No. 1 Virginia Hosts Vermont in Midweek Klockner Stadium Showdown

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the second straight week Virginia (6-0) graces the No. 1 position in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media and USILA coaches polls. The Cavaliers received all possible No. 1 votes in both polls except for one in the media poll that went to ACC foe North Carolina. UVa will host the Vermont Catamounts (1-4) out of the America East Conference, Tuesday evening, inside Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

Because of the John Mayer concert at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday night, parking for baseball and men’s lacrosse fans is restricted to the Cage lots. Overflow parking will be available at the Emmet-Ivy Garage.

Tuesday night marks the third straight season the Cavaliers have hosted the Catamounts in a series where UVa holds the all-time 2-0 advantage. Vermont is coached by fromer UVa All-American Ryan Curtis. A four-year letterwinner under Virginia head coach Dom Starsia, Curtis won the Schmeisser Cup as the nation’s outstanding defenseman in 1999 when the Cavaliers won their first national championship in 27 years. Starsia is 7-1 when facing his former players, including 4-1 vs. Jamie Munro (formerly of Denver) and 1-0 vs. Lars Tiffany (formerly of Stony Brook, but now at Brown). Curtis is Starsia’s only former UVa player he has faced, while Munro and Tiffany played at Brown under Starsia.

Vermont is the second school out of the America East that Virginia has faced this season, a league the Cavaliers hold a 25-2 all-time mark against, including 17 in a row. Early this season Virginia topped Stony Brook in Charlottesville, 13-8.

Brian Carroll scored three goals and dished one assist to lead UVa to the 16-4 win over Vermont in last season’s meeting at Klöckner Stadium. Steele Stanwick tallied two goals and two assists while Adam Ghitelman saved 10 shots and allowed two scores in three quarters of work, pacing the Cavaliers’ victory.

Virginia enters Tuesday night’s game on the heels of a 12-4 triumph at No. 8 Cornell on Saturday. The Big Red’s four goals equaled a program low during the 10-year Jeff Tambroni coaching era, one that ranks No. 3 in the nation with 65 wins since the start of the 2005 season. Before UVa’s victory, Cornell held a 22-1 home advantage since the start of the 2007 season, losing only to Ohio State in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Chris Bocklet, Rhamel Bratton, Shamel Bratton and Colin Briggs all tallied two goals apiece to lead the UVa scoring attack on the Big Red. Bocklet and Stanwick each recorded two assists in a game where the defense shined. Defensemen Kenny Clausen and Ryan Nizolek shut down Cornell’s top two scorers, Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell, while Ghitelman was stellar in between the pipes. The junior goalie played 55 minutes, recorded 14 saves, shut out the Big Red in the second quarter and allowed only three goals, one of which came late in the fourth quarter.

Bocklet leads Virginia with 17 goals and 24 points on the season, while Stanwick holds the team lead with 13 assists. Rhamel Bratton and Stanwick are next on the team with 11 and 10 goals respectively, while freshman Matt White has registered at least one goal in every game this season to give him the team’s fourth-best mark with nine goals. Ghitelman is saving .570 of the shots against him, while posting a 7.15 GAA.

Vermont registered its first victory of the season on Saturday at VMI, 12-8. The Catamounts trailed 8-5 late, but scored seven unanswered goals for the victory. Drew Philie and Geoff Worley each lead the team with 10 goals. Philie leads the squad with six assists and 16 points. Liam Thomas rounds out the top scorers with 8 goals. David Barton saw his first action of the season at goalie after replacing starter Alex Plavner 19 minutes into the VMI contest. Barton made seven saves for a .583 percentage and holds a 7.27 GAA. Plavner is saving .494 of shots with a 9.97 GAA.

Virginia has a 22-game winning streak going back to 2001 in regular-season mid-week games, including a 15-7 triumph at Mount St. Mary’s on Feb. 23 and a 20-6 victory over VMI on March 9. Virginia is also 24-1 all-time in night games at Klöckner Stadium, losing a 6 p.m. game to Duke in 2008, 19-9.

Virginia hits the road again on Sunday when they travel to Towson. Game is slated for noon and will be broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA AM 1070 with John Freeman calling the action. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and in the Baltimore region on WMAR.

Tickets for Virginia lacrosse games can be purchased online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone at (800) 542-8821 or in person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Virginia lacrosse season tickets for 2010 are $30 (adult general admission) and $20 (youth, senior, faculty/staff general admission).

Single-game tickets to lacrosse games are $7 (adult general admission), and $5 (youth, senior, faculty/staff general admission).

All reserved seats are sold out for the 2010 season.