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Freshman Danny Glading had 2 goals and 3 assists in his first NCAA Tournament game. |
The Virginia men’s lacrosse team learned two very important things in its opening round NCAA Tournament game as it withstood a feisty effort from Notre Dame on Saturday en route to a 14-10 victory at Klockner Stadium. 1. The Cavaliers are going to get everybody’s best shot in this event. 2. That still might not be enough to dethrone the heavy tournament favorite.
“It was definitely a very good test for the first round of the NCAAs, but I think we’re excited to get past it,” Virginia’s Danny Glading said. “We definitely had a little rust from only playing two games in the past four weeks. We had that on offense, but I think we had moments where we looked like we did at our prime in the middle of the season and I think we’re going to get back up there in the next couple of weeks and that’s what we’re all looking forward to.”
The Fighting Irish didn’t flinch against the nation’s No. 1 team. They came out of the gates strong and never folded, even when Virginia seemed on the brink of breaking the game open in the second half. In fact, Notre Dame seemed like a much better team – at least a quarterfinal caliber club – than a No. 16 seed would indicate. UVa coach Dom Starsia expected that coming into the contest and ND’s effort certainly didn’t change his mind.
“I thought they played very well and I think they were very game. I told our team in the huddle after the game that it was a heck of a win for us. I’m really pleased. I’ve been doing this a long time and that was a real battle out there,” Starsia said. “We are very pleased to get the win and to still be playing at this time of the year.”
“Maybe I can say now, thanks to the committee for that one,” he added with a laugh. “That was a heck of an effort by Notre Dame. I was really pleased with our kids that we battled. I don’t think things were ever easy for us, but I thought we battled throughout the game.”
The bottom line? The Irish gave the upset bid their best shot and it wasn’t enough to overcome the Cavaliers. And the reasons were the same as they’ve been all season long. Virginia’s offense is too balanced and too explosive to shut down completely, and the Hoos’ defense is too stout to allow a long string of unanswered goals.
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UVa’s Kip Turner makes a diving save in the first half against Notre Dame. |
Take Saturday’s game for instance. The Cavs held the visitors to single-digit shot totals in three of four quarters as Michael Culver, Ricky Smith, and company made things difficult. When the Irish did find some openings, Kip Turner had enough saves up his sleeve to turn away half the shots; he finished with 10 saves.
Offensively, UVa had eight different players score a goal (Matt Ward 4, Kyle Dixon 3, Danny Glading 2, Drew Thompson 1, Matt Poskay 1, Steve Giannone 1, Garrett Billings 1, J.J. Morrissey 1) and a ninth – Ben Rubeor – added a pair of assists. In total, the Cavaliers fired off 50 shots and only a stellar showing from ND goalkeeper Joey Kemp kept things from getting lopsided. Kemp finished with 20 saves.
“I thought there was a chance in the third quarter that we were going to put them away and the kid in the goal just seemed like he could come up with a big save for them whenever he had to,” Starsia said.
Perhaps, the one area of concern for the Cavaliers came in between all the scoring. The hosts struggled with faceoffs for much of the contest, particularly in the first quarter and early second quarter as the Irish’s Taylor Clagett used his strength to dig out the ball.
Clagett helped Notre Dame win 16 of the 28 faceoffs overall, but UVa stemmed the tide after a lopsided first quarter in the center X – ND won 4 of 5 faceoffs in the first quarter. Virginia junior Adam Fassnacht provided the spark in the category when he checked in for duty, particularly in the second quarter. Fassnacht won 5 of 10 faceoffs on the afternoon and helped slow down a Notre Dame rally in that second quarter.
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Adam Fassnacht provided a lift by winning some faceoffs in the second quarter. |
“When you don’t win faceoffs consistently, it’s hard to go on a run. We’re a team that can hurt you if we can get the ball back. So their ability to win the ball back facing off dictated the fact that the game remained close throughout,” Starsia said. “Adam is a very viable option. We’ve gone to Adam in some games. We went to him in the North Carolina game and he stepped up and made some plays for us. We came to him again today. The kid was just bulling Thompson and [Charlie] Glazer and he just couldn’t push Adam around the same way. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can step in and do things when we need them.”
The victory advances Virginia into the NCAA Quarterfinals at Towson University where it will face the Georgetown-Navy winner from Sunday. In that contest, the Cavaliers will be trying to extend their school-record winning streak which is now at 14 games. UVa remains the only undefeated team in the nation at 14-0.
“We’re familiar with both teams. We scrimmaged them both. They’re both terrific,” Starsia said. “I think they match up well. They have different strengths. The eight-nine game should be a close, hard fought game and I think you’re going to see that tomorrow.”
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