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April 25, 2003
Charlottesville, Va. –
Game 12
#3 Virginia vs. #15 Penn State
April 26, 2003 * 1 pm
Kl?ckner Stadium * Charlottesville, Va.
Game Info
The Records:
Virginia: 9-2/2-1
Penn State: 6-5/3-2
The Rankings: (USILA/Inside Lacrosse)
Virginia: 3/3
Penn State: 15/14
The Series vs. Penn State:
Overall: 4-1
Home: 3-0
Current Streak: L1
Biggest UVa Win: 11, 1950 (23-12)
Biggest PSU Win: 5, 2002 (13-8)
UVa Goals: 72
PSU Goals: 48
Starsia (UVa) vs. PSU: 1-1
Last Meeting:
Penn State won 13-8 in State College last season
Virginia Wins ACC Title
The Cavaliers claimed their third ACC title in five years at last weekend’s ACC Tournament. It is the 15th league crown in the program’s history and the fourth under head coach Dom Starsia.
M Billy Glading was named the tournament MVP. Joining him on the all-tournament team include D David Burman, D Brett Hughes, G Tillman Johnson, M Chris Rotelli and A Joe Yevoli.
The Series vs. the Nittany Lions
Virginia won the first four meetings with Penn State, before the Nittany Lions scored a big win last season by a 13-8 count in State College for their first series win. The five-goal margin was Virginia’s worst loss in more than a year.
The Cavaliers’ most recent win over Penn State came in 1995 (20-12) in the last lacrosse game played at Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers’ long-time home. The game was memorable for several reasons, few of which pertained to the action on the field. With an air temperature of 65 degrees for the 3 pm face-off, UVa managed to gain a 3-2 lead 9:04 into the contest. At 3:15 the heavens burst and the teams endured a one-hour-and-58-minute thunderstorm delay which dropped the temperature to 40 degrees by game’s end at 6:05 pm. Keep in mind this game was played in early March, a very rare time for a thunderstorm in Charlottesville!
After a one-goal win (8-7) in the initial meeting in 1949, Virginia’s last three wins (1950-74-95) have been by at least eight goals.
The Cavaliers are averaging 14.4 goals per game vs. the Nittany Lions, tied for the 14th-highest average against schools they have played at least four times. The record is a 23.4 average against VMI.
Championship Head Coaches Meet
Saturday’s game features a coaching match-up of the two head coaches who have guided Virginia to NCAA titles.
Penn State’s Glenn Thiel led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA championship in 1972, with a 13-12 win over Johns Hopkins in the finals. The Cavaliers finished with an 11-4 record that season, Thiel’s third in Charlottesville. He left UVa after the 1977 season to take over the coaching reins at Penn State. He compiled a 63-30 record at UVa and left as the Cavaliers’ all-time wins leader (but is now third). Thiel also led the Cavaliers to a USILA tri-national championship in 1970 in his first season at UVa.
Current head coach Dom Starsia won the program’s second NCAA title in 1999 following a 12-10 win over Syracuse in the playoff finals. The Cavaliers finished with a 13-3 record that year. Starsia is in his 11th season at Virginia and is the school’s second-winningest coach with 119 wins.
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 25-4 (.862) in April since they moved to Kl?ckner in 1993. Virginia has won 17 of the last 18 April games at Kl?ckner since 1997. The lone blemish is a 7-5 loss to North Carolina two years ago.
Defense Best Since `86
While the Cavalier offense has had some ups and downs the last month, the defense has remained stellar. Virginia allows an average of 8.1 goals per game, despite playing the toughest schedule in the nation this season. The Cavaliers are 15th in the nation in defense.
Virginia has held the opposition to fewer than nine goals in nine of 11 games this season.
Towson’s two goals in a game last month is the fewest allowed by an ACC team this season.
The Cavaliers’ 8.1 goals against average is their lowest since the 1986 squad allowed just 7.2 goals per game.
Offense Features Balanced Scoring
Once again, Virginia’s offense this season is balanced and features a number of players who are able to score at any particular time. There are six Cavaliers with at least 10 goals, including three with 20 or more.
The Cavaliers lead the ACC in offense-and are fourth nationally-with an average of 11.7 goals per game.
Three of the ACC’s top-six goal scorers are Cavaliers-John Christmas (3rd, 2.18/g), Chris Rotelli (T4th, 1.91/g) and A.J. Shannon (6th, 1.82/g). In addition, Billy Glading is tied for ninth at 1.64 goals per game.
Some might notice a drop off in scoring by Joe Yevoli, the ACC’s leading goal scorer last season with 40. He has 17 this season, but is second in the league with 15 assists, already five more than last spring as he has become a more complete attackman.
The Cavaliers have also benefitted offensively by the increased output of the top-three midfielders.
ACC Player of the Year Chris Rotelli has scored 21 goals, seven away from his career high. Linemate A.J. Shannon has found the back of the net 20 times this season, five away from his career best last season.
Billy Glading, last week’s hero in guiding the Cavaliers to the ACC title, has scored a career-high 18 goals, three more than his previous best.
If Glading scores two more goals, it would mark just the second time in school history three middies all scored at least 20 goals. The 1997 team, the highest scoring team in school history, featured three 20-goal scorers in the midfield (David Curry 33, David Wren 26, Tucker Radebaugh 24, and Jay Jalbert had 19).
Glading Named ACC Tourney MVP
Senior midfielder Billy Glading turned in one of the most scintillating performances in ACC Tournament history last weekend to guide the Cavaliers to the league title.
Not normally known for his scoring, Glading erupted for seven goals, including five in the finals vs. Duke.
In the semifinals against North Carolina, he scored twice, including notching the game winner 2:18 into overtime to give UVa a 13-12 win.
Two days later, Glading was the hero once again with five goals to lead the Cavaliers to the championship with a 12-6 win over the Blue Devils. His five goals missed the championship record by one. Interestingly, Glading had a chance at tying the record but his final shot of the day-an empty netter-hit the pipe. It was his only miss of the tournament.
In addition to being named the tournament MVP, Glading was also named Inside Lacrosse’s National Player of the Week for his play.
Three Cavaliers Named All-ACC
Three Cavaliers-Chris Rotelli, Tillman Johnson and John Christmas-were 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 35 points (21g, 14a). He is the only player ranked in the top five in the ACC in scoring, goals and assists. Considered by many to be the top midfielder in the country, he was also named ACC Player of the Year in voting by the league’s four head coaches.
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 15 in the nation in both goals allowed average and save percentage. He was named to the ACC All-Tournament team last weekend after posting 31 saves in the two games. He tied his career high with 18 in the rain against North Carolina in the semifinals.
Christmas is just the ninth player in league history named all-conference as a freshman and sophomore and the first since Cavalier great Michael Watson in 1994-95. He leads the team with 24 goals and is third in the ACC in goals with an average of 2.18 per game. He is also tied as the fifth-leading scorer in the ACC at 2.91 ppg.
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, fifth on the team. He is also the second-leading freshman in the ACC behind Maryland’s Joe Walters (25). 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 26 points which is also second among league rookies behind Walters (31), tied for 15th by a UVa freshman all-time. He needs 11 more points to move into the top 10.
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 nearly 150 percent in the final 30 minutes (first half average=4.8, second half=6.9).
Virginia has outscored the opponents in the third quarter on nine occasions this season and owns a 39-19 advantage in the period.
In the fourth quarter Virginia has only been outscored three times and owns a 36-22 scoring edge.
The Cavaliers have outscored the opposition in every quarter this season, but the margin is markedly better in the second half.
The Cavaliers lead the ACC in second half goals (76) by a pretty good margin (North Carolina is second with 68 but has played one more game than UVa).
The chart below shows the scoring totals by quarter this season.
Quarter, UVa, Opp, Increase
First, 25, 21, +19.0%
Second, 28, 27, +3.7%
Third, 39, 19, +105%
Fourth, 36, 22, +63.4%
Rotelli Reaches Century Mark, Shannon Draws Near
ACC Player of the Year 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 second in the ACC in scoring with an average of 3.18 points per game. He is only player in the conference to rank in the top five in the league in scoring, goals and assists. He is fourth in assists (1.27/g) and tied for fourth in goals (1.91/g).
Fellow middie A.J. Shannon notched three goals and an assist in the ACC finals vs. Duke to join Rotelli as the 32nd member of UVa’s “Century Club.”
Rotelli is the second-leading active goal scorer among ACC players this season with 80 career scores. Maryland’s Brian Hunt has scored 93 goals, but 78 came when he played at Yale. Shannon stands fourth wtih 76 career goals. The Virginia duo stands sixth and seventh, respectively, in career points among active ACC players.
Rotelli is 25th in school history in scoring, while Shannon is close behind in 29th place. Their imminent movement up the career scoring chart is shown below.
Player, years, points
18. Emmett Voelkel, 1975-78, 131
Paul O’Brien, 1976-79, 131
Chase Monroe, 1985-88, 131
21. Jack Davies, 1962-64, 129
22. Joe Dyer, 1956-68, 117
Randy Natoli, 1979-82, 117
24. Pete Eldredge, 1969-72, 116
25. Chris Rotelli, 2000-pres., 112
26. Rob Falk, 1990-93, 111
27. Andy Kraus, 1987-89, `91, 107
28. Greg Traynor, 1992-95, 106
29. A.J. Shannon, 2000-pres., 105
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
10. Roddy Marino, 1983-86, 97
11. Pete Eldredge, 1969-72, 94
12. Emmett Voelkel, 1975-78, 87
13. Tim Whiteley, 1993-96, 85
14. Greg Traynor, 1992-95, 82
15. Chris Rotelli, 2000-pres., 80
16. Conor Gill, 1999-2002, 77
17. A.J. Shannon, 2000-pres., 76
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 45.0 ground balls per game and have claimed more ground balls than their opponents in every game but two (Drexel, Duke). When the Cavaliers win the ground ball war they are 8-2.
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. In the Duke game, the GB totals were equal.
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 (5.93/g), but the next four players are Cavaliers.
Face-off specialist Jack deVilliers is second with an average of 5.45 per game. He is followed closely by G Tillman Johnson (4.91/g), LSM Trey Whitty 4.73/g) and M Zach Heffner (4.45/g). Close defenseman David Burman is 10th in the league at 3.27/g.
Whitty, Johnson and Burman all lead their respective positions in the ACC.
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.
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