The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Cavaliers gear up for top-10 matchup against UNC

Virginia offense beginning to click

Entering the 2015 season, some expected Virginia men’s lacrosse defense to struggle – not necessarily its offense. Sophomore goalie Matt Barrett was the sole returning starter from the 2014 defensive unit.

But while Barrett’s improved play combined with talented underclassmen and senior defenseman Davi Sacco’s rapid ascension to stardom have allowed Virginia’s backend to demonstrate steady, marked improvement, the offense has been a different story.

After showing well against three inferior opponents in Loyola, Drexel and Rutgers to open the season, the Cavaliers went cold against Syracuse, falling behind 7-0 out of the gate before losing 15-9.

The next week against Cornell, however, the Cavaliers flashed promise when junior attackman James Pannell netted six goals in a 15-14 victory. The Cavalier offense again played well three days later, scoring 15 goals in a win against St. Joseph’s.

But just days before a televised contest against conference rival Notre Dame, Virginia announced that Pannell had torn his ACL in practice and would miss the remainder of the season. This proved to be a set back, especially after another slow start against the Fighting Irish.

In the past three games, the Cavaliers finally seem to have hit their stride. Virginia netted 16 and 17 goals against Johns Hopkins and Virginia Military Institute, respectively, while scoring 14 in a dominating effort against Richmond Saturday.

“For about 40 minutes [Saturday], that may have been the best we have played the entire year against a team [Richmond] in a game that could have been complicated, but they didn’t allow it to be that way,” coach Dom Starsia said. “They just stayed on it.”

And come Friday, No. 8 Virginia (8-2, 0-2 ACC) will need to keep its foot on the gas, as it will face one of the nation’s best teams in No. 4 North Carolina (10-1, 1-0 ACC) under the Klöckner lights.

“They’re an elite ACC team,” Van Arsdale said. “It’s a game that is going to be easy to get excited for.”

And Virginia fans have reason for optimism now after watching the Cavalier offense begin to click during its three-game win streak.

A large reason for the turnaround has been Virginia’s ability to jump ahead of its opponents from the opening faceoff. Against Syracuse, the Cavaliers were down 8-1 at halftime. Two weeks later against Notre Dame, the halftime deficit was 8-2.

As Virginia learned, it would need to get on the scoreboard earlier to be competitive. And the past three games, that is exactly what it has done.

The Cavaliers scored six first-half goals against Johns Hopkins, 11 against VMI and nine against Richmond, all of which resulted in victories.

“A fast start is what we’ve been looking for all year,” senior midfielder Ryan Tucker said. “The first couple of games we weren’t fortunate enough to have that, but [against] Hopkins we had a really good start and [against] VMI we had a pretty solid start as well.”

The main difference these past three games for Virginia offense has been the midfield play of Tucker, senior midfielder Tyler German and sophomore Zed Williams. In the past three games, Tucker has had 10 goals to go along with 2 assists, and Williams has had four goals and four assists, while German has added six goals and two assists.

Their ability to take advantage of favorable matchups has allowed more space for Van Arsdale, junior attackman Greg Coholan and sophomore attackman Ryan Lukacovic to operate around the net.

“You can’t defend our middies with short sticks,” Van Arsdale said. “When we go after those short stick matchups with Zed [Williams] and [Ryan] Tucker like we did [Saturday], it puts a lot of pressure on the defense to react. That’s when they start making adjustments and it starts opening up different areas of the field.”

But even with Virginia’s improved offensive play, now ranked eighth nationally with 13.6 goals per game, the Cavaliers may still face difficulties in an offensive shootout against North Carolina, which has the No. 3 scoring offense in the land with 15.36 goals per game.

Facing one of the country’s best attack units comprised of senior Jimmy Bitter, senior Joey Sankey and sophomore Luke Goldstock, the Cavaliers will need defensive improvement, which, even while resting many starters at the end of the game, only surrendered seven goals against a Richmond offense that averaged nearly 13 entering Saturday.

The Cavaliers beat the Tar Heels after defeating them 13-11 in last season’s ACC showcase. Such a conference win Friday would be a huge step in the right direction for a Virginia team that is hopeful to receive a bid into the ACC lacrosse tournament in three weeks.

“It will be a real test for us on defensive end of the field,” Starsia said. “But when it comes time I think we’ll be excited and ready for it. It’ll be fun and it will be a great atmosphere here on Friday night.”

Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night in Klöckner Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Comments

Latest Podcast

The University’s Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admission, Greg Roberts, provides listeners with an insight into how the University conducts admissions and the legal subtleties regarding the possible end to the consideration of legacy status.



https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt