Virginia men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia isn't quite sure what to expect from his 2001 squad.
After graduating 12 members of last year's ACC championship-winning team, Starsia must rely on new blood to maintain Virginia's reputation as one of the country's elite lacrosse programs.
After winning their second consecutive ACC title, the 2000 Cavaliers headed into the NCAA tournament looking to repeat as NCAA champions. But Virginia's run ended in the semifinals when Princeton handed the Cavaliers a crushing 12-11 loss.
Though Virginia is ranked third according to the 2001 Face-Off Yearbook preseason coaches' poll, the inexperienced Cavaliers will need more than a preseason ranking to get them through one of the country's most demanding schedules.
The season opens Saturday when the Cavaliers face Towson at 1:00 p.m. at University Turf Field.
Three of Virginsix games come on the roaddemanding schedules.
The season opens Saturday when the Cavaliers face Townson at 1 p.m. at University Hall Turf Field.
Three of Virginia's first six games come on the road against ranked teams. On March 3, the Cavaliers travel to the home of the defending NCAA champs to take on top-ranked Syracuse. Virginia faces No. 2 Princeton on March 10 in Princeton, N.J., and travels to Baltimore, Md., to play fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins on March 24.
Starsia stressed the importance of playing well against Syracuse and Princeton to build the confidence of his young team.
"If we're still standing on April 1, then we'll be a good team," Starsia said. "We'll be right up there with [Syracuse and Princeton]. We need to look at the second half of the season as moving forward."
The most notable change from last year's lineup is at goalkeeper. Heralded freshman Tillman Johnson will take over in goal for two-year starter Derek Kenney.
Johnson "is unbelievable," junior attackman Conor Gill said. "He's the best I've ever played against, and that's only in practice. I don't want to put pressure on him, but he could have an All-American season."
Kenney, a junior, will not play in Saturday's home opener due to injury. Starsia plans to use his versatile former keeper as a midfielder when Kenney has recovered and hopes that Kenney's experience will help to solidify the midfield.
After losing three of four starting defenders - including All-American Ryan Curtis - junior All-American and tri-captain Mark Koontz anchors a defense that will be bolstered by the arrival of Steve Burman.
Burman, whose younger brother David is a sophomore defenseman for the Cavaliers, graduated from Bucknell after earning All-Patriot League honors in 2000. He is competing in his final year of NCAA eligibility as a graduate student at Virginia.
Starsia has been impressed particularly with the chemistry of the defense.
"With so many new guys, we're starting from ground zero," Starsia said. "We're going to be pretty fundamental early on in the season. But these guys get along well. They talk to each other and support one another."
The Cavaliers lost two-time All-American midfielder Jay Jalbert, but a solid first midfield emerged during the fall season. Sophomores Billy Glading and Chris Rotelli will join senior Hanley Holcomb, who earned honorable mention All-American honors last season despite a nagging hamstring injury.
Junior attackman and tri-captain Conor Gill called the Cavaliers' first midfield "one of the best in the country. They play good defense and they can run in transition."
Virginia also returns senior face-off specialist David Jenkins, who joins Gill and Koontz as the team's 2001 captains. Jenkins won 105 of 169 draws last year. He and Jason Hard, a 2000 graduate, formed one of the nation's most formidable face-off tandems in 2000.
Jenkins is "a rock. He's the glue that holds this program together," Starsia said.
The most questionable component of the 2001 squad is the second midfield. Seniors Tyler Gilbert, James Kenny and Evan Mancini, along with freshman graduate student Will Quayle, will vie for the remaining midfield positions.
Starsia also expects freshmen Andrew Agoliati and Ted Lamade to compete for significant playing time.
Despite the loss of ACC player of the year and All-American Drew McKnight, player of the year candidate Conor Gill is more than capable of bearing the brunt of the Cavaliers' offensive attack. Returning starter Ian Shure, who contributed 25 goals and 11 assists last year as a sophomore, joins Gill on the attack.
Gill earned first-team All-American honors in 2000. He led the ACC in scoring average (4.40) and assist average (2.67), and his 66 total points were the ninth-highest season total in Virginia history.
The Cavaliers' offense centers around getting the ball to Gill and letting him work his magic. But the Cavaliers will look to Gill to provide more than just impressive offensive statistics.
"I'm a pretty quiet guy, and it's been hard to adjust to being a vocal leader," Gill said. "I've been working at it, and it's almost become second nature. I feel called to lead this team. The responsibility is mine. I'm not totally comfortable with it, but it's what I have to do to help this team."
"I will probably have to carry the offense for the first month or so," Gill said. "Not that it will be do-or-die by [my performance], but how I go will probably be how the team goes. As the season goes on, a lot of the responsibility will be lifted off my shoulders as guys mature and step up."
It might take a player-of-the-year caliber season by Gill for the Cavaliers to be able to contend for the national championship.
"I might have to be [the player of the year] for us to be good," Gill joked. "I'd rather see us win than to put up the numbers to be the best player in the country and still lose."
We'll just wait and see.
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