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Feb. 11, 2000
CHARLOTTEVILLE, Va. – Following Virginia’s thrilling 12-10 victory over Syracuse in the 1999 NCAAfinals, the Cavaliers enter the new millennium as defending nationalchampions.
In order to extend their championship reign, the Cavaliers must deal withthe added pressure of being “the hunted” instead of “the hunter.” It is apressure, however, which head coach Dom Starsia feels his team is preparedto handle. “It was encouraging to see the intent and focus thatcharacterized this group during fall workouts,” said Starsia. “Theydisplayed the kind of confidence that only comes from the marriage ofeffort and success, they are committed to keeping the championship trophyin Charlottesville.”
Standing in the way of that aspiration is a rugged regular-season schedulethat includes home tilts vs. perennial powers Syracuse, Princeton and JohnsHopkins-all during the month of March.
Virginia returns 28 lettermen and seven starters from last year’s squadwhich finished 13-3 overall (2-1 ACC) and won both the NCAA and ACCtournaments. The Cavaliers boast two returning first-team All-Americans,defender Ryan Curtis and midfielder Jay Jalbert, and one third-teamAll-American, attackman Drew McKnight. Curtis received the Schmeisser Cupas the nation’s top defender, while Jalbert received the McLaughlin Awardas the nation’s outstanding midfielder. Attackman Conor Gill, the MVP ofthe 1999 NCAA Tournament and last year’s ACC Rookie of Year, also returns.Following is a preseason look at the 2000 Cavaliers by position:
ATTACK
Replacing Tucker Radebaugh-a first-team All-American and ACC MVP in 1999-isno easy task. As a senior last season, the two-time team captain led thethe conference and ranked nationally in goals (42), assists (31) and points(73).
Yet, as much as Radebaugh will be missed, the Cavalier attack appears ingood shape with the return of two of its top three scorers from lastyear-McKnight and Gill. Both players are coming off outstanding seasons in1999 and are expected to provide solid, veteran leadership as well asplenty of offensive firepower.
McKnight returns for his senior season after finishing second on lastyear’s team with a career-high 25 goals and third in assists with 22. “Drewis a returning co-captain who simply does everything well,” says Starsia.”His performance improved steadily throughout last season. He will need toget off to a strong start this year given our early schedule.”
Gill ranked second on the team in scoring last year as a freshman with 52points (22 goals, 30 assists). He capped his ACC Rookie of the Year seasonwith a memorable performance during the 1999 NCAA final four weekend. Afterscoring five goals in the semifinals-all in the first quarter-against JohnsHopkins, Gill delivered some crucial late-game heroics in the championshipgame victory over Syracuse. He scored his only goal of the finals with 2:59left to play to give Virginia a 11-9 lead. Then, 21 seconds later, hetallied his third assist of the day as UVa went on to a 12-10 victory. Hebecame the first freshman ever to win NCAA Tournament MVP honors.
Starsia expects more great things from Gill this spring, noting that”Conor’s reputation as a ‘feeder’ was jeopardized by his five-goalperformance in the first quarter of the NCAA semifinals. I expect him todemonstrate improvement in all areas.”
The third spot on the starting attack will likely be filled by one of twodynamic lefties, red-shirt sophomore Ian Shure or freshman A.J. Shannon,from Henry Street High School in Whitby, Ontario. Shure sat out last seasonafter showing promise as a rookie in 1998.
“Ian is anxious to make his mark,” says Starsia. “He is a hard worker witha creative flair. He simply needs to bring daily consistency to his play.A.J. is a powerful athlete who is still learning the field game. He hastremendous potential and may be a vastly different player by playoff time.”Other players in the mix on attack include sophomore Eric Leibowitz andfreshmen Derrick Preuss and Hatcher Snead.
MIDFIELD
Much of UVa’s midfield play revolves around the versatility of Jalbert, whohas excelled in a number of roles throughout his Cavalier career. Afterswitching from midfield to attack as a sophomore in 1998, Jalbert movedback to the midfield in 1999 and led that unit with 41 points, including 31goals and 10 assists. For his play last year, he was named a first-teamAll-American and the National Midfielder of the Year. He also earnedAll-ACC, ACC Tournament MVP and NCAA All-Tournament honors.
“Jay’s second half of the 1999 season was as dominant an offensiveperformance as I’ve seen in some time,” said Starsia, who expects variousmidfield combinations to change as the 2000 preseason unfolds.
Red-shirt senior David Bruce (6+5=11) has switched from attack, possessingthe size and experience to anchor a unit. Red-shirt junior Hanley Holcombrecovered from major knee surgery to post 27 goals and five assists in1999. According to Starsia, Holcomb has one of the hardest shots in thegame and appears ready to break out on the national level.
Any talk of midfield play at Virginia does not go far without mention ofthe powerful faceoff duo of senior Jason Hard (3+1=4, 130 of 207 faceoffs)and junior David Jenkins (4+1=5, 126 of 196 faceoffs). Their season-longstatistics are remarkably similar and both players were dominant in theplayoffs.
“Jason and David complement each other and also contribute to the team onboth the offensive and defensive midfields,” said Starsia.
Red-shirt junior Will Quayle (2+0=2) and juniors Aaron Vercollone (4+0=4)and Jamison Mullen (7+1=8) all made significant contributions last seasonas well and should continue to play important roles in 2000.
Sophomore Brenndan Mohler (1+2=3) returns as a force at defensive midfield.One of the team’s fastest players, he may see more offensive time thisspring. He is expected to combine early on with classmate Nick Russo(0+2=2) to form an aggressive, athletic, transition duo.
Other veterans vying for playing time in the midfield include senior BruceTownsend and juniors Evan Mancini, Tyler Gilbert (0+1=1) and James Kenny,whom Starsia labels “the team’s next faceoff man.”
UVa’s promising freshman middies include Andrew Faraone and Chris Rotelliat the offensive end and Billy Glading and Calvin Sullivan on defense.
UVa’s long pole defensive midfielders are led by senior Peter Ragosa(0+1=1). Named the team’s MVP each of the last two seasons, “Peter was oneof the unsung heroes throughout 1999 championship drive,” said Starsia. “Heis an excellent athlete with an uncommon instinct and a great stick.”
Other long-pole prospects include senior Richard Reid, who may also seetime on close defense, sophomore Jason Leneau and freshman Trey Whitty.
DEFENSE
Virginia’s defensive unit is anchored by Curtis (2+0=2), a returningfirst-team All-American and the 1999 National Defenseman of the Year.According to Starsia, Curtis elevated his play to the highest level in 1999by contributing more to the team defense. Although Curtis did a great jobof containing high-scoring attackman Ryan Powell in the last year’snational championship game, for example, Starsia was even more impressedwith the way Curtis sparked UVa’s entire defensive effort. “His performancein the finals was more about his communication, helping his teammates, andknocking down and picking off passes than his individual one-on-one battlewith Powell,” said Starsia.
Sophomore Mark Koontz (1+1=2) joins Ryan to form one of the nation’sstrongest defensive duos. “Mark played everywhere in the defensive endduring his freshman season,” said Starsia. “His intelligence and stickworkmake him a versatile talent. He has All-America potential.”
Battling for the third position are fifth-year graduate student CourtWeisleder, senior Doug Worthen and junior John Harvey. All three areexpected to play valuable roles, regardless of who starts.
Other contenders on defense include red-shirt sophomore Ryan Myerberg, andfreshmen Ryan Binder, Ned Bowen and David Burman. Myerberg and Binder canalso play in the midfield.
GOAL
Anyone looking for a single reason why Virginia could be even better thana year ago should pay close attention to the play of sophomore DerekKenney. Starting every game for the Cavaliers as a freshman goalie in 1999,Kenney recorded 139 saves while posting a goals against average of 8.87.
More importantly, he showed steady improvement throughout the season,culminating with his fearless play in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
“His development throughout 1999 was consistent, triggered by the team’sgrowth, and was capped by his selection to the NCAA All-Tournament team,”praised Starsia. “He is a poised athlete who is on the verge of anAll-America season.”
Senior Ben O’Neil is the most experienced of Virginia’s backup goalies,followed by sophomore George Greczmiel and senior walk-on Duffy Birckhead.
OVERVIEW
The only way possible for Virginia to top last season’s dramatic NCAAchampionship season is to win back-to-back national titles, something noother UVa team has done. While accomplishing such a feat won’t be easy, the2000 Cavaliers appear to have enough talent, depth, experience, andmotivation to make a serious run at it.