The Virginia men's lacrosse team plans to extend its five-game win streak tonight against Radford at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.
The No. 2 Cavaliers (5-1, 1-0 ACC) captured a defining 11-6 win at No. 6 Maryland Saturday. Virginia last lost March 4 to Syracuse, which now holds the nation's No. 1 ranking. Since then, the defending champion Cavs have held off their opponents without difficulty, winning each of the subsequent five games by a sizable margin.
Radford (1-5) has yet to win a game on the road this season, with its lone victory coming at home March 18 in a tight 10-9 match against Limestone. In their game Saturday, the Highlanders fell at Stony Brook, 11-7.
The Cavaliers expect to maintain control against the Highlanders despite the absence of star defenseman Ryan Curtis. The senior All-American missed Virginia's win in College Park after suffering a cut on his hand in an off-field incident. But senior Court Weisleder, sophomore Mark Koontz and the rest of the Virginia defense hope to shut down the Radford offense nonetheless, especially Highlander senior attackman David Benes.
Even with Curtis out, the Cavs still feature a formidable last line of defense in sophomore goalie Derek Kenney.
Commanding the Cavaliers on offense are All-American attackmen Drew McKnight and Conor Gill. Together, McKnight and Gill scored five of Virginia's 11 goals against Maryland. McKnight, one of five senior captains, is currently among the leading scorers in the nation with 16 goals, while Gill boasts 11 goals on the season.
If McKnight, Gill and the Cav offense are as proficient as usual tonight, some of the younger members of the Cavalier team should get a chance for valuable playing experience.
"It's certainly a game where if we play well, we'll be in control," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "Hopefully it will be a chance to run through some patterns and get some people out there. It comes at a nice time for us, because with the stretch of games that we've had, we haven't had a lot of people that have been able to play for us, and hopefully we can get some people in the game."
Outside observers might expect an easy Virginia victory, but Gill said the Cavaliers do not plan to back off.
"It's the same thing every time we go out there," Gill said. "We don't really change our offense or our defense for the other team. We just keep the ball hot, and we have enough good players that if we keep the ball moving, good things are going to happen"
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