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March 7, 2003
Charlottesville, Va. –
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Game 3
#1 Virginia at #5 Princeton
March 8, 2003 * 1 pm
Class of 1952 Stadium * Princeton, N.J.
Game Info
The Records:
Virginia: 2-0 in 2003 (11-4 last year)
Princeton: 0-1 in 2003 (10-5 last year)
The Rankings: (USILA/Inside Lacrosse)
Virginia: T1/2
Princeton: 5/4
The Series vs. Princeton:
Overall: 8-9
Home: 4-3
Away: 2-2
Neutral: 2-4
Current Streak: W1
Biggest UVa Win: 16, 1971 (18-2)
Biggest PU Win: 8, 1994 (14-6)
UVa Goals: 175
PU Goals: 159
Starsia (UVa) vs. PU: 6-7
Last Meeting:
Virginia won 13-11 in the regular season last year in Charlottesville
The Series vs. the Tigers
Princeton holds a slim 9-8 advantage in the series with Virginia in what is one of the most hotly contested series in recent collegiate lacrosse action.
Although the first meeting occurred in 1948, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the two schools began to meet with regularity. The two teams had met only three times before beginning an annual series in 1992.
In addition to meeting during the regular season every year since 1992, the two teams have battled in the NCAA Tournament championship game twice (1994, `96) and in the semifinals once (2000).
Virginia ended a two-game losing skid last year with a 13-11 win on a rainy afternoon in Charlottesville. The game was a nip-and-tuck affair throughout with Joe Yevoli leading the way with three goals. Tillman Johnson made two of his 13 saves in the final two-and-a-half minutes to help the Cavaliers stave off the Tigers in the end.
Princeton won the last game at the Class of 1952 Stadium 8-4 two years ago. Of the Tigers’ last five wins over Virginia dating back to the 1994 national championship game, that is their only win by more than a goal in the series.
Similarly, Virginia’s 13-11 win last season is the third time in its last four wins by two goals. The aberration is a 15-8 victory in Charlottesville three years ago.
Since 1992, Virginia’s average margin of victory is 3.8 goals, while Princeton’s is 2.6.
The results of the matchups on the Tigers’ home field follow an alternating sequence that could favor the Cavaliers this afternoon. The teams have traded wins and losses since 1995, with the Tigers winning the last meeting at Class of 1952 Stadium.
Not What You’d Expect
Dom Starsia’s Cavaliers have a reputation as an explosive offensive squad and have led the nation in scoring twice since 1997 (and are leading this season after two games). Princeton, on the other hand, favors taking a more methodical approach to offense and relying on a strong defense to slow the opponent.
Given the differing philosophies between the two teams, you might assume the Cavaliers would want to get into a fast-paced offensive game, while the Tigers would rather slow the pace.
However, you should remember what your mother said about assuming things because in this rivalry it’s not good to assume. The recent history of the series indicates that the Cavaliers fare better against Princeton in a low-scoring affair.
Last season’s 13-11 Virginia win can be considered somewhat of a “track meet” in the series. That is the only time in the history of the series the Tigers have lost when scoring at least 10 goals (6-1).
Prior to last year there were several games when neither team reached double digits, including an 8-4 Tiger win two years ago in the most recent game here.
In 1999 Virginia won 6-4, the only time since 1973 Virginia has won a game with as few as six goals.
The chart below shows the average score in this series since 1993 when UVa wins and loses.
UVa avg. PU avg.
6 UVa wins 11.0 7.2
7 UVa losses 8.6 11.3
History Suggests a Tight Contest
This is the 15th meeting between Virginia and Princeton since the two began playing each other on an annual basis in 1992. They have also faced each other in the NCAA Tournament on three occasions (`94, `96, `00).
One of the most obvious characteristics of the series is how close the games have been. A game decided by more than three goals qualifies as a blow out.
Only four of the last 14 meetings have been decided by more than three goals. One goal has been the margin on four occasions (including three overtime decisions), while four more have been decided by two goals and two by three goals.
Princeton has had remarkable success vs. Virginia in tight games, winning all four one-goal games.
The Cavaliers have won three of four games decided by two goals, including last year’s 13-11 result in Charlottesville, and the teams have split the two three-goal decisions.
Cavaliers Hand Tigers Rare Losses
Since 1995 Princeton has lost just 20 games, including 16 regular season contests. Of those 20 losses, six have come against Virginia. Princeton’s other losses have come to Syracuse (7), Johns Hopkins (4), and Cornell, North Carolina and Yale (1 each).
The Tigers lost just once during their NCAA championship seasons in 1996 and 1998-both times to Virginia.
Of Princeton’s 16 regular season losses since 1995, six have been to the Cavaliers. (Syracuse has three regular season wins over Princeton in that span.)
Virginia’s 9-7 win over the Tigers in 1998 ended their 29-game winning streak.
Three Named to Tewaaraton List
Chris Rotelli, Tillman Johnson and John Christmas are among 16 candidates named candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy this season.
In addition, A.J. Shannon and Brett Hughes have been named “Players to Watch” by the selection committee.
Rotelli is considered on of the nation’s top midfielders. A preseason first-team All-American, he is second on the team with five goals and eight points after two games this season.
A preseason first-team All-American, Johnson is in his third season as the Cavaliers’ starter in goal. He is the only Division I goalie named to the initial list this year. Johnson recorded 173 saves last season and was the first sophomore All-ACC goalie since 1983.
One of the most dynamic players in the country, Christmas is the only sophomore on the list of candidates. He scored four goals, including the game winner, in Virginia’s 16-15 upset of top-ranked Syracuse last Saturday. Christmas scored 29 goals last spring and was named National Rookie of the Year.
Owner of one of the hardest shots in the game, Shannon is off to a flying start this season. He has scored nine goals in two games to rank fourth in the nation. He has scored 65 goals in his career, tops among active ACC players.
Hughes is one of the most outstanding defensemen in the country. In his third year as a starter, he draws the opposition’s top attackman. In UVa’s win over Syracuse last week, he held Michael Powell to just two assists, just the fourth time in his career he’s ever been held without a goal.
Six Wahoos Receive Preseason All-American Nod
Six Cavaliers have been named to the 2003 Face-Off Yearbook preseason All-American squad. Three Cavaliers were named to the first-team-sophomore attackman John Christmas, junior goalie Tillman Johnson and senior midfielder Chris Rotelli. Junior defenseman Brett Hughes was named to the second team, while senior middie A.J. Shannon and sophomore attackman Joe Yevoli were third-team choices.
Christmas is the only sophomore named to the first- or second-team. He was named National Rookie of the Year last spring after scoring 29 goals to help lead UVa to the national semifinals.
Johnson became the first sophomore goalie named All-ACC in 19 years last season. He recorded 173 saves and is already 11th in school history in saves.
Rotelli was UVa’s only first-team All-American last spring after scoring 24 goals. One of the top middies on the nation, he is one of the few midfielders who makes an impact on both ends of the field.
Hughes has started every game of his career and will be looked upon to shut down some of the nation’s best attackmen again this spring.
Yevoli burst onto the national scene last year and led the ACC with 40 goals en route to winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He joins Christmas as the only sophs named to the top-three preseason teams.
Shannon flourished in his midfield role last season after moving from attack. A lethal offensive threat, he scored a career-high 25 goals to lead ACC middies.
Senior long stick midfielder Trey Whitty was named honorable mention preseason All-American. He emerged as one of the top LSMs in the country last season and has an uncanny knack for anticipating plays and picking off passes. A force in transition, he scored three goals and added eight assists.
Quartet Named Captains for `03
Four seniors will serve as team captains this season-defenseman Ned Bowen, midfielder Chris Rotelli, midfielder A.J. Shannon, and long stick midfielder Trey Whitty.
Bowen, a senior from Chappaqua, N.Y., is a very underrated player who quietly put together a solid season on close defense last spring. A recipient of the team’s Most Improved Player Award, Bowen racked up a career-high 30 ground balls.
Rotelli, the only Cavalier named first-team All-American last season, is considered one of the top midfielders in the country. The senior from Rumford, R.I. didn’t have to shoulder the entire offensive load last year thanks to the arrival of several newcomers, which enabled him to be a factor on both ends of the field, scoring 24 goals and collecting a career-high 10 assists.
Shannon, an honorable mention All-American last year from Whitby, Ontario, had a breakout season as a midfielder and led the team’s middies in points, assists and goals. The senior recorded a career-high 25 goals and 10 assists, while ranking sixth in the ACC in goals (1.67 gpg) and 11th in scoring (2.33 ppg).
Whitty, a very athletic long stick middie from Lutherville, Md., finished second in the ACC in ground balls (5.13/g) and 26th in the nation last season. The senior’s 77 ground balls are the most ever by a UVa long stick midfielder.
Virginia Moves to Tie for No. 1
Fresh off their 16-15 win over Syracuse last Saturday, the Cavaliers have moved into a tie for first in the country with Johns Hopkins in the first USILA coaches poll of the season.
Both Virginia and Hopkins avenged losses in last year’s national semifinals with road wins over Syracuse and Princeton, respectively. Hopkins downed Princeton 10-8 last Saturday.
Virginia opened the season ranked fourth in the Face-off Yearbook coaches preseason poll.
The Cavaliers play (or have played) nine teams ranked in this week’s poll in what is rated the toughest schedule in the country by Face-Off Yearbook.
Starsia vs. Lower Ranked Opponents
Virginia comes into this game ranked first in this week’s USILA poll, while Princeton is ranked fifth.
Since Dom Starsia took over the Virginia program in 1993, the Cavaliers have feasted upon lower or unranked opponents, winning 94 times and losing only 20.
On the road, Starsia’s Cavaliers are an impressive 29-11 (.725) vs. lower/unranked opponents.
The current senior class is 27-6 (.818), including an 11-3 (.786) mark in away contests.
Virginia is 3-1 all-time as the higher-ranked team against Princeton, including a 12-9 win in 1996 as the #1 team in the land.
Virginia on Artificial Turf
This Virginia’s third game in a row on artificial turf; the Cavaliers defeated Drexel 19-8 at the University Hall Turf Field in the opener last month and downed Syracuse 16-15 last Saturday at the Carrier Dome. This season’s two wins run Virginia’s streak to five in a row on fake grass surfaces.
Last season the Cavaliers won all three games on non-grass surfaces, including wins at Towson and against Cornell at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field.
Virginia’s last loss on astroturf was to Hofstra in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament at Army’s Michie Stadium.
Under head coach Dom Starsia the Cavaliers are 36-15 on artificial turf fields, including 18-11 away from home.
deVilliers Improves at Faceoff X
One of the big questions for the Cavaliers coming into the season centered on the play of faceoff man Jack deVilliers. He was the team’s primary man at the faceoff X last season, a tough assignment for a rookie.
He won less than 50 percent of his draws for the season (.478) but improved during the latter part of the campaign and won more than half in two of his last three games. In perhaps his best performance of the season he won 13 (career high at the time) of 24 attempts in the national semifinals vs. Syracuse.
The sophomore from Lutherville, Md., worked hard in the offseason and is back bigger and stronger. The offseason work seems to be paying off. He had a fine preseason and has been instrumental in UVa’s two wins thus far.
Last Saturday vs. top-ranked Syracuse he won a career-high 19 of 32 draws (.594), including 11 of 17 in the second half as UVa came from three goals down to win 16-15.
Johnson Poised for Top 10
Junior Tillman Johnson enters this season as the top goalie in the nation. A preseason first-team All-American, he has started in the cage the last two seasons.
He was an honorable mention All-American a year ago after turning aside 173 shots, the most by a Cavalier netminder since 1996.
Recently named to the list of Tewaaraton Trophy candidates, Johnson is averaging 10.5 saves per game so far this season and has a save percentage of .488.
The junior from Annapolis, Md., got off to a slow start last Saturday vs. Syracuse in the Carrier Dome as the Orangemen scored on three of their first four shots. He settled down in the second half and recorded nine of his 14 saves after halftime to help UVa come from three goals behind to gain a 16-15 win.
Already 11th on UVa’s all-time saves list, Johnson needs just 18 saves to move into the top 10. A look at UVa’s career saves list is below.
Player, years, saves
1. Rodney Rullman, 1972-75, 553
2. Deeley Nice, 1960-62, 498
3. Bo Moore, 1952-54, 494
4. Chris Sanderson, 1995-98, 493
5. Peter Sheehan, 1984-88, 491
6. Cam MacLachlan, 1975-78, 470
7. James Ireland, 1991-94, 458
8. Tom Groeninger, 1988-91, 455
9. Bob Hoover, 1955, 57-58, 403
10. J.B. Meyer, 1981-84, 364
11. Tillman Johnson, 2001-pres., 346
Shannon on Two-Game Binge
Senior A.J. Shannon moved from attack to the midfield last year and turned in a big season. He tallied 25 goals and led the team’s middies in goals, assists and points (35), all career-high figures.
If two games set a tone for the season, Shannon could be in for an even bigger season this year.
He scored a career-high five goals and added an assist to propel UVa to a 19-8 win over Drexel in the season opener. The six points is also a career best.
Shannon turned in a second electric performance in the upset of Syracuse last Saturday in the Carrier Dome.
The Whitby, Ontario, native scored four goals and added two assists to lead UVa to the 16-15 victory, its first over SU since the 1999 title game.
He scored two straight goals early in the third period to start the Cavaliers on a five-goal run that turned a 9-6 deficit into an 11-9 lead in just four minutes. From that point on the Cavaliers would never trail.
Shannon has scored nine goals this season and is tied for fourth in the nation. He is also second in the country in points per game with an average of 6.0 ppg.
Christmas Named Player of the Week
Sophomore John Christmas was selected National Player of the Week by Warrior/Inside Lacrosse for his play in the Cavaliers’ dramatic 16-15 win over top-ranked Syracuse last week at the Carrier Dome.
Christmas scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Wahoos to the upset, Virginia’s first win over the Orangemen since the finals of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
His final goal of the afternoon came with 22 seconds remaining and broke a 15-all tie and proved to be the game winner. The deciding goal came off a restart from the endline. C Circling from left of the goal, he got some separation between himself and defenseman Solomon Bliss, SU’s top defenseman. With a step on Bliss, Christmas rifled a shot stickside low past goalie Jay Pfeifer from eight yards out.
In the third period Christmas scored consecutive goals to cap a five-goal run that erased a three-goal deficit and gave Virginia a two-goal lead at 11-9. Following the run Syracuse never regained the lead.
He scored his first goal to knot the score at two early in the opening period and later assisted on an A.J. Shannon goal in the fourth quarter to extend the Cavalier lead.
Christmas is tied for third on the team in scoring this season with seven points (5g, 2a).
Yevoli Leads vs. Princeton Last Year
Joe Yevoli burst onto the collegiate scene last year with a series of scintillating early-season performances, including a three-goal effort in UVa’s 13-11 win over Princeton on a rainy day at Kl?ckner Stadium.
His fast start provided a glimpse of what would transpire the rest of the season as he set a school record for goals by a rookie (40) and was named ACC Rookie of the Year.
A deft shooter, he has scored seven goals on just 11 shots this season.
He was one of three players to score four goals in the 16-15 win at Syracuse last Saturday. His most spectacular goal occurred in the final seconds of the third quarter and proved to be the difference. He one-handed a 90-yard pass from defender Brett Hughes and easily beat a stunned Jay Pfeifer for the score at the horn.
Rotelli, Shannon Atop ACC Lists
Midfielders Chris Rotelli and A.J. Shannon are two of the leading midfielders in the country this season. Both were named preseason All-Americans-Rotelli to the first team, Shannon to the third team-by Face-Off Yearbook.
Shannon led ACC mids in scoring last spring with a career-high 25 goals, while Rotelli was right behind with 24.
Both are continuing their scoring tears this season. Shannon is among the national leaders with nine goals and 12 points, while Rotelli has found the back of the net on five occasions and assisted on three others.
The senior duo is among the leading active ACC players in goals and points. Their place on each chart is shown below.
Career Goals
Player, school, pos., goals
1. A.J. Shannon, UVa, M, 65
2. Chris Rotelli, UVa, M, 64
3. Kevin Cassese, Duke, M, 61
4. Mike Mollott, Md., M/A, 58
Career Points
Player, school, pos., points
1. Mike Mollott, Md., M/A, 135
2. Kevin Brennan, Duke, A, 96
3. Kevin Cassese, Duke, M, 94
3. Dan Lamonica, Md., A, 94
5. A.J. Shannon, UVa, M, 89
6. Chris Rotelli, UVa, M, 85
Hughes Shuts Down Powell
Junior defenseman Brett Hughes has started throughout his career at UVa. His first two years he played in the shadow of 2002 ACC Player of the Year Mark Koontz, who like Hughes hails from Upper Arlington, Ohio.
But with Koontz graduated and off to a career on Wall Street, Hughes has assumed the role of defensive stopper. He got a taste of it late last season following Koontz’ season-ending knee injury, but this season the role is all his.
An outstanding athlete-Hughes was an all-state football player in Ohio-he will draw some of the top offensive players the nation has to offer this season.
His first big test of the season came last Saturday against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
By all accounts Hughes was one of the unsung heroes in UVa’s 16-15 win by holding the explosive Michael Powell to just two assists. The game was only the fourth of Powell’s career in which he failed to score a goal and the third-lowest point total of his career.
Hughes also contributed a big play on offense that proved to be a key in the one-goal win. With six seconds left in the third period he launched a 90-yard clear downfield for Joe Yevoli. Yevoli snared the ball one handed and fired the ball past a stunned Jay Pfeifer for a goal at the buzzer.
Middies Lead Way vs. Drexel
With the Virginia attack taking some time to get going in the opener vs. Drexel, a deep midfield picked up the slack.
Seniors A.J. Shannon and Chris Rotelli scored five and four goals, respectively, to set career-high marks and lead the way offensively for the Cavaliers.
Senior Billy Glading and sophomore Nathan Kenney notched two scores apiece, while freshmen Kyle Dixon and Foster Gilbert each scored the first goal of their careers.
The midfielders also contributed four assists; Rotelli had two, while Gilbert and Shannon each had one.
All told, midfielders scored 15 of Virginia’s 19 goals vs. the Dragons. The last time the midfield was so productive occurred in 2001 when midfielders scored 15 times in a 22-3 win over Radford.
Big Fourth Quarter Sparks Wahoos
The Cavaliers were somewhat sluggish in the first three quarters in the season opener vs. Drexel, holding an 11-6 lead after 45 minutes.
They got things cranked up in the final period, however, outscoring the Dragons 8-2 and using a six-goal run to put the game away.
The fourth quarter outburst was UVa’s best in the final period since scoring eight times vs. Johns Hopkins in 2000 (UVa won 16-8).
Last season’s best fourth quarter were five-goal efforts vs. Towson and North Carolina.