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March 30, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia plays its first ACC contest of the season Friday againstsixth-ranked Maryland. Both teams bring long winning streaks into thegame-Virginia has won four straight, while Maryland has won its last five.The Terrapins are 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Virginia is 4-1.
Faceoff for tonight’s match-up is set for 8:00 p.m. Tonight’s game will betelevised in Baltimore on WMAR. Scott Garceau, Keith Mills and QuintKessenich will call all the action and provide the analysis.
Tonight’s game will also be webcast live on The Lacrosse Network atwww.laxnet.com.
#2 Virginia Cavaliers (4-1) vs.
#6 Maryland Terrapins (6-1)
March 31, 2000
8:00 p.m.
Byrd Stadium
College Park, Md.
The Series vs. the Terrapins
Maryland leads the all-time series with Virginia by a 38-26 margin.The rivalry between the two schools goes all the way back to 1926, thesecond year of the Virginia program. The teams have met at least once everyseason since 1950, making this the second-longest current series of anyVirginia opponent (behind Johns Hopkins, 1948).
The Cavaliers have not had much success on the Terrapins’ home field,winning just 10 of 30 meetings in College Park.
Overall Maryland has won three of the last five meetings between the twoschools. The Terps have also won the last three games in College Park,including a 14-9 win two years ago in the most recent clash at Byrd Stadium.
Virginia won both meetings last year-a 13-4 regular season meeting inCharlottesville and a 15-6 win in the ACC Tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Despite Virginia’s two big victories last season, the recent history of theseries is marked by many close games. Ten of the last 15 games have beendecided by one or two goals including one streak where eight straight(1991-96) were settled by fewer than three goals.
Maryland’s 38 wins over Virginia are the second-most wins by any schoolover the Cavaliers. Johns Hopkins has defeated UVa 49 times.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s 26 wins in the series make the Terps fourth on UVa’slist of most beaten opponents (UVa has defeated Duke and Washington & Lee42 times and North Carolina 34 times).
This is the 65th meeting between the two schools. Virginia has only playedJohns Hopkins as often (68).
Starting Lineup Settles In
Virginia’s roster this season features seven returning starters and 21other lettermen from last season which gives head coach Dom Starsia and hisstaff the luxury of not having to do too much tinkering to settle on astarting line-up.
Returning on attack are Drew McKnight and Conor Gill. McKnight, a senior,has been a mainstay in the lineup since his arrival in Charlottesvillethree years ago. McKnight has turned in an explosive season offensively sofar and is the second-leading scorer in the country averaging 5.60 pointsper game (28 points in five games). McKnight leads the team (second in ACC)with 13 goals (2.60/g) and is fourth nationally and first in the ACC inassists at 3.00 per game (15 in five games).
Gill proved himself last year by winning the ACC Rookie of the Year Awardand being named the MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Gill continues to be asteadying presence on the attack and has contributed nine goals and 10assists so far this season.
Joining them on attack is sophomore Ian Shure. Shure missed all of lastseason due to a knee injury, but has returned to full strength with ninegoals this season. He is a gifted offensive player who saw limited actionas a freshman in 1998, scoring just two goals.
Jay Jalbert returns to anchor what is a very deep midfield this season.Faceoff specialist Jason Hard and highly regarded freshman A.J. Shannonjoin Jalbert on the first unit. Fifth-year player David Bruce, a convertedattackman, and junior Hanley Holcomb (injured recently) form the nucleus ofthe second unit. Freshman Chris Rotelli rounds out this group. The thirdmidfield consists of Jamison Mullen, Will Quayle and Aaron Vercollone.David Jenkins, Brenndan Mohler and Nick Russo also see plenty of action inthe midfield, primarily in defensive midfield roles.
Hard and David Jenkins continue to alternate as faceoff specialists, whilePeter Ragosa is the top long stick middie once again. Richard Reid alsosees considerable time at long stick middie.
All three starting defensemen from the end of last season return. RyanCurtis, the nation’s top defensemen, headlines the returnees. He is joinedin the starting trio by Mark Koontz and Court Weisleder. John Harvey is thetop sub, but freshmen Ned Bowen and David Burman figure to see actionduring the season.
Derek Kenney returns in goal after starting last season as a freshman. Hewill be backed up by local product Ben O’Neil again this season.
Defense Stiffens in Second Half
Virginia has found itself in two tight contests at halftime so far thisseason, leading once (Princeton) and trailing once (Syracuse).
The Cavaliers fell behind to Syracuse 9-5 in the season opener and thenblanked the Orangemen in the third quarter. The shutout that period enabledVirginia to claw its way back into the contest, eventually knotting thescore and forcing overtime.
UVa got off to a slow start offensively (and defensively) in the Princetongame two weeks ago, falling behind 4-2 after 15 minutes of play. But UVaused an 11-2 run in the second and third periods to build a 13-6 lead atone point. Entering the fourth quarter with a 13-8 lead, the Cavalierdefense pitched a shutout in the fourth quarter and handed the Tigers theirfirst loss of the season.
Virginia held a 10-5 lead at halftime against Rutgers and used a thirdquarter shutout of the Scarlet Knights to push the lead to double digits.Against Stony Brook, the shutout came in the second quarter. The Cavaliersallowed two goals in both the third and fourth quarters as head coach DomStarsia substituted liberally throughout the second half.
It is interesting to note that Virginia has allowed 14 first quarter goals,the most of any quarter this season. The Cavaliers have given up nine goalsin each of the second, third and fourth quarters.
The UVa defense has allowed almost as many goals (14) in just the firstquarter as it has in the entire second half this season (19).
Virginia Falls Behind Early This Season
One of Virginia’s problems early this season has been a tendency to startsluggishly. As a result the Cavaliers have found themselves behind in theearly parts of every game this season except last Saturday’s Johns Hopkinsgame.
In the season opener against Syracuse, the Cavaliers dug themselves a firstquarter hole, falling behind 5-2 after the first 15 minutes. They foughtvaliantly to come back and tied the score in the third quarter beforetrading goals the rest of the way as the contest went into overtime. TheVirginia comeback proved not enough as the Orangemen won in overtime.The Cavaliers again dug themselves an early hole against Princeton, givingup three goals in less than four minutes of play. But led by David Bruceand Conor Gill, who scored every goal in a five-goal run, the Cavalierserased a 4-2 deficit to take the lead for good with just under 10 minutesto go in the first half. Princeton managed to close to within 7-5 at thehalf, but the Cavaliers rattled off four quick third quarter scores tobuild a cushion for the rest of the way.
Rutgers scored first less than four minutes into the game, but theCavaliers quickly answered to take a 4-2 lead. The homestanding ScarletKnights knotted the score at four early in the second quarter before theCavaliers out-scored Rutgers 6-1 to take a commanding 10-5 lead into thelocker room at halftime. UVa won 17-8.
Stony Brook scored first before the Cavaliers rattled off 14 consecutivegoals en route to the win. Strangely enough, Virginia’s first goal camemore than 10 minutes into the game and was scored by long stick middiePeter Ragosa.
UVa Uses Fourth Quarter Barrage to Down Johns Hopkins
Virginia outscored Johns Hopkins 8-1 in the final period to defeat the BlueJays 16-8 at home last Saturday.
Leading 8-7 to open the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers got off to a quickstart when sophomore attack Ian Shure scored just seven seconds into theperiod. Jason Hard won the opening faceoff and fed senior attack DrewMcKnight on the wing. McKnight hit Shure on the crease for the easy goal.McKnight scored just over three minutes later to push Virginia’s lead to10-7.
Hopkins’ freshman attack Bobby Benson scored his fourth goal of the gamewith 9:15 remaining in the period to cut the Cavalier lead to 10-8, butVirginia scored three goals in a two-minute span to extend the lead to 13-8with 4:14 remaining.
Sophomore attack Conor Gill led the Cavaliers with four goals, includingtwo in the fourth quarter. David Bruce and Jay Jalbert each had three forVirginia.
Johns Hopkins cut a 7-3 halftime deficit to one after three quarters byoutscoring Virginia 4-1 in the period.
The Virginia defense turned in an outstanding effort to hold the Blue Jaysto their lowest goal output of the season.
Hopkins’ three-leading goal scorers coming into the game (Dan Denihan 6,A.J. Haugen 8, Conor Denihan 6), scored just one goal between them (byHaugen).
Goalie Derek Kenney recorded 10 saves and allowed just one goal in five mandown situations. For the game, Hopkins scored on just eight of 35 shots.
Virginia Wins Away From Home
This is Virginia’s third road game of the season. Over the last two yearsthe Cavaliers have established themselves as a very good team when playingon the road. Going back to last season, Virginia has won eight consecutivegames at road or neutral sites (three road games, five neutral site games).
That is Virginia’s longest winning streak in games away fromCharlottesville since the 1994 squad won a school-record nine games at roador neutral sites.
Virginia’s eight-game winning streak away from home is tied forsecond-longest streak of its kind in school history. It was alsoaccomplished by the Cavaliers from 1972-73.
McKnight Nears Membership in Exclusive Club
Drew McKnight has been a remarkably consistent scorer throughout hiscareer, scoring between 19 and 25 goals and assisting on between 20 and 24more goals.
This season McKnight’s scoring has exploded. He leads the ACC and is secondnationally in scoring, averaging 5.60 points per game (28 points). He alsoleads the ACC and is fourth in the nation in assists (3.00/g), whileranking second in the ACC in goals scored (2.60/g).
McKnight has scored 13 goals and added 15 assists for 28 total points.With 13 goals so far, he is more than halfway to his career high of 25 setlast year. His 15 assists are also more than halfway to his career high of24 set in 1998.
As he continues to pile up the offensive numbers, he draws nearer tomembership in an exclusive UVa club-the 80-80 Club. This club is comprisedof players who have scored at least 80 goals and recorded at least 80assists.
The members of this club are listed (chronologically) below. McKnight’splace on UVa’s goals, assists and points lists is listed to the left.
| Who? | Goals | Assists |
| Tom Duquette | 107 | 92 |
| Kevin Pehlke | 138 | 101 |
| Tim Whiteley | 85 | 159 |
| Doug Knight | 165 | 84 |
| Michael Watson | 142 | 98 |
| Drew McKnight | 79 | 81 |
Bruce Records Three Hat Tricks vs. Nationally Ranked Teams
When David Bruce decided to return for his fifth year this season he wasn’tsure what his role would be for head coach Dom Starsia. He missed all ofthe 1998 campaign due to a knee injury and played on the second attack unitlast season. With Drew McKnight, Conor Gill and Ian Shure penciled into thestarting attack this season, Bruce volunteered to move to the midfielddespite never having played there in college before, to get more time.
Whatever Bruce lacked for playing in the midfield, he makes up for withgood overall knowledge of the game. And he’s put his four years of collegeexperience to good use so far this season.
Finding himself in the right place at the right time, Bruce has capitalizedon virtually all of his scoring chances this season.
In the season opening loss to Syracuse, Bruce scored three times, with allthree scores coming from point-blank range.
Bruce’s scoring parade continued in the win over Princeton as he scoredthree times for the second game in a row. All three goals came in just overa nine-minute span in the middle of the first half and helped erase anearly deficit.
He scored three goals against Johns Hopkins last Saturday, giving him ninegoals this season against ranked teams.
He is second on the team behind Drew McKnight with 12 goals and has alreadytopped his previous high of 11 goals (1997).
Scoring Comes From Unlikely Sources
Head coach Dom Starsia and his coaching staff were no doubt looking tomidfielders Jay Jalbert and Hanley Holcomb to be the Cavaliers’ big guns inthe offensive zone this season. But so far, the Cavaliers have gotten mostof their offense from some unlikely sources.
Although a proven offensive player, Drew McKnight has almost surelysurpassed what was expected of him. He has found the back of the net 13times already and is more than half way to his career high of 25 goalsestablished last year.
Fifth-year midfielder/attackman David Bruce has been a reserve throughouthis career, never scoring more than 11 goals. He moved to the midfield forhis final season and the move has paid off. Using the knowledge gained overthe previous four years, Bruce has tallied 12 goals, topping his previouscareer high in just five games. Bruce has made opponents pay in 2000 withgood positioning around the crease that has enabled him to score all of hisgoals from in close.
Ian Shure missed all of last season due to a knee injury and saw limitedaction as a freshman two years ago. But playing at full strength, Shure hascontributed nine goals so far (on just 22 shots).
A.J. Shannon, a highly regarded freshman from Canada, leads UVa’s rookieswtih six goals while running with the first midfield. He has scored twicethree times-Syracuse, Rutgers and Stony Brook.
Faceoff specialist Jason Hard has been more involved on offense this seasonthan in the past and has scored six goals. Like Bruce, he has alreadyexceeded his previous career high (five in 1997).
Jalbert has gotten off to a typical (for him at least) slow start, but heis showing signs of warming up offensively. He is third on the team with 10goals, and has scored seven in the last two games. He scored a season-highfour goals vs. Stony Brook.
Holcomb has had a particularly tough time this season. He has scored justonce (Princeton) and missed on all 10 shots he took in the opener againstSyracuse. Compounding his offensive woes, Holcomb missed the two gamesprior to the Johns Hopkins due to a leg injury. He failed to score vs. theBlue Jays but he did add a career-high two assists.
Eleven Cavaliers Earn Preseason Recognition
Virginia’s roster this season features 11 players who have been named tovarious preseason All-America squads.
Defenseman Ryan Curtis, last season’s Schmeisser Cup winner as the nation’stop defenseman, returns to anchor the Cavalier defense. Lacrosse magazinelisted him as its Player of the Year and one of five “Players to Watch”this spring. Curtis has also been named to preseason All-America teams byFace-off, Inside Lacrosse, College Lacrosse USA and the Baltimore Sun.
Joining Curtis as a Lacrosse magazine “Player to Watch” is midfield JayJalbert, winner of the 1999 McLaughlin Award as the nation’s outstandingmidfielder. And like Curtis, Jalbert has cited by Face-off, InsideLacrosse, College Lacrosse USA and the Baltimore Sun as a preseasonAll-America.
Two of UVa’s starting attackmen-senior Drew McKnight and sophomore ConorGill-have been selected preseason All-Americans. McKnight, the Cavaliers’leading active scorer (77g, 78a), was also named one of nine”Sharpshooters” by Inside Lacrosse magazine. Gill, the ACC Rookie of theYear and MVP of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, will be looked upon toquarterback the attack again this season.
Junior Hanley Holcomb joins Jalbert in the midfield to give head coach DomStarsia two preseason All-Americans in the midfield. Holcomb, who possessesone of the hardest shots in the nation, found the back of the net 27 timeslast season.
Long stick middie Peter Ragosa, one of the nation’s most underratedplayers, has been cited by Inside Lacrosse, College Lacrosse USA andFace-off for preseason recognition.
The Virginia face-off duo of Jason Hard and David Jenkins were bothrecognized for their face-off ability by the preseason pickers. Both werealso among 11 of the nation’s top face-off specialists selected by InsideLacrosse.
Defensively, junior John Harvey and sophomore Mark Koontz were named to thepreseason squad presented by Inside Lacrosse. Koontz was also named toFace-off’s preseason squad.
Goalie Derek Kenney, who last year became the first freshman to start ingoal for the Cavaliers in 20 years, has also been named to severalpreseason All-America squads.
Gill Scores Four vs. Johns Hopkins
Attackman Conor Gill came to UVa with the reputation as being a giftedoffensive player and he lived up to his billing as UVa captured lastseason’s national title.
For the season he finished with 22 goals and 30 assists for a total of 52points and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year.Saving his best for the biggest stage in the college game, Gill turned theNCAA Tournament in College Park, Md., into his own personal show. He scoredfive goals in the first quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a 16-11 win overJohns Hopkins in the semifinals. He then scored UVa’s 11th goal andassisted on the 12th in the national championship game vs. Syracuse as UVagained a 12-10 win. For his play he was named the MVP of the title game andto the NCAA All-Tournament squad.
Given all that he did last year, one accomplishment he will certainly lookto keep off his resume is the dreaded “sophomore slump.”
That could be a difficult task considering his 30 assists tied Army’s TimPearson for the national lead among rookies, while he tied for third inpoints (52) by a freshman last season. He also finished fourth among thenation’s rookies in scoring, averaging 3.25 points per game, and eighthwith 22 goals.
Gill turned in his best offensive performance of the season last Saturdayagainst Johns Hopkins. He paced the Cavaliers with four goals, includingtwo in an eight-goal fourth quarter that blew the game open. He also addedtwo assists.
Earlier this month he earned ACC Player of the Week honors by scoring twogoals and recording four assists in a win over Princeton.Gill is second on the team in assists (10) and points (19). His nine goalsare tied for third on the team.
Shure Returns With Big Game
Given his limited experience, red-shirt sophomore Ian Shure can almost beconsidered a freshman this season. He played sparingly two years ago as atrue freshman, appearing in just six games and scoring two goals. Then hemissed all of last season due to a severe knee injury that requiredsurgery.
But he has worked hard to return to action and his efforts seem to havepaid off.
He scored twice in the opener against Syracuse to equal his goal total ofhis freshman season two years ago.
Shure posted the first hat trick of his career with his three-goal effortvs. Rutgers, including the goal that proved to be the game-winner for UVa.He is tied for fourth on the team with nine goals so far this season. Hehas also added an assist.
Five Seniors Named Co-captains
Five members of Virginia’s senior class this season have been namedcaptains for the 2000 season-Ryan Curtis, Jason Hard, Jay Jalbert, DrewMcKnight and Peter Ragosa.
Curtis and Jalbert were recipients of prestigious national awards lastseason for their play as the Cavaliers won the national title. Curtis wonthe Schmeisser Cup as the nation’s top defenseman, while Jalbert wasawarded the McLaughlin Award as the nation’s outstanding midfielder.
Hard teams with David Jenkins to give Virginia the top face-off unit in thecountry. Hard finished sixth in the nation in face-off winning percentage.
This is the second year in a row McKnight has served as a team captain. Oneof the more overlooked members of the nation’s most potent offense,McKnight broke into the top 10 scoring list last weekend vs. Johns Hopkins.
He is tied with Roddy Marino for 10th with 160 points (79g, 81a).Ragosa, considered by many as the nation’s top long stick middie, hashelped spearhead Virginia’s defensive efforts throughout his career. He wastied for 46th in the nation a year ago in ground balls, averaging 4.4 pergame (70 in 16 games).
Jalbert Warming Up in Last Two
Senior midfielder Jay Jalbert has been UVa’s offensive MVP in each of thelast two years. But a curious thing happened to the way to winning the teamaward. He got off to very slow starts in 1998 and 1999. And after just fourgames this season it looks like the trend might continue.
Two years ago, playing on the attack, Jalbert scored 11 goals in theseason’s first six games as the Cavaliers got off to a 3-3 start. He scoreda career-high five goals in a win over North Carolina in the seventh gameto start a stretch in which he scored 23 goals in the season’s final sevengames. Virginia was 6-1 during that span.
Last season he moved back to the midfield and seemed to take some timegetting into the flow of the offense. Through the first seven games of theseason he had just six goals, including none against Princeton, JohnsHopkins and Maryland.
Once again it was North Carolina that got him going. His three goals in atight game against the Tar Heels began a stretch that saw him find the backof the net 25 times in nine games. During the span he tallied four timesagainst Stony Brook, Butler and Delaware in the quarterfinals of the NCAATournament.
In a promising sign for head coach Dom Starsia, Jalbert scored aseason-high four times against Stony Brook and found the back of the netsthree times last Saturday against Johns Hopkins.
Jalbert has scored 10 goals (seven in the last two games), while addingfive assists. His 10 goals are third on the team.
To show just how important Jalbert is to the Cavaliers’ success on offense,UVa is 8-6 since 1998 when he scores none or one goal and 10 of those gameshave come in the first half of the season.
Unsung Weisleder Returns
Defenseman Court Weisleder graduated last May with a degree in economics onthe same day the Cavaliers defeated Delaware in the quarterfinals of theNCAA Tournament.
Following Virginia’s NCAA championship, Weisleder accepted a job with aNASDAQ trading firm on Wall Street.. He worked there throughout the fall,with a two-month training stint in London, but longed to use his remainingyear of eligibility and return to UVa.
Just after Christmas break he contacted head coach Dom Starsia of hisintentions. Without much hesitation Starsia accepted Weisleder back for thespring. Weisleder quit the firm he was working for, enrolled in classes atUVa and is competing as a graduate student this season.
Cavaliers Open ACC Play Tonight
Virginia opens its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule tonight againstMaryland. Curiously, the other ACC schools have completed their conferenceschedule except for playing Virginia, while the Cavaliers are just starting.
Virginia is 35-11 all-time in ACC openers. When the ACC opener is on theroad the Cavaliers are 17-6 all-time.
UVa Defense Proves Stingy
Virginia is allowing just 8.4 goals per game this season and is 12th in thenation in scoring defense.
Since allowing 13 goals in the opener to Syracuse, Virginia hasn’t allowedmore than eight goals in a game. The four-game streak of allowing fewerthan 10 goals is the longest since the 1994 squad put together a six-gamestretch of allowing fewer than 10 goals.