No. 1 UVa and No. 2 Johns Hopkins Set to Duel for the Doyle Smith Cup
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers (8-0) are ranked No. 1 this week in both the USILA coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse media polls and on Saturday will host the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (7-0), who are No. 2 in both the coaches and media polls, and will battle for the Doyle Smith Cup. UVa won the Doyle Smith Cup the first five seasons it was awarded before losing it at Homewood Field during a 12-11 setback last season. Faceoff at Klöckner Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Live stats will be available on VirginiaSports.com.
There will be a live radio broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA 1070 AM, which will be simulcast as an audio webcast on VirginiaSports.com through Cavaliers Live. John Freeman will bring the play-by-play, Doug Tarring will provide the analysis and Jack Bird will add insight from the sideline. ESPN will televise the game live in HD with Eamon McAnaney bringing the play-by-play, Quint Kessenich providing color analysis and Paul Carcaterra roaming the sidelines. There will be a web simulcast on ESPN3.
Public parking for baseball, men’s lacrosse and track & field will be available in the University Hall, JPJA and McCue parking lots as well as the Emmett/Ivy Garage. With capacity crowds expected for the baseball and men’s lacrosse games, fans are encouraged to arrive early.
Tickets for men’s lacrosse may also be purchased on Saturday online at VirginiaSports.com up until three hours prior to each game or in person starting at 11 a.m. from the Klöckner/Davenport Ticket Office. A temporary ticket booth will also be located in the corner of the John Paul Jones Arena parking lot at the intersection of Copeley and Massie Roads and will open at 12:30 p.m. for lacrosse tickets only.
The game is the seventh annual battle for the Doyle Smith Cup, a spoil since 2006 that goes to the regular season winner in the series. 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.
Smith 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.
The 1952 USILA title team and the 1972 NCAA title team will be honored for its 60th and 40th respective anniversaries.
Saturday marks the 66th 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 55-28-1 mark, however Virginia has won six of the last seven meetings, including 2010’s 15-6 triumph in the last meeting at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia’s 84 all-time games against the Blue Jays equals the most games the Cavaliers have played against any opponent in their history. UVa and Johns Hopkins will battle for the seventh time for the Doyle Smith Cup, a spoil since 2006 that goes to the regular season winner in the series. Johns Hopkins won the cup for the first time last season, defeating UVa 12-11 at historic Homewood Field in Baltimore.
The contest represents UVa’s 14th all-time contest as part of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup since the institution of the USILA coaches poll in 1973. The Cavaliers are 7-6 all-time in such matchups, including winning the last three. The matchup with Hopkins represents the sixth No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the two storied programs, with the Blue Jays winning four of the previous five. The last No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup for the Cavaliers contested in Klöckner Stadium was when UVa topped then-No. 1 Syracuse, 13-12, during the 2010 season.
Steele Stanwick leads UVa with 25 assists and 30 points and his 3.13 assists per game ranks No. 1 in the nation. Stanwick sits No. 5 all-time at UVa with 117 career assists. No. 4, Jay Connor, is 12 assists away at 129. Chris Bocklet has a team-high 20 goals and 121 career scores, needing four to tie Garrett Billings for No. 6 all-time at UVa in career goals. Chris LaPierre has been stellar between the lines, picking up a team-best 42 ground balls, needing 15 more to become the 31st Cavalier to reach the 200 career ground ball plateau. Rob Fortunato is saving 60.9 percent of shots against him and posting a 7.15 goals against average between the pipes.
Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala is in his 12th season with the Blue Jays and returns 35 letterwinners and nine starters off his 2011 squad that went 13-3 and appeared in the NCAA quarterfinal round. Zach Palmer leads Johns Hopkins with 26 points and 15 assists. Brandon Benn is tops on the team with 15 goals. Stanwick’s younger brother, Wells, as a freshman has four goals and six assists in four games. Mike Poppleton is leading the team with 22 ground balls. Pierce Bassett is saving 60.6 percent of shots and posting a 5.50 goals against average in goal for the Blue Jays.
Tickets for Virginia home 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 2012 are $50 (adult general admission) and $40 (youth, senior, faculty/staff general admission). Single-game tickets to lacrosse games are $8 (adult general admission), and $6 (youth, senior, faculty/staff general admission).
All reserved seats are sold out for the 2012 season.