Story Links
Virginia moved up to second in the polls this week following Johns Hopkins’ overtime loss to Hofstra on Saturday.
The undefeated Cavaliers (6-0) are coming off two consecutive games that were played in monsoon-like rain conditions. Last Tuesday they vanquished VMI 24-5 at Klckner Stadium in a game that head coach Dom Starsia said was the rainiest he’d ever played in.
He had to amend that statement following his team’s 12-10 victory at Princeton last Saturday. Despite not facing off well overall in the game, Brian McDermott won the first three faceoffs of the second half to help the Cavaliers take a 6-5 halftime lead to 10-5 barely three minutes into the second half.
Midfielder Brian Carroll continued his prolific scoring by finding the back of the net three times and assisted on another goal. He has now scored at least twice in every game this season and has 14 goals in all, three more than he had all of last season. His six-game multi-goal streak is the longest by a UVa middie since David Curry had a seven-game streak in 1997.
Most impressive of Carroll’s early-season play might be his shooting and the timeliness of his goals. He has scored on 58.3 percent of his shots (14 of 24). Six of his 14 goals have been on man-up.
Ben Rubeor made just his third appearance of the season after suffering a knee injury on the first day of practice. He shared the scoring honors with Carroll with three goals and generally made life miserable for the Princeton defenders.
Danny Glading is the nation’s leading scorer with 30 points (13g, 17a), while linemate Garrett Billings is not far behind in a tie for fourth with 25 points (13g, 12a).
The Cavaliers travel north Tuesday to face Mount St. Mary’s, the first time they have played the Mountaineers on the road. The game is scheduled to face off at 3 p.m. The Mount is 0-3 so far this season. Fans with V Pass access can watch the game live by clicking the appropriate link above.
Virginia has won the previous four games against The Mount, often by large margins fueled by fast starts. In a 2003 playoff game Virginia scored 13 of the game’s first 14 goals on the way to a 19-8 first round victory. In both 2005 and 2006 Mount St. Mary’s scored first but the lead was short lived. In 2005 the Cavaliers scored 10 of the next 11 goals, while in ’06 they scored 11 of the game’s next 12 goals to quickly erase the deficit. Last year’s 23-6 win is Virginia’s largest of the series.