Exceptional athletic feats are not uncommon to senior midfielder Billy Glading, but his exploits somehow often escape attention. Heck, even his own coach didn't notice his prodigious goal-scoring day Sunday.
"He tolls them so quietly," coach Dom Starisa said. "I had no idea at the end of the day that he had five goals." However, others did take notice. Glading garnered honors as both the ACC Tournament MVP and as Inside Lacrosse's National Player of the Week.
Glading has made a name for himself as a defensively-oriented midfielder, perfectly complementing his more offensively-minded linemates, fellow senior midfielders Chris Rotelli and A.J. Shannon. Defenders never draw the headlines the way scorers do, but Glading is especially disadvantaged by the particular effectiveness of his teammates. Rotelli is a reigning first-team All-American and Shannon was named a preseason third-team selection.
Glading finally may be on the right track, adding these MVP honors to the previous week's accolade of ACC Player of the Week for a three-goal game in Virginia's first meeting with Duke April 12.
Only recently have his hard work and dedication netted him gaudy offensive statistics and personal accolades, but his play certainly has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
"I think Billy's been playing great defense all year," Virginia goalie Tillman Johnson said. "Though he excelled really well on offense in this tournament, he's a defensive midfielder for us. Seeing him out there just gives us confidence."
Anyone at Klöckner Stadium this past weekend, however, will more likely remember his ACC tournament record-tying five-goal performance than any of his groundballs or defensive checks. In Sunday's victory over Duke, Glading needed only 13 minutes of the first quarter to record a hat trick.
Similarly, those who might have missed the final and only saw Friday night's semi-final against North Carolina, likely only will recall the way Glading buried Joe Yevoli's feed in the top-right corner of the net with 2:18 left in the first overtime period to notch a 13-12 victory for Virginia.
Glading now has scored 10 goals in his last three games -
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