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March 30, 2001
Charlottesville, Va. –
#7 Virginia Cavaliers (3-3) vs. #1 Maryland Terrapins (7-0)
March 31, 2001
2:00 p.m.
Kl?ckner Stadium
Charlottesville, Va.
The Series vs. the Terrapins
Maryland leads the all-time series with Virginia by a 39-27 margin.
The rivalry between the two schools goes all the way back to 1926, the second year of the Virginia program. The teams have met at least once every season since 1950, making this the second-longest current series of any Virginia opponent (behind Johns Hopkins, 1948).
Maryland has had the upper hand in games played in Charlottesville, winning 18 of 31 games. But Virginia has had the better of it at Kl?ckner Stadium by taking five of the six games played there.
Virginia has won the last four meetings in the series and if the Cavaliers are able to win today, the five-game winning streak over Maryland would their longest winning streak ever over the Terps.
The Cavaliers’ four wins have all come in convincing fashion with margins between four and nine goals.
Despite the Cavaliers’ margin of victory recently, the recent history of the series is marked by many close games. Ten of the last 17 games have been decided by one or two goals including one streak where eight straight (1991-96) were settled by fewer than three goals.
Maryland’s 39 wins over Virginia are the second-most wins by any school over the Cavaliers. Johns Hopkins has defeated UVa 51 times.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s 27 wins in the series make the Terps fourth on UVa’s list of most beaten opponents (UVa has defeated Duke 44 times, Washington & Lee 42 times and North Carolina 36 times).
Virginia vs. the Nation’s #1 Team
Maryland comes into this afternoon’s contest ranked #1 in the USILA coaches’ poll, while the Cavaliers are tied with Notre Dame for seventh.
This is Virginia’s second game of the season against the #1 team. The Cavaliers lost to Syracuse 13-7 in the Carrier Dome earlier this month when the Orangemen were the top-ranked team. The last time Virginia played a #1 team twice in a season occurred in 1996.
Virginia has played a top-ranked Maryland team six times before, winning three. The Cavaliers downed Maryland 13-9 in 1996 the last time the Terps sat atop the poll at game time.
Maryland is UVa’s second-most #1 opponent. Not surprisingly, Johns Hopkins is UVa’s most frequent #1 opponent–12 meetings.
Virginia is 9-17 all-time vs. the #1 team, including a 5-3 mark under Dom Starsia.
A look at UVa’s games against the #1 team are shown below.
Year #1 Opp. UVa rank Site Winner, score1973 Md. #3 Towson UVa, 10-91973 JHU #2 A JHU, 14-91974 Md. #2 A Md., 25-131975 JHU #4 A JHU, 10-9 (OT)1976 Md. #6 A Md., 24-15 (OT)1979 JHU #4 A JHU, 13-81979 JHU (NCAA) #5 A JHU, 16-71980 JHU #8 H UVa, 12-91981 JHU #4 A JHU, 15-131981 JHU (NCAA) #4 A JHU, 10-61983 JHU #4 A JHU, 12-61985 JHU #4 A JHU, 12-51985 JHU (NCAA) #4 A JHU, 11-81986 Md. #7 A UVa, 8-7 (OT)1987 Md. #6 H Md., 12-51989 JHU #9T A JHU, 12-31991 UNC #5 H UNC, 11-101992 JHU #10 H UVa, 15-91993 UNC #7 H UVa, 13-12 (OT)1994 Syra. #5 Md. UVa, 15-14 (OT)1995 Syra. #2T A UVa, 15-71996 Syra. #2 H UVa, 17-151996 Md. #3 H UVa, 13-91996 Prince. (NCAA) #3 Md. Princeton, 13-12 (OT)1997 Prince. #3 A Princeton, 14-13 (OT)2001 Syra. #3 A SU, 13-7
Rankings Don’t Mean Much in This Game
Virginia and Maryland have met 26 times since 1983 and one of the characteristics of the series since then is the inability to use rankings as a predictor of victory.
The higher ranked team has won only half the games since `83, but things have turned somewhat the last few of years as the higher ranked team has claimed victory in five of the last six contests.
Starsia’s Cavaliers vs. Higher Ranked Opponents
Virginia moved to seventh in this week’s USILA poll, while Maryland benefitted from Princeton’s loss to Syracuse to move into the top spot in the poll.
Since Virginia is typically found at or near the top of the polls, it not unusual that the Cavaliers are the higher ranked team more often than not. However, on the rare occasions when the Cavaliers are the lower ranked squad they have had pretty good success springing an upset. as shown by their 14-16 record when being the lower-ranked team.
Being the underdog hasn’t been so good for UVa this season, though, as the Cavaliers lost consecutive games to #1 Syracuse (13-7), #2 Princeton (8-4) and #6 Notre Dame (11-8) (rankings listed were as of game time) before upsetting #5 Johns Hopkins 9-8 in four overtimes last Saturday.
When the Cavaliers are playing at home they are 10-10 as the lower ranked squad under Starsia.
The homestanding Cavaliers are sure to want this historical trend to continue–they are 6-2 as the lower-ranked team when playing at Kl?ckner Stadium.
Cavaliers Open ACC Play vs. Maryland
Virginia opens its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule this afternoon against Maryland.
Curiously, the other ACC schools have completed their conference schedule except for playing Virginia, while the Cavaliers are just starting.
Virginia is 36-11 all-time in ACC openers. When their ACC opener is at home the Cavaliers are 18-5 all-time.
Gill Goal Ends Longest Game in School History
Conor Gill’s second goal of the game, on a dodge from behind the net, 1:15 into the fourth overtime lifted the Cavaliers to a dramatic 9-8 come-from-behind victory over Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field in the longest game in school history.
Gill’s goal capped a stunning rally by the Cavaliers, who trailed 7-4 at the half and 7-3 with less than 30 seconds to play in the second quarter. Goals by Billy Glading and Ian Shure less than two minutes apart early in the third quarter cut the deficit to 7-6. The Blue Jays went back in front by two at 8-6 on a goal by Adam Doneger with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter, but that would be the last goal the Blue Jays would score. Chris Rotelli pulled UVa to within one with a goal at the 4:19 mark of the third quarter and later forced overtime with his second goal of the game with just 2:35 remaining in regulation. Both teams had several scoring chances in the first three overtime periods, but the score remained tied until Gill’s goal.
Hopkins threatened to run away with the game in the first half as the Blue Jays led 2-0 in the first four minutes and 5-1 early in the second quarter. Freshman Conor Ford scored all three of his goals in the first half, while Conor Denihan and Bobby Benson each scored twice to account for Hopkins’ seven first-half goals.
Virginia’s balanced attack featured Rotelli, Shure, and Gill with two goals apiece. Gill also added two assists. Freshman goalie Tillman Johnson registered a career-high 18 saves in goal and stopped attackman Joe McDermott on a one-on-one breakaway with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. A McDermott goal at that point would have given the Blue Jays a 9-7 lead.
Johnson Named National Player of the Week
Goalie Tillman Johnson has been named the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse.com Division I National Player of the Week for his play in UVa’s 9-8 quadruple overtime win over Johns Hopkins last Saturday.
Johnson, a freshman from Annapolis, Md., recorded a career-high 18 saves in the upset win over the fifth-ranked Blue Jays. The homestanding Blue Jays jumped to a 7-4 halftime lead, but the Cavalier defense took over in the second half. Led by the play of the rookie netminder, Virginia allowed just one goal in the game’s final 44 minutes. With just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter Hopkins had an excellent chance to add to its 8-7 lead, but Johnson made a kick save of Joe McDermott on a breakaway to keep the margin at one. After Virginia middie Chris Rotelli tied the game at eight with 2:35 remaining in regulation, Johnson stuffed McDermott again in a one-on-one situation to quash an excellent scoring chance for the Blue Jays.
Koontz Named Co-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week
Defenseman Mark Koontz and Maryland goalkeeper Pat McGinnis shared the ACC Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week honor after leading their respective teams to key victories last weekend.
Koontz, a junior from Upper Arlington, Ohio, led the defense as the No. 9 Cavaliers toppled No. 5 Johns Hopkins 9-8 in quadruple overtime in Baltimore, Md. Hopkins led 7-4 at halftime, but Virginia rallied in the second half behind a strong defensive effort. Koontz snapped up a career-high 11 ground balls, including eight in the second half. The Virginia defense was spectacular in shutting down Hopkins in the second half, allowing just one goal in the game’s final 44 minutes.
“Mark was outstanding against Johns Hopkins,” said head coach Dom Starsia. “He picked up our team in the second half when we needed it.”
McGinnis recorded 18 saves as Maryland defeated ACC-rival North Carolina 11-7.
Shure Adds Punch to Offense
Junior attackman Ian Shure missed all of the fall practice period due to offseason surgery. His recuperation also slowed him early in the preseason as he saw limited action in the scrimmages and the first few games of the season.
His saw extended action for the first time this season against Princeton with a two-assist, one-goal performance.
Shure returned to the starting line-up in the loss to Notre Dame and scored a goal and added an assist. He was instrumental in the 15-5 win over Denver four days later with two goals and three assists. The three assists and five total points tie his career high.
Returning to his hometown last week against Johns Hopkins, he was a major contributor on offense in the Cavaliers’ upset win over the Blue Jays with two goals and an assist.
Shure is second on the team in both goals (seven) and assists (seven), and third with 14 points and has scored at least one goal in every game he’s played in this season.
Versatile Rotelli Leads UVa in Goals
Chris Rotelli has seen action at attack and in the midfield this season in order to give Virginia some scoring punch. The sophomore from Rumford, R.I., has been the lone Cavalier who has not had trouble finding the back of the net so far this season.
He leads the team with 11 goals, already four more than he scored all of last season, and is the only player to score at least one goal in every game. Rotelli is also third on the team with five assists. He has accounted for 16 points (11g, 5a) and trails only Conor Gill for the team lead.
Moved to the attack for the first time for the Syracuse game, Rotelli responded with a career-high three goals to lead the Cavalier attack. He turned in his second hat trick vs. Notre Dame last week sharing the scoring honors with A.J. Shannon.
Rotelli scored just once in the win over Denver, but he assisted on three other goals to help spread the wealth. Hanley Holcomb tied his career-high with four goals to take on the scoring load for the game.
He scored twice against Johns Hopkins including knocking home the game-tying goal with 2:35 remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Shannon Scores in Last Three
Attackman A.J. Shannon was having some trouble getting his shot off early in the season, but if his play recently is any indication, his woes are coming to an end.
An explosive scorer with an ability to get a shot off in tight spaces due to his Canadian background, he scored one goal and assisted on two others in the opener vs. Towson.
But in the next two games (Syracuse, Princeton) he managed to take just one shot in each game and failed to score as Virginia combined for just 11 goals in the two losses.
He joined Chris Rotelli as the team’s lone bright spots on offense in the loss to Notre Dame by scoring a career-high three goals. Two of his goals came in extra-man situations.
Shannon’s scoring parade continued against Denver as he found the back of the net twice to help key an offensive resurgence. He also was active when not scoring as he scooped up seven ground balls, by far a career best. He ran his scoring streak to three games with a goal vs. Johns Hopkins last week.
Jenkins Moves to Fourth in Face-off Wins
For the last three years David Jenkins and Jason Hard shared UVa’s face-offs responsibilities and gave Dom Starsia the luxury of having two outstanding face-off specialists. In fact, both were ranked in the top 10 in the nation the last two seasons. But with Hard’s graduation, Jenkins has taken most of the team’s draws this season.
So far this season Jenkins is winning 58.5 percent of his draws (62 of 106).
He had one of his best games of the season last Saturday against Johns Hopkins, winning 14 of 23 draws (.609). Perhaps his most important win of the game came in the fourth overtime when the Cavaliers claimed the draw and scored on the possession to win the game.
Jenkins has won 61.5 percent of his career face-offs, the second-highest total in school history. Steve Kraus holds the school record with a 68.0 winning percentage.
With 334 career faceoff wins, Jenkins is now fourth in school history, passing Kraus last weekend vs. Hopkins.
The winningest face-off men in school history are listed below.
name, years taken W L Pct. 1. Jason Hard, 1997-00 949 539 410 .568 2. Brad Wood, 1984-87 707 423 284 .598 3. Tony Nugent, 1992-95 668 362 306 .542 4. David Jenkins, 1998-01 543 334 209 .615 5. Steve Kraus, 1978-81 478 325 153 .680
Freshman Takes Over Between the Pipes
Tillman Johnson, one of the top goalies in the country in last year’s recruiting class, has started both games this season. His start marks the second time in the last three seasons that Dom Starsia has started a rookie in goal. Derek Kenney, the starter the last two seasons, became the first freshman to start in the cage for Virginia since 1979. Kenney has moved to the midfield this season.
Johnson got off to a shaky start in the opener vs. Towson last month–a 12-8 win. The rookie from Annapolis, Md., failed to make a save in the first quarter, but once settled in he finished with 12 saves. His play in man down situations was stellar as Towson failed to score in six extra-man opportunities.
He had a series of rough games during UVa’s recent three-game losing streak. But perhaps that’s not surprising since the losses all came to three of the top teams in the nation.
Johnson allowed 13 goals, while making just six saves against then #1 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome earlier this month. Starsia admitted after the game that Johnson’s play wasn’t typical of how he had been playing in practice up to that point.
The rookie put the Cavaliers in position to win against Princeton three weeks ago. He allowed just five goals through three quarters, but with the Cavaliers unable to sustain any offensive momentum, he wore down and allowed three goals in the final quarter of the 8-4 loss.
Following an off game against Notre Dame when he gave up 11 goals and made just eight saves, Johnson regrouped to tie his career high (at the time) with 12 saves in the win over Denver. He stopped several point blank shots and gave the team a lift with his inspired play.
Perhaps he was waiting to have his “coming out party” until the Cavaliers played Johns Hopkins at historic Homewood Field because he was magnificent, especially in the second half, in leading the Cavaliers to a dramatic 9-8 win in four overtimes. The homestanding Blue Jays jumped to a 7-4 halftime lead, but the Cavalier defense took over in the second half. Led by the play of the rookie netminder, Virginia allowed just one goal in the game’s final 44 minutes. With just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter Hopkins had an excellent chance to add to its 8-7 lead, but Johnson made a kick save of Joe McDermott on a breakaway to keep the margin at one. After Virginia middie Chris Rotelli tied the game at eight with 2:35 remaining in regulation, Johnson stuffed McDermott again in a one-on-one situation to quash an excellent scoring chance for the Blue Jays.