Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VAAs the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers look to open the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of their schedule this Saturday at Klckner Stadium against ninth-ranked Maryland, there are several similarities that are strikingly similar to last year’s regular-season clash between the two league powers. Last season the Cavaliers went to College Park sitting atop the polls with an undefeated record, while the Terrapins are coming off several impressive victories. This season Virginia is 10-0, while Maryland stands at 6-2.
For Cavalier head coach Dom Starsia that’s where the similarities end.
“It’s a very different team, I think,” he said. “I think we have a very different personality. I’ve got a stronger group of older kids this year that have taken more ownership of what’s going on, so I’m getting more help, just in terms of preparing to play and all.”
Among the older players who have really asserted themselves this season are attackmen Garrett Billings and Danny Glading, longstick midfielder Mike Timms, defensive middie Max Pomper and defensemen Matt Kelly, Ken Clausen and Ryan Nizolek.
Billings has been on a scoring rampage all season and ranks second in the country with 40 points (26g, 14a). He torched Johns Hopkins last weekend for four goals and four assists in UVa’s 16-15 win. Glading has been heating up lately with 12 goals in the last six games.
Meanwhile, Timms and Co. bent but did not break last week in the Hopkins game. After relinquishing seven goals in a wild third quarter, they stiffened and threw a shutout in the final 15 minutes as the Cavaliers rallied for the win.
“It was very gratifying that we were able to shut them out in the fourth quarter and win the game,” Starsia said. “Sometimes you win 7-6, sometimes you win 15-14. I think the most important thing is finding a way to win and being a team that is adaptable to whatever the conditions or the situation requires. I think that this team has shown that characteristic to date.”
One of the most striking characteristics of Maryland to which the Cavaliers will have to adapt is the Terps’ size.
“The first impression any fan is going to have of Maryland is that they’re just huge for a college lacrosse team,” Starsia said.
“It’s pretty unusual to have a couple of kids as talented as they are who are in excess of 6-5 and 250 pounds. It’s a very athletic team,” he continued.
Leading scorer Grant Catalino (6-5, 240) has scored 18 times and added 14 assists, while Will Yeatman (6-6, 260), a one-time football player at Notre Dame who transferred to Maryland this season, has nine goals to go along with 10 assists.
“They’ve got experience in the keys positions and they’re very athletic in the middle of the field. Their first midfield is all fast and a powerful group of kid,” Starsia added.
Dan Groot scored three goals and had an assist in the Terps’ 8-7 win over North Carolina last week and was named the ACC Player of the Week. Jeremy Sieverts has found the back of the net seven times so far this spring.
Several recent match-ups between the two teams have been close contests, including Virginia’s 8-7 overtime win in the NCAA quarterfinals last season. According to Starsia, one of the reasons these games are frequently close is the familiarity each team has with the other.
“I’ve talked about how when we play that early game with Syracuse how we don’t know each other; you don’t know your own team that well,” he said. “That’s clearly not the case with these ACC games. With the four of us seeing so much of each other over the years, clearly it’s a little bit of a case of familiarity breeds contempt to a certain extent. I think that we are able to anticipate a little bit in terms of how this is going to play out and because both teams have talented athletes you can generally keep your hands on the pace of the play if you like.”
With the nation’s most potent offenseVirginia averages 14.2 goals per gamethe Cavaliers undoubtedly would like to have a fast paced game.
“We’re an athletic lacrosse team (and) we’re going to try to put pressure on them all over,” Starsia said. “I think you’re struck by the appearance of them; those big kids are athletic for big kids, too. We would hope to be able to play our game and be able to push the tempo up and down. If that happens then we’re playing into our strengths and that’s what we would like to see the game turn into.”