 |
|
Kip Turner and the Hoos suffered a disappointing loss in the NCAA Tournament. |
For much of the 2007 season, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team has been playing with fire. On Sunday, the Cavaliers finally got burnt by one of the hottest teams in the country. Delaware, which has won six straight games and five straight on the road, shocked second-seeded UVa at Klockner Stadium, 14-8, in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round.
The Blue Hens controlled nearly every statistical category and virtually dominated after halftime. At one point, the visitors scored seven unanswered goals to break away from a 7-7 tie.
“I felt pretty good at halftime and I felt good before the game. I felt like we were ready,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “I think I have a pretty good sense of our team and I think we were ready, but I feel a little bit like we ran into a little bit of a buzzsaw today. We just weren’t quite sharp enough. … As the game went on, Delaware just seemed to seize every moment when the game was being decided.”
Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw, who is in his 29th season with the Hens, said this is one of the biggest wins in program history.
“This is right up there as one of my best wins,” Shillinglaw said. “If I had a mantelpiece behind me, I’d have a gameball from this on it, that’s for sure. It’s been a while since we’ve beaten a top 10 team. This is definitely has a lot more to it, defeating the defending National Champion who is seeded second.”
 |
|
Danny Glading scores a tough goal in the first quarter. |
Perhaps just as surprising as the win itself was the manner in which Delaware prevailed. The Blue Hens were solid in every phase of the game, showing their athleticism and skill from the face-off X to the goal and everywhere in between. Virginia often seems to hold a decisive speed and physical advantage – that wasn’t the case on Sunday. Many of UD’s players were just as fast and strong and the entire roster brought a ton of energy to the field.
All of that combined with a steady dose of confidence propelled players like Alex Smith, the Hen’s face-off specialist that lived up to his billing by winning 18 of 26 battles in the X, Curtis Dickson (4 goals, 1 assist), goalkeeper Tommy Scherr (18 saves), and defender Rob Smith, who shadowed Ben Rubeor for most of the day and held him scoreless.
And while Delaware’s confidence seemed to grow, Virginia’s frustration level noticeably increased. Heads drooped. Shoulders slumped. Rubeor picked up a late slashing penalty. The Cavaliers never stopped trying – senior Drew Thompson’s goal in the final 1:30 is an example of that – but they couldn’t stop what became an onslaught.
Scherr, who allowed two goals in the first 2:04 before settling in, said another team’s body language can help boost your own spirits.
“You start to realize, you can see body language on other players,” Scherr said. “There were a couple of times where they took a few shots, I remember on a man-down there were a couple of saves I made and after we cleared it, they kind of had their hands down. That does probably just as much for us as it does [to hurt] them.”
While the Hens’ hopes blossomed, Virginia’s dreams of repeating as NCAA Champions crumbled as things broke down all over the field. The defense struggled to stop transition and unsettled goals, Adam Fassnacht battled but couldn’t slow down Smith in the face-off X, the midfield stumbled as Delaware controlled the groundballs in critical situations, and even the usually stable play of Kip Turner was a little off kilter as he finished with just 9 saves on 44 shots.
Plus, the offense sputtered after the first quarter, particularly in man-up opportunities where the Cavaliers finished 0 of 6. Of course, this last issue has been a budding problem for weeks. UVa hasn’t scored more than 11 goals since March 31 against Maryland. In the Hoos’ four losses this season, the last three of which came over the course of the last month, they produced 10 goals just once – the season-opening 11-10 defeat against Drexel. The other three defeats saw goal totals of 6, 9, and 8.
 |
|
Drew Thompson scored three goals in his final game at UVa. |
On Sunday, Rubeor and Garrett Billings couldn’t crack the scoring column as Delaware managed to shut both down. In fact, other than a four goals from Danny Glading and three goals from Drew Thompson (both tied career highs), most of the offensive threats for UVa simply couldn’t get enough quality shots flying toward the goal. Need proof? Virginia only had one assist on the day as many of the shots were self created.
Even when the Hoos did fire toward the net, the attempts often were near the top of the cage and Scherr was up to the task on almost every shot of that variety.
“I thought we helped him have his confidence grow, but at the end of the day he was terrific,” Starsia said Scherr. “I think some of our shot selection was a little rushed. I thought we were going to get to him early, but I don’t think we made enough good shots and gave him a chance on some balls and I think he started getting more confident. At the end of the day, he wound up being terrific. I thought he really played well today.”
Despite the disappointing end against Delaware, however, Virginia still felt positive about the season as a whole. After all, the Cavaliers did post an overall record of 12-4 and they bounced back from that loss to Drexel with 10 straight victories en route to the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. No, the Hoos didn’t claim repeat titles in either the ACC or NCAA tourneys, but they did take a relatively inexperienced roster and post double digit wins against one of the nation’s toughest schedules.
“I don’t know want to overplay the point, but the fact that we played our way back to be a No. 2 seed going into this tournament is a testament to these kids,” Starsia said. “It’s the body of work that tells the story and we had a great season. We ran into a team that was as athletic or more athletic than we were and that doesn’t happen that often. It breaks your heart to have it end like this, but like I said, I think we’re all walking out of here with our heads up. One day does not undo all the good things that this group put together.”
“I felt like we were ready to play today and I didn’t think my career would be ending on this field, but it did,” Thompson said. “Just trying to reflect right now quickly, I have the utmost respect for the program, the coaches, and players. Even though it ended this way, I wouldn’t want it to end anywhere else than playing for Virginia lacrosse.”
