The records, the rankings, even the date of the game are almost exactly the same as they were last year. Virginia hopes that at least the result will be different this time around.
The No. 3 Cavaliers take on No. 15 Penn State at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. In the first meeting between the two squads since the Nittany Lions upset the Cavaliers 13-8 April 27, 2002, handing Virginia its largest defeat of the season.
This year's Penn State team (6-5) will be the lowest--ranked squad to play the Cavaliers since unranked Drexel fell to Virginia 19-8 in the season opener, but the Cavaliers (9-2) want to make sure they don't overlook the Nittany Lions again this season.
"Penn State rocked us last year and is one of the more talented teams around," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "I don't want to put too much on all of our shoulders, but we got our work cut out for us this weekend. This is a dangerous game this weekend, and I don't think I'm just making that up."
Virginia won its first ACC tournament championship since 2000 last weekend at Klöckner and has won four straight games overall. As hot as the Cavaliers have been, however, Penn State is even hotter.
The Nittany Lions have taken five games in a row to climb out of an early--season 1-5 hole and back into the top 15. In that stretch, the Nittany Lions handed No. 4 Massachusetts its only defeat of the season and, most recently, defeated No. 8 Rutgers last weekend.
Penn State has been able to keep most of their games low scoring this year, which may pose a problem to the Cavaliers, who are 9-0 when scoring ten goals or more and 0-2 when failing to reach double digits on the scoreboard.
Even so, the Cavaliers still are the overwhelming favorite coming into this game. Virginia has maintained one of the top winning percentages in the country despite playing the nation's toughest schedule, and after last year's surprise loss, the Cavaliers are determined not to let Penn State beat them again.
"Maybe we overlooked Penn State last year," junior defenseman Brett Hughes said. "But I am very confident this year because of our senior class. They're not gonna let us overlook this team coming into our place this weekend."
Senior midfielder Billy Glading comes into this weekend's game as the reigning ACC tournament MVP and Inside Lacrosse national player of the week. In the tournament, Glading tied a tournament record with five goals in Sunday's championship game against Duke. He also scored the winning overtime goal in the semifinal matchup against North Carolina.
In addition to Glading's heroics, the Virginia starting midfield as a whole had an impressive performance in the championship game. Senior A. J. Shannon added three goals of his own against the Blue Devils and senior Chris Rotelli, recently named this season's ACC Player of the Year, dished out three assists in the victory.
Despite the consistent performance of the midfield throughout the season, the Cavaliers as a whole have struggled to play on top of their game for all 60 minutes on the field.
In both of Virginia's losses this season, the Cavaliers went over 30 minutes without scoring. Even in Virginia's more recent wins, the squad has struggled early on before pulling away in the second half.
"We have been a second half team all year," Starsia said. "I really like that characteristic about us, but I'd like us to figure out that whole first half thing. I think we're still looking for a 60 minute game, and hopefully it's still ahead for us."
The Cavaliers return to Klöckner only two days after the Penn State game to take on unranked Denver in the season finale. The ACC tournament victory ensures Virginia will get a bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins May 10.
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