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March 9, 2007
Charlottesville, Va. –
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Game 4
No. 8 Virginia (3-1) vs. No. 7 Princeton (1-1)
March 10, 2007 1 pm
Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, Va.
Game Overview
Virginia renews its annual rivalry with Princeton Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. After dropping their season opener, the Cavaliers are on a roll, winning three in a row.
Princeton dropped a heartbreaker last Saturday to Johns Hopkins 7-6 in double overtime in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic in Baltimore.
Prior to the game, Virginia’s 2006 national championship flag will be raised. Patrick Buchanan, Kyle Dixon, J.J. Morrissey and Chris Ourisman are among last year’s seniors expected to attend.
Broadcast Information:
Radio: WVAX AM 1450 in Charlottesville is providing live play-by-play coverage of this game. Jed Williams calls all the action. He is joined by Doug Tarring, a member of UVa’s 1972 national championship team.
The Rankings: (USILA/Nike/Inside Lacrosse)
Virginia: 8/4
Princeton : 7/6
The Series vs. Princeton:
Overall: 11-10
Home: 5-4
Away: 4-2
Current Streak: W2
Biggest UVa Win: 16, 1971 (18-2)
Biggest PU Win: 8, 1994 (14-6)
Starsia vs. Princeton: 9-8
Last Meeting: Virginia won 7-6 last year in Princeton
The Series vs. the Tigers
Given the slim margins that typically separate the winner from the loser in this series, perhaps it’s not surprising that the all-time series is close as well; UVa holds a narrow 11-10 lead.
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 that has continued to this day.
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 has won four of the last five match-ups, including an 11-7 win in 2005 in the most recent game in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers gained a 7-6 win last year in Princeton in their closest game of the season. It was also UVa’s first one-goal win over the Tigers following five consecutive losses. Curiously, Princeton’s last win was an 8-7 victory in Charlottesville three years ago.
The Cavaliers look to stretch their winning streak to three straight over the Tigers, their longest winning streak since taking three in a row from 1998-2000.
Since 1992, Virginia’s average margin of victory is 3.44 goals, while Princeton’s is 2.20.
History Suggests a Tight Contest
This is the 16th regular-season 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 prominent 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 five of the last 18 meetings have been decided by more than three goals. One goal has been the margin on six occasions (including last year’s 7-6 Cavalier victory), while four more have been decided by two goals and three by three goals.
Princeton has had remarkable success vs. Virginia in tight games, winning five of the six one-goal games.
The Cavaliers have won three of four games decided by two goals and two of the three three-goal games.
Cavaliers Hand Tigers Rare Losses
Since 1995 Princeton has lost just 40 games, including 33 regular season contests. Of those 40 losses, nine have come against Virginia. Princeton’s other losses have come to Syracuse (11), Johns Hopkins (7), Cornell (4), Hofstra and Yale (2), and Dartmouth, Maryland, Navy, North Carolina and Rutgers (1 each).
The Tigers lost just once during their NCAA championship seasons in 1996 and 1998–both times to Virginia.
Of Princeton’s 33 regular season losses since 1995, nine have been to the Cavaliers. (Johns Hopkins has just seven regular season wins over Princeton in that span.) UVa’s 9-7 win over the Tigers in 1998 ended their 29-game winning streak.
Not What You’d Expect
Dom Starsia’s Cavaliers have a reputation as an explosive offensive squad and have led the nation in scoring three times since 1997 (including last season). Princeton, on the other hand, favors taking a more methodical approach to offense and relying on a strong defense to slow the opponent. Last year the Tigers were fourth in the country in defense, allowing an average of 6.56 goals per game.
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–witness UVa’s 7-6 win last season.
The 2002 game in Charlottesville (a 13-11 UVa win) is the only time in the history of the series Princeton has lost when scoring at least 10 goals (6-1). The complete game-by-game results are in the box on page 3.
That game is also unusual because both teams reached double digits, something that’s happened only five times in the 21 games between the two; there have been seven occasions when neither team reached double figures (including last year).
Virginia’s 6-4 win in 1999 is 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.
9 UVa wins 10.4 7.0
8 UVa losses 8.4 10.9
Starsia’s Cavaliers as Underdogs
Virginia began the season ranked first in all the preseason polls, but following the season-opening loss to Drexel the Cavaliers dropped to 10th. They have climbed back to eighth this week.
Meanwhile, Princeton, ranked eighth in the preseason, opened the season with an impressive 18-7 win over Canisius and moved to third. The Tigers fell to Johns Hopkins 7-6 in double overtime last weekend and are ranked seventh this week.
Since the Cavaliers are typically found at or near the top of the polls, it’s not unusual they are the higher ranked team.
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 25-26 record since 1993 when being the lower-ranked team.
The Cavaliers have not played a game as the lower ranked team since being ranked sixth and losing to top-ranked Johns Hopkins 9-8 in overtime of the 2005 NCAA semifinals.
Virginia has won its last two home games as the lower ranked team (2004 vs. Duke and Johns Hopkins). Princeton is the last higher-ranked team the Cavaliers have lost to at home; they lost to Princeton 8-7 in 2004 when the Tigers were seventh and they were 17th.
UVa is 4-8 all-time against Princeton when ranked lower than the Tigers (all under Dom Starsia), but 3-3 when playing at home.
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