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April 18, 2003
Charlottesville, Va. –
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Game 10
ACC Tournament Semifinals
#4 Virginia vs. #12 North Carolina
April 18, 2003 * 8:30 pm
Kl?ckner Stadium * Charlottesville, Va.
Game Info
The Records:
Virginia: 7-2/2-1
North Carolina: 5-5/2-1
The Rankings
: (USILA/Inside Lacrosse)
Virginia: 4/3
North Carolina: 12/10
The Series vs. North Carolina:
Overall: 39-23
Home: 18-12
Current Streak: W3
Biggest UVa Win: 17, 1950 (17-0)
Biggest UNC Win: 11, 1987 (18-7)
UVa Goals: 669
UNC Goals: 550
Starsia (UVa) vs. UNC: 13-4
Last Meeting:
Virginia won 10-7 in Charlottesville 13 days ago
The Series vs. the Tar Heels
Virginia leads the all-time series with North Carolina by a 39-23 margin. The Cavaliers’ 39 wins make the Tar Heels third on UVa’s list of most beaten opponents (UVa has defeated Duke 46 times and Washington & Lee 42 times). The series goes all the way back to two meetings in 1938 (when the teams split the contests). After a brief hiatus in the series in the `50s and `60s, the teams have met every season since 1964.
The Cavaliers have had remarkable success against North Carolina in Charlottesville, winning 18 times and losing 12. Curiously, Virginia has had even better success in Chapel Hill with an 18-9 record.
This is the ninth time the teams have clashed in the ACC Tournament. North Carolina won the first five tourney meetings, but the Cavaliers have rebounded to win the last three, including a 10-3 win in last season’s semifinals. Virginia’s defensive effort that game is the best in tournament history.
Virginia has faced the Tar Heels more than any other school in the conference tournament.
The Tar Heels won the first three semifinal games, but Virginia has won the last three.
Two of Virginia’s three ACC Tournament titles (1997, 2000) have started with semifinal wins over the Tar Heels.
Virginia gained a narrow 10-7 meeting two weeks ago in Charlottesville in the regular season meeting. The Cavaliers scored the first three goals of the second half to break a 5-all tie and take a lead they’d never relinquish. Goalie Tillman Johnson was spectacular in the cage, recording 14 saves, including five from close in and was named ACC Player of the Week.
Overall Virginia has won the last three meetings and nine of the last 10 going back to 1997. The Tar Heels’ lone win in this span was a 7-5 win at Kl?ckner Stadium during the regular season two years ago. That win is notable on several counts for North Carolina. The seven goals is the fewest an opponent has scored to beat UVa at Kl?ckner, while UVa’s five goals are its all-time low at the site. The Tar Heels were ranked 19th that day, the only time UVa has lost to a team ranked lower than ninth at Kl?ckner.
The teams have played several nailbiters recently. Three of the last five games have been decided by two goals or less.
North Carolina’s last three wins (2 in 1996, 2001) have been by a combined five goals.
The Cavaliers come into the semifinals ranked fourth, while the Tar Heels are 12th. This is the 14th consecutive meeting the Cavaliers have been ranked higher. Since this streak began they are 10-3 with two of the losses coming at Kl?ckner Stadium (1996, 2001).
Three Cavaliers Named All-ACC
Three Cavaliers-Chris Rotelli, Tillman Johnson and John Christmas-have been named to this season’s 11-man All-ACC squad. All three are repeat selections from last season.
Rotelli, a senior midfielder from Rumford, R.I., is Virginia’s leading scorer with 29 points (18g, 11a). He is the only player ranked in the top five in the ACC in scoring, goals and assists. He was named ACC Player of the Week for his play in the win over Princeton on March 8 when he tied his career high with four goals and added an assist to have a hand in half of UVa’s goals in the 10-7 victory. He is the 11th player in school history to be a three-time selection.
Johnson, a junior goalie from Annapolis, Md., is UVa’s first two-time all-conference netminder since J.B. Meyer in 1983-84. He is in the top 20 in the nation in both goals allowed average and save percentage. He earned ACC Player of the Week honors for his 14-save performance in the win over North Carolina earlier this month. Nine of his 14 saves came in the second half as the Cavaliers used a stout defense to break a 5-5 halftime tie en route to the win. Johnson and the Cavaliers limited North Carolina to just two goals in the final 30 minutes.
Christmas is the just the ninth player in league history named all-conference as a freshman and sophomore and the first since former Cavalier great Michael Watson in 1994-95. He leads the team with 20 goals and is third in the ACC in goals with an average of 2.22 per game. He is also the fifth-leading scorer in the ACC at 3.00 ppg.
Glading Named ACC Player of the Week
Billy Glading was named the ACC Player of the Week for his performance in leading the Cavaliers to an 11-8 win over Duke last Saturday.
The senior from Bethesda, Md., scored a season-high three goals to pace the offense. He was a factor on the defensive end as well with three ground balls to lead the team’s middies. His scoring exploits mark the second time he’s led the team in scoring this spring.
His first goal late in the first quarter put the Cavaliers ahead 2-1 and gave them a lead they would never relinquish.
Glading scored two goals (on just two shots) in the third quarter as Virginia scored four straight goals to open the second half. The run extended UVa’s halftime lead from 4-3 to 9-4 at the end of the third quarter. From there Duke would not get closer than three goals the rest of the way.
UNC, UVa Share Several Ties
The semifinal combatants share several ties that make this an intriguing match-up and might cause some familial conflict.
Virginia sophomore Joe Yevoli was named the ACC’s Rookie of the Year last year after scoring a Virginia freshman record 40 goals.
His father, Joe, Sr., was an All-American attackman at North Carolina in 1977-78. The elder Yevoli led the Tar Heels both years in scoring (51, 38 points respectively) and assists (21, 25) and was the team leader in goals in 1977 (30).
He didn’t have his best performances vs. UVa, however. His Tar Heel clubs lost both match-ups to the Cavaliers. In the 1977 meeting he had a goal and an assist as UVa won 15-7. The following year he scored a single goal in UVa’s 9-8 overtime win.
The younger Yevoli led the Cavaliers in goals in both games vs. UNC last season-two in the regular season and three in the ACC Tournament. He scored twice in this season’s first match-up as UVa gained a 10-7 win.
Current UNC coach John Haus, was a two-time All-American defenseman at UNC in the early 80s.
He learned the nuances of defense play from his father, Bert, who was a standout D-man at UVa and lettered from 1957-59.
Green Grass of Kl?ckner Bodes Well
As the weather gets warmer and the grass greener, perhaps the Cavaliers will benefit from playing at Kl?ckner Stadium during this tournament.
The Cavaliers are 23-4 (.852) in April since they moved to Kl?ckner in 1993. Virginia has won 15 of the last 16 April games at Kl?ckner since 1997. It should be noted the lone blemish is a 7-5 loss to North Carolina two years ago.
Including that game the Tar Heels own three of the four April wins over UVa at Kl?ckner. They also won in the 1994 and 1996 ACC Tournaments.
This is the fifth time Kl?ckner Stadium has hosted the tournament. Virginia has advanced to the finals each time, but claimed just one championship (1997). Overall the Cavaliers are 5-3 in the ACC Tournament at Kl?ckner.
Defense Remains Steady
While the Cavalier offense has struggled some recently, the defense has remained stellar. Virginia allows an average of 7.9 goals per game, despite playing the toughest schedule in the nation this season. The Cavaliers are 16th in the nation in defense.
Virginia has held every opponent except Syracuse to fewer than nine goals this season.
In fact, three of UVa’s nine opponents this season have scored their season-low total against UVa (Princeton, Towson, North Carolina), while two others (Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins) had their second-lowest total vs. the Cavaliers.
Towson’s two goals in a game last month is the fewest allowed by an ACC team this season.
The current seven-game streak of allowing fewer than 10 goals is the Cavaliers’ longest since an eight-game run three years ago.
Ward Among Top ACC Rookies
Freshman Matt Ward came to UVa with a reputation of being an explosive scorer. He hasn’t had the pressure to score a lot this season, but he is blending in well on the attack with sophomores John Christmas and Joe Yevoli.
Ward has scored 14 goals this season, tied for fourth on the team. He is also the second-leading freshman in the ACC behind Maryland’s Joe Walters (23). His goal total is tied for 18th by a freshman in Virginia history. Ward needs five goals to reach UVa’s freshman top 10.
Ward has tallied 23 points which is also second among league rookies behind Walters (29) and 19th by a UVa freshman all-time. Each of his next four points will jump him up one notch on the all-time list for freshman scoring.
Gotta Play the Full 60
One characteristic of Virginia’s two losses so far is its play in one fateful quarter-both in the first half.
Against Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays jumped to an early 5-0 first quarter lead. After the fast start their offense went dormant, allowing the Cavaliers to claw their way back into the game. Despite being blanked for almost 34 minutes, Virginia managed to outscore the Blue Jays 5-2 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 7-6 early in the fourth.
The teams traded goals in the final eight minutes, and Virginia still had a chance to tie at the end but Matt Ward’s shot at the horn hit the side of the net.
After scoring the game’s first two goals vs. Maryland in the next game, the Cavaliers went scoreless for more than 33 minutes as the Terrapins used a seven-goal run to take a 7-2 lead late in the third period.
Once again the Cavaliers used a frantic late rally by scoring two quick goals in the final two minutes to pull within one. They had a chance to tie in the closing seconds but couldn’t get off a decent shot.
Giving up the big quarter has proven disastrous to the Cavaliers during the last four seasons. Since 2000 Virginia is 3-10 when allowing at least five goals in a quarter. Other than this season’s win over Syracuse (when the Orangemen scored five goals in the fourth quarter), Virginia has lost eight of nine going back to 2000.
Glading is Underrated Warrior
Senior midfielder Billy Glading is frequently overshadowed by classmates Chris Rotelli and A.J. Shannon, among others.
However it is interesting to note that of the team’s middies Glading spends more time on the field than anyone.
An extremely gifted athlete-he was a standout point guard in high school-Glading’s speed and athleticism enable him to be effective on both ends of the field.
Offensively he is an opportunistic scorer, who has connected on 34 percent of his shots in his career. This season he has found the back of the net 11 times, third among the team’s middies.
He led the team for the first time with three goals in the win over Towson a month ago and was named ACC Player of the Week after last week’s three-goal effort that propelled the Cavaliers to an 11-8 win at Duke.
Defensively he is frequently the player the poles look to to carry the ball downfield on clears. He is also adept at checking the ball free and leads the team’s short stick middies with 24 ground balls.
Rotelli Reaches Century Mark, Shannon Draws Near
Senior midfielder Chris Rotelli notched a career-high four assists in the loss to Maryland last month. While the game’s outcome wasn’t gratifying, Rotelli did manage to achieve a bit of personal accomplishment-reaching the 100-point plateau for his career, the 31st player in school history to do so.
Rotelli is tied for second in the ACC in scoring this season with an average of 3.22 points per game (29 in 9 games). He is only player in the conference to rank in the top five in the league in scoring, goals and assists. He is tied for third in assists (1.2/g) and tied for fourth in goals (2.0/g).
Fellow middie A.J. Shannon needs one more point to join Rotelli as the 32nd member of the 100-Point Club. Shannon has tallied 73 goals and 26 assists in his career.
Rotelli is the second-leading active goal scorer among ACC players this season with 77 career scores. Maryland’s Brian Hunt has scored 93 goals, but 78 came when he played at Yale. Shannon stands fourth wtih 73 career goals. The Virginia duo stands sixth and seventh, respectively, in career points among active ACC players.
Rotelli is currently tied for 27th in school history in scoring, while Shannon is close behind in 32nd place. Their imminent movement up the career scoring chart is shown below.
Player, years, points
24. Pete Eldredge, 1969-72, 116
25. Rob Falk, 1990-93, 111
26. Andy Kraus, 1987-89, `91, 107
27. Chris Rotelli, 2000-pres., 106
Greg Traynor, 1992-95, 106
29. Henry “Punchy” Peterson, 1959-61, 104
30. Scott Gerham, 1981-84, 102
31. Butch McCleary, 1958-60, 101
32. A.J. Shannon, 2000-pres., 99
While we’re at it, we’ll also give you the pair’s place on UVa’s career goals chart. Both are in the top 20 and can quickly move up several spots during the final month of their careers.
Player, years, goals
14. Greg Traynor, 1992-95, 82
15. Chris Rotelli, 2000-pres., 77
Conor Gill, 1999-2002, 77
17. Andy Kraus, 1987-89, `91, 75
18. Jay Connor, 1969-72, 74
Perry Frazer, 1989-92, 74
20. A.J. Shannon, 2000-pres., 73
Randy Natoli, 1979-82, 73
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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 (pronounced duh-vill-yea). 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 came back bigger and stronger and has given the squad a big lift with his play.
He was instrumental in the win over then #1 Syracuse last month, winning 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.
He turned in one of the most amazing performances by a Cavalier in a long while in the loss to Maryland. He won 15 of 19 attempts (.789), by far the best percentage of his career.
deVilliers had a rough first quarter against North Carolina in the first meeting this season, losing six of seven attempts in the opening 15 minutes. From that point on he was almost invincible, winning 11 of 13 the rest of the way. In the second half he won eight of nine to help UVa erase a 5-all halftime tie and win 10-7.
In the second half this season deVilliers has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has won 68 percent (36×53) of his attempts in the third quarter and 65 percent in the fourth (32×49). Overall in the second half he has won 68 of 102 draws (.667).
deVilliers is eighth in the nation in winning percentage (.619) to help Virginia rank fifth as a team. All told he has won at least half his draws every game this season.
He has already won 117 faceoffs, already six more than he won all last season.
deVilliers is second in the nation in total wins (two behind the leader) and is third in attempts (189).
He is also second in the ACC and 15th nationally in ground balls with an average of 5.22 per game.
A look at his statistics on a game-by-game basis is below.
opp., Wins, Pct.
Drexel, 16 of 23, .696
Syracuse, 19 of 32, .594
Princeton, 11 of 18, .611
Notre Dame, 14 of 23, .609
Towson, 8 of 16, .500
J. Hopkins, 9 of 17, .529
Maryland, 15 of 19, .789
No. Carolina, 12 of 20, .600
Duke, 13 of 21, .619
Johnson Moves Up Saves List
Junior goalie Tillman Johnson is considered by many to be the top goalie in the nation. He was a preseason first-team All-American and is the only Division I goalie named to the list of candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy, given annually to the top player in the nation.
He has been the starter throughout his career. Last season he was an honorable mention All-American after turning aside 173 shots, the most by a Cavalier netminder since 1996.
The junior from Annapolis, Md., has been outstanding once again and earned All-ACC honors for the second year in a row despite going up against the toughest schedule in the nation. He is the first Cavalier goalie named all-conference two years in a row in nearly 20 years.
By his own account, he had his best performance of the season against Towson with a season-high 15 saves while allowing a season-low two goals. The 15 saves is tied for the fifth-highest total of his career (18 is his high).
He turned in another stellar performance in the recent win over North Carolina and was named ACC Player of the Week.
Johnson made 14 saves, his second-highest total of the season, while holding the Tar Heels to just seven goals, their season low. He also led the team’s defensive players with seven ground balls.
Nine of his 14 saves came in the second half as the Cavaliers used a stout defense to break a 5-5 halftime tie en route to the win. Johnson and the Cavaliers limited North Carolina to just two goals in the final 30 minutes.
Two of Johnson’s four saves in the third quarter came early in the period with the score still tied at five and prevented the Tar Heels from taking the early momentum.
Once the Cavaliers grabbed the lead, they turned to Johnson to hold it and he came through. With Virginia holding a slim 8-6 lead he saved two Tar Heel one-on-one efforts in the final period to stop their threats at cutting the deficit. He recorded five saves in the final period, his fourth quarter high this season.
Since facing the potent Syracuse offense in the second game, he has allowed fewer than nine goals in the last seven games. In that time he has a .625 save percentage and is averaging 11.4 saves per game.
As you can see from the chart below, Johnson is ninth in school history in career saves.
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. Tillman Johnson, 2001-pres., 426
Hughes Shuts Down Syracuse’s 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 against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in the season’s second game.
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 pass 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.
Hughes is tied for second among ACC close defensemen in ground balls with an average of 3.1 per game, 11th overall in the league. Teammate David Burman leads with an average of 3.3 per game.
Heffner Flourishes in New Role
Junior Zach Heffner spent his first two years at Virginia in a reserve role on defense. After a series of injuries to the defensive middies late last season, head coach Dom Starsia moved Heffner there to shore up the ranks. Heffner played in five of the last six games and seemed to add a spark.
This season he’s traded in his long pole for good. He has flourished as a wing man on faceoffs and in the defensive midfield where he can use his speed and athleticism to great effect. He’s the fastest player on the team according to Starsia (and holds several New York state high school track records).
He has gobbled up 46 ground balls and is third in the ACC with an average of 5.1 per game. He is ranked 17th in the nation in ground balls.
The junior from Averill Park, N.Y., led the team in GBs for the first time in the win over Syracuse when he snapped up eight, a career high.
He came back to lead the team again the next week with five vs. Princeton.
Winning the Ground Ball War
One of the goals of the Virginia coaching staff is the desire to snag more ground balls than the opposition. This season the Cavaliers are averaging 47.0 ground balls per game and have claimed more ground balls than their opponents in every game but one (Drexel). When the Cavaliers win the ground ball war they are 6-2.
Curiously, the one game where Virginia had fewer ground balls occurred in the season opener vs. Drexel. Undeterred Virginia posted its biggest win (in terms of margin of victory) of the season.
The Cavaliers enjoyed their biggest difference in the win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome early in the season. Virginia snapped up 53 GBs compared to Syracuse’s 32.
The Cavaliers have won 39 of their last 45 games dating back to 1998 when snapping up at least 50 ground balls.
Duke’s Kevin Cassese leads the ACC in ground balls (5.33/g), but the next four players are Cavaliers.
Face-off specialist Jack deVilliers is second with an average of 5.22 per game. He is followed closely by M Zach Heffner (5.11/g), LSM Trey Whitty 5.00/g) and G Tillman Johnson (4.89/g). Close defenseman David Burman is eighth in the league at 3.33/g.
Heffner, Whitty, Johnson and Burman all lead their respective positions in the ACC.
Something Has to Give
North Carolina comes into this semifinal contest converting on a nation-leading 46.2 percent of its extra-man opportunities. The Tar Heels have scored 18.6 percent of their goals in man-up situations this season.
The Cavaliers lead the ACC in man-down defense at 26.5 percent, which is tied for 19th in the nation.
Virginia has done an outstanding job in man-down situations on several occasions this season. The Cavaliers held Princeton to just one goal in eight attempts and limited Maryland to just one in six opportunities.
In the season’s first meeting, North Carolina converted on just two of five EMO chances vs. UVa.
Syracuse (3 of 5) is the only opponent to score on more than half its extra-man opportunities vs. UVa this season. Six opponents have been held under 50 percent, while two others were right at 50 percent.
Second Half Domination
The Cavaliers have scored at least 20 goals in every quarter this season despite getting off to some slow starts (such as a scoreless first half vs. Johns Hopkins).
But in the second half the Cavaliers have been especially potent on the offensive end, increasing their scoring by more than 150 percent in the final 30 minutes (first half average=4.6, second half=7.0).
Virginia has outscored the opponents in every third quarter this season except vs. Princeton when the teams had the same number of goals.
In the fourth quarter Virginia has only been outscored twice (Syracuse, Duke).
In the third quarter UVa owns a 34-15 advantage and in the fourth a 29-17 advantage.
The Cavaliers lead the ACC in second half goals by a pretty good margin (Duke is second with 56 but has played three more games than UVa).
Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament
Virginia is looking for its first ACC title since 2000, when this year’s seniors were freshmen.
The Cavaliers have advanced to the finals twice (2000, `02) in the previous three seasons.
It’s interesting to note senior middie A.J. Shannon may hold the key to Virginia’s success in this year’s tournament.
He leads current Cavaliers with eight goals and three assists for 11 points and his goal scoring shows a curious pattern. He has scored