Men's Lacrosse Returns to Action against Mount St. Mary's Tuesday Night at 7 pm

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March 14, 2006

Charlottesville, Va. –

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Virginia Lacrosse on Television & Radio

Towson Game: Sunday’s game against Towson is being televised live in the Baltimore area by WMAR-ABC TV2. It will also be broadcast on a tape delay basis that day on ESPNU at 5 pm. Please check with your local cable provider to see if it offers ESPNU. ESPNU is also available on DirectTV, channel 609.

Princeton Game: Last Sunday’s game against Princeton is being rebroadcast on ESPNU on March 23 at 2:30 pm.

CSTV: CSTV (College Sports Television) is also televising several lacrosse games this spring, however none involve UVa. CSTV is available on DirectTV, channel 610. A very few cable systems also carry it. Please contact your local cable company.

Radio: Beginning with Sunday’s game at Towson, WINA radio AM 1070 in Charlottesville, is broadcasting every game the rest of the season (including any ACC or NCAA Tournament games) except Bellarmine on April 22. Jed Williams, Mac McDonald and Doug Tarring provide all the action and analysis of Cavalier lacrosse on the radio. An internet broadcast is also available at Virginiasports.com.

Game 7
#2 Virginia vs. Mount St. Mary’s
March 14, 2006 • 7 pm
Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, Va.

Game Overview
Second-ranked Virginia returns to action a little more than 48 hours after gaining a hard-fought 7-6 win over then fifth-ranked Princeton to face Mount St. Mary’s Tuesday night at 7 pm at Klöckner Stadium.

The Mount, winless in three games, has been on a season-long road trip; this is its fourth consecutive road game of the season.

The Cavaliers lead the nation in scoring with an average of 15.5 goals per game. Meanwhile, The Mount meanwhile has scored just 13 goals all season.

This is the second year in a row the teams have met in the regular season. The Cavaliers gained an 11-4 win a year ago at Klöckner Stadium.

The Series vs. the Mountaineers,br>This is the second year in a row the teams have met during the regular season. Virginia gained an 11-4 win last year that was made possible by a six-goal third quarter that broke open a 4-2 UVa halftime lead. Matt Ward tallied two goals, while Jack Riley had a goal and two assists.

The teams clashed for the first time in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament with UVa gaining a 19-8 win in Charlottesville. Matt Poskay led the way for the Cavaliers that afternoon with three goals, the first multigoal game of his career. Of the 32 players who saw action for Virginia that day, eight are still on the roster.

Mount St. Mary’s has been playing lacrosse since 1970 and has been a Division I program since 1989. The Mountaineers are one of nine lacrosse-playing members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (along with Canisius, Manhattan, Marist, Providence, St. Joseph’s, Siena, VMI and Wagner). Among MAAC members, Mount St. Mary’s, Manhattan and VMI are the only schools the Cavaliers have played. Virginia is 1-0 against Manhattan and 13-0 vs. VMI, including a 21-4 win two weeks ago.

Starsia vs. Lower Ranked Opponents
Virginia comes into this game ranked second in this week’s USILA poll, while Mount St. Mary’s is unranked.

Since Dom Starsia took over the Virginia program in 1993, the Cavaliers have feasted upon lower or unranked opponents, winning 122 and losing only 27 (.819).

In home games, Starsia’s Cavaliers are an impressive 72-7 (.911) vs. lower/unranked opponents and have won 19 in a row.

Nation’s Longest Home Winning Streak
Last year’s national champion Johns Hopkins got a lot of attention for its 37-game home winning streak. But the attention ended two weekends ago with a loss to Princeton.

That loss, coupled with Duke’s home loss to Maryland on the same day, vaulted Virginia’s 15-game home winning streak to the longest in the country. The Cavaliers’ 15-game winning streak is tied for their longest home winning streak ever. Virginia also won 15 consecutive home games from 1994-96.

Virginia last loss at home was to Princeton 8-7 on March 13, 2004.

Green Grass of Klöckner Bodes Well
The Mount St. Mary’s game is Virginia’s fourth game of the year at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers have found playing at Klöckner is quite to their liking.

Virginia is riding a 12-game winning streak at Klöckner Stadium dating back to the 2004 season. Last year the Cavaliers were 7-0 at Klöckner, their best record ever there. This season they have won all three games there so far.

Overall Virginia is 59-12 (.831) at Klöckner since moving there in 1993.

Invincible Under the Klöckner Lights
Virginia hopes to continue a trend against Mount St. Mary’s. The Cavaliers have never lost a night game at Klöckner Stadium.

Last season Virginia won all four home night games, including an 11-4 win over The Mount. Overall the Cavaliers have won 16 consecutive night wins since moving to Klöckner in 1993.

Johns Hopkins was the first to fall-14-9 on a cold Friday night in March 1996, the first of four night wins at Klöckner that season.

From 1996-98 Virginia played seven night games there, but have played only eight since. In 1999, 2001 and 2002 UVa didn’t play any night games at Klöckner.

Five victims have been ranked in the top 10, including two #1s (Maryland 1996, Johns Hopkins 2004).

Virginia averages 15.7 goals per night game, while winning by an average of 8.7 goals.

Ward Joins Century Goal Club
Senior attackman Matt Ward has earned his way onto a select list of Virginia’s all-time greats. He has led the Cavaliers in goals the last two seasons and has notched at least one in 45 of 51 games in his career.

He scored a trio of goals in the win over Denver on Feb. 20 to become only the ninth player in school history to score at least 100 in a career; he is sixth with 111 goals. Ward is also fourth among active Division I players in goals.

His place on UVa’s career goals list is shown below. The number is parenthesis is each player’s standing on the ACC career goals list.

Player, years             goals (ACC rank)
3. Kevin Pehlke, 1990-93    138 (8)
4. Chase Monroe, 1985-88    116 (18)
5. Jay Jalbert, 1997-2000   112 (19)
6. Matt Ward, 2003-06       111 (T20)

Rubeor Returns after Missing Two
Ben Rubeor was one of the top freshmen in the nation a year ago and made an immediate impact in the line-up. He led ACC freshmen with 16 assists and was second with 18 goals and 34 points.

Like his linemates Matt Ward, Danny Glading and Garrett Billings, he has gotten off to a hot start this spring despite being sidelined for two games due to an injury.

In the season’s first game against Drexel he led the way with three goals and two assists and was high man the next game with four goals and two assists vs. Denver. He injured his ankle late in that contest and missed the next two games (Stony Brook, VMI).

The rugged sophomore returned to action against Syracuse 10 days ago as if he had not missed any time. Once again he led the attack with three goals and two assists in a 20-15 win.

Rubeor scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in Sunday’s 7-6 win over Princeton.

He is averaging 4.25 points per game and has scored at least three goals and had two assists in every game except against Princeton (when he scored the game winner instead).

Virginia Features Nation’s Top Offense
Virginia comes into this game ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring with an average of 15.5 goals/g.

The Cavaliers have scored at least 13 in five of six games, including at least 20 twice. The last time Virginia scored 20+ more than twice in a season was the 1999 national championship season when the Cavaliers reached that mark three times.

The offense features four of the top-20 scorers in the country, led by senior All-American Matt Ward. Ward is second nationally with 23 points (14g, 9a). Sophomore Ben Rubeor is tied for ninth with 17 points (11g, 6a) despite missing two games with an injury.

Freshman Garrett Billings leads all freshmen in scoring-tied for 18th overall-with 15 points (10g, 5a), while classmate Danny Glading is the second-ranked freshman with 14 points (6g, 8a).

The midfielders are also getting into the act. Seniors Kyle Dixon (6g, 9a) and Matt Poskay (13g, 1a) are among the leading scoring middies in the country.

Glazer ACC Faceoff, Ground Ball Leader
One of the biggest question marks coming into the season for head coach Dom Starsia and his staff was who was going to replace four-year starter Jack deVilliers on faceoffs.

Senior Charlie Glazer and junior Drew Thompson have been sharing the duties, but with Thompson on the field for both offense and defense, Glazer has had plenty of chances to ply his specialty.

Given the most extended playing time of his career, Glazer has been one of the team’s most pleasant surprises with his excellent play. He leads the ACC in faceoff winning percentage with a 66.7-percent mark (56 of 84). He also leads the league in ground balls, averaging 5.33 per game.

Glazer got the first starting assignment of his career in the opening game against Drexel and played a big role in the Cavaliers’ 15-7 win. He won 11 of 15 attempts (.733) and finished with four ground balls.

He had an even better performance in the win over Stony Brook, going up against Jim Astea, who was 12th last year in winning percentage. Glazer won 12 of 14 attempts (.857) as Virginia built a big lead and won 17-4. He also grabbed a career-high 10 ground balls to lead the team.

One of the keys in Virginia’s last two wins has been an ability to gain and maintain possession, particularly when it comes to faceoffs.

In the win over Syracuse, UVa outscored the Orange 8-1 in the second quarter to seize control. Glazer won 14 of 24 draws overall, including five of eight in that period, when the Cavaliers had possession virtually the entire period.

His ability to win draws was significant in the Cavaliers’ comeback from a 4-1 deficit to down Princeton 7-6 two days ago. He won eight of 12 attempts, including all three in the third quarter when UVa mounted its comeback. Glazer also finished with a game-high seven ground balls.

Ground Balls Key to Victory
One of the goals of the Virginia coaching staff every game is winning the ground ball battle.

Last season the Cavaliers were exceptional and averaged 44.8 ground balls per game, up seven from the year before, and almost six more than the opposition. They also won the ground ball war in 11 of 15 games.

This year’s group of Cavaliers have done their best Brooks Robinson impersonation, sucking up ground balls at a rate of 50.5 per game. Against Stony Brook, they gobbled up 63 and have topped 50 three times. They also have a ground ball margin of 15.5 gb/g.

The Cavaliers have won 52 of their last 57 games (5-0 last year) dating back to 1998 when snapping up at least 50 ground balls.