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No. 1 Virginia and No. 12 Johns Hopkins Clash for the Doyle Smith Cup
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (8-0) return to the raucous confines of Klöckner Stadium Saturday afternoon to host the No. 12 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (4-3) in the annual clash for the Doyle Smith Cup. Faceoff is slated for noon and live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com. For the third-straight week, UVa graces the No. 1 position in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media and USILA coaches polls. The Cavaliers were the unanimous pick, receiving all possible No. 1 votes in both polls for the second time this season.
The game will be broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA AM 1070 with John Freeman calling the action and Doug Tarring doing the color broadcast. ESPN2 will televise the contest in HD with Carter Blackburn providing the play-by-play and Quint Kessenich serving as the color analyst. The game will also be simulcast on ESPN360.com.
The 1970 USILA Virginia national championship men’s lacrosse squad will be honored at halftime, celebrating 40 years since earning the crown as the nation’s top men’s lacrosse program.
Saturday marks the 64th-straight season the Cavaliers and the Blue Jays have clashed in an all-time series that began in 1904. Johns Hopkins holds the all-time advantage with a 54-27-1 mark, however Virginia has won the last five meetings, including last year’s 19-8 triumph in the NCAA quarterfinal round in Annapolis, Md. Virginia’s 82 all-time games against the Blue Jays equals the most games the Cavaliers have played against any opponent in their history.
The game is the fifth annual battle for the Doyle Smith Cup. Virginia and Johns Hopkins joined together to honor E. Doyle Smith, Jr., for his lifetime of contributions to the lacrosse programs at both schools and on the national level with the annual regular season winner laying claim to the cup. Smith served as team manager and statistician for Johns Hopkins under coach Bob Scott from 1963-68.
He enrolled at UVa to pursue a doctorate in the fall of 1968, and became the University’s first full-time assistant sports information director, a position he held for 31 years until his retirement in 1999, serving as the lacrosse team’s publicist for four head coaches-Buddy Beardmore, Glenn Thiel, Jim Adams and Dom Starsia. In 2000, he was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame and is the only individual inducted who never played the game at some level.
In the battle for the cup in 2009, Shamel Bratton and Danny Glading scored the only goals of the fourth quarter in succession to lead the Cavaliers to the 16-15 victory at Homewood Field, giving UVa the Doyle Smith Cup for the fourth-straight year.
The last meeting between these two schools was a historic meeting for Starsia. Virginia’s 19-8 triumph over the Blue Jays in the NCAA quarterfinal round at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., served as Starsia’s 300th career victory. Bratton scored a game-high five goals and Garrett Billings had seven points on four goals and three assists to pace the Cavaliers’ victory.
Virginia has started a season with eight-straight wins for the third-consecutive season after defeating Towson on March 21, 15-10. Chris Bocklet registered his fourth four-goal game of the season to lead UVa. Brian Carroll tallied two goals and chipped in two assists in the winning cause.
Bocklet leads Virginia with 25 goals and 32 points on the season, while Steele Stanwick holds the team lead with 17 assists. Carroll is second on the team with 13 goals, while Stanwick has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points, which is second best on the squad. Freshman Matt White has nine goals and has tallied at least one point in every game of his young collegiate career. Adam Ghitelman is saving 54.8 percent of the shots against him, while posting a 7.51 goals-against average.
Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala is in his 10th season with the Blue Jays and returns 31 letterwinners and seven starters off his 2009 squad that went 10-9. Johns Hopkins enters Saturday’s game looking to bounce back from a tough home loss to No. 2 Syracuse, which ultimately dropped the Blue Jays out of the top 10 for only the 13th time since the USILA coaches poll began in 1973.
Steven Boyle leads the Blue Jays with 21 goals, 12 assists and 33 points. Michael Kimmel is second on the squad with 11 goals, nine assists and 20 points, while Kyle Warton is chipping in with nine goals and seven assists. Mike Gvozden is saving 56.4 percent of shots, while posting an 8.09 GAA in between the pipes.
Virginia will hit the road on Saturday, April 3, when the Cavaliers open up ACC play at No. 4 Maryland. Game time is 8 p.m. and it will be broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA AM 1070 with John Freeman calling the action. The contest will be televised live on ESPNU.
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.