After a final ACC loss to No. 14 Duke just two weeks ago, the Virginia lacrosse team was slated to play in the ACC-Brown challenge in Kennesaw, Ga. Now, the challenge aspect of the game, which is taking place as an alternative to the ACC Tournament, comes literally to the Cavaliers (7-7, 0-4 ACC), who will be taking on the No. 2 Bears (12-1, 5-0 Ivy League).
Brown has posted an impressive season record, going undefeated in the Ivy League, and suffering just one loss all season, in overtime to No. 20 Bryant. The Bears clinched the Ivy League championship for the regular season last week with wins against Providence and Cornell.
“They’re hitting on all cylinders,” coach Dom Starsia said. “Their goalie and their faceoff kid are having a great year, and they’ve got three scorers on the attack that are just through the roof.”
Brown’s goalie, senior Jack Kelly, leads the nation in save percentage, currently recording an average of 62.1 percent. The All-American was named the USILA/Lids Team Sports National Defensive Player of the Week.
The Bears also boast an impressive staff on offense — as their three starting attackmen have combined for 494 career points. Senior attacker Kylor Bellestri leads the nation in goals with 3.38 per game and is ranked just second in overall points behind teammate junior Dylan Molloy.
“They have three good attackmen with 40-plus goals, and they run up and down, get a lot of shots,” junior midfielder AJ Fish said. “We just have to slow that down and play our game.”
The Cavaliers will have to work on slowing down Brown in transition, where the Bears have become especially potent, leading the nation in both ground balls and scoring margin.
“What we’ve been trying to work on this week is minimizing their transition,” sophomore defenseman Scott Hooper said. “They score a lot of their goals on transition in the first 30 seconds of possessions.”
Hooper is one of the key players that Starsia will be expecting to step up in Saturday’s game if Virginia hopes to quiet the Brown offense, and Starsia seems to have confidence that he can do so.
“He’s grown up a lot in a year,” Starsia said. “He’s had some games this year where he’s been a force all over the field. He’s going to be a leading player for us.”
The Cavaliers have other tools at their disposal, as junior long stick midfielder Michael Howard has put together an impressive season averaging 3.57 ground balls per game, and was just named to the All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse team.
Virginia also has three players who have reached 100 career points this season, with senior attackman James Pannell, senior midfielder Greg Coholan and junior midfielder Ryan Lukacovic all reaching the century mark.
“I think we have a nothing-to-lose attitude,” Hooper said. “If we go there and play hard throughout we’ll do well.”
The Cavaliers are going into Saturday’s game with a national tournament attitude, as the result of the game possibly determines if Virginia will make a NCAA postseason appearance this season.
“This really and truly is like it’s the first round of playoffs for us with it being a one-and-done sort of thing,” Starsia said.
After another dismal conference record, the Cavaliers will be taking the result of their failure to make the ACC Tournament and turning it into a chance to propel themselves back into postseason play.
“We need a win against a team of this caliber in order to be able to justify our season going forward,” Starsia said. “I think we’ll have a shot at the playoffs if we get this one.”
Starsia, who was the head coach at Brown, his alma mater, for 10 years and led the team to two Ivy League championships, makes Saturday’s contest even more significant. Starsia became the head coach at Virginia in 1993, where he has remained for 24 years and earned four national championship titles.
“It is kind of ironic the way things come around full circle sometimes,” Starsia said. “[It’s] coming down to Brown, in this game and at this moment.”
Saturday’s game, which starts off at 7 p.m., may be the last chance for the Cavaliers to prove themselves this season. Virginia has experienced ups and downs throughout, losing three key games by just one point each, and posting an impressive three game winning streak mid-season that saw a win over No. 8 Johns Hopkins and a shutout victory against Richmond.
“We’ve been close,” Starsia said. “That big performance is still out there, and we’re still hoping we can make that happen.”
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