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Even though Dom Starsia’s Cavaliers enter their second week atop the polls, the Cavalier head coach knows there is still room for improvement as the team readies itself for Saturday afternoon’s clash with Towson. Faceoff is set for 1 pm. A live webcast featuring the UVa radio broadcast crew of John Freeman and Doug Tarring is available at ACCSelect.com.
“There are areas where we’re going to need to get better,” he said, “including getting more consistent scoring from the midfield and hitting some shots.”
The midfield has started to pick up the scoring in the last several games. Junior Brian Carroll has tallied five goals in the last two contests, while senior Steve Giannone and sophomore Shamel Bratton have both score four in that span. Against Cornell last Sunday this trio accounted for eight of the Cavaliers’ 14 goals. In addition, second unit players George Huguely and John Haldy have each scored in the last two games.
Towson head coach Tony Seaman is undoubtedly looking for much of the same thing. His squad comes into the game with a 1-3 record and a two-game losing streak.
Seaman’s team’s offensive groups are in a little bit of transition with two new starters on attack and two more in the midfield. Still, among the top-six offensive players six are seniors.
“This is an experienced team that’s been around the block a few times,” said Starsia. “They have a couple of slick attackmen with the ability to score a lot of goals.”
Senior Bill McCutcheon is the offensive leader during the early part of the season. He has notched eight goals and assisted on seven others; no other player has more than for goals or four assists.
He is joined by freshmen Matt Lamon and Sean Maguire, neither of which has scored more than two goals.
Goals have been hard to come by demonstrated by the Tigers’ average of 7.5 goals per game, a little more than half Virginia’s average.
One new starter who has made a near immediate impact is junior goalie Rob Wheeler. He has recorded an impressive .564 save percentage and proven to be stingy when it comes to giving up goals as his 9.03 goals allowed average attests.
A veteran with 27 seasons of head coaching experience, Starsia knows the value of staying sharp throughout the season.
“We don’t want to take anything for granted and let the quality of our play slip,” he said. “I think we’ll be ready to play. We have to bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm. The team has done a good job of preparing itself; we haven’t always been sharp but the effort has always been there.
“This is a team that’s going to come in and try to get a big one. It’s going to require our best effort and that’s what we’ve come to expect from ourselves.”