in the state but they’re not there yet.