Hidden behind goals, assists and points scored in the box score, face-offs won is a statistic that can easily be ignored. But as any lacrosse player or coach knows, it's one that should not be. Virginia midfielder Jack deVilliers has been winning face-offs for the past four seasons, but he has excelled at them long before arriving at the University. He traces his face-off roots back to high school.
"When I was a freshman in high school [at St. Paul's] I made the varsity team, and [facing off] was kind of a way to get on the field," he said.
It seems like deVilliers never comes off the field these days. He has taken 219 of Virginia's 242 face-offs this season, meaning he is the primary trustee of the job. And what an important job it is. With face-offs held at the start of each quarter and following every goal, the importance of winning the draw and maintaining possession is essential for victory.
"When you're winning [face-offs] early and you've established a little bit of pattern at the face-off X, I think it gives the whole team confidence," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said.
On the season, the senior from Lutherville, Md. has won 129 out of 219 face-offs, a .589 winning percentage. DeVilliers' influence, however, extends well beyond the face-off X. He leads the team in ground balls with 72, and his 6.55 grounds balls per game are tied for seventh best in Division I.
While the Cavaliers primarily use deVilliers, most teams use two, three or even four players to handle face-off duties. In Virginia's 9-7 loss against No. 1 John's Hopkins March 26, the Blue Jays used four different midfielders to counter deVilliers but still only managed a 10-9 advantage.
Consistently winning face-offs leads to a greater number of possessions which in turn generates more opportunities to score. Sometimes though, the numbers do not hold true. In Virginia's 17-2 loss at No. 2 Duke April 16, deVilliers had his best performance ever against a top five team, winning a mind-numbing 12 of 18 face-offs for a .667 winning percentage. As the Duke game attested, no matter how many face-offs an individual wins, it all goes for naught if the offense cannot work as a team to score goals.
For teams like Princeton that preach ball control and offensive sets, face-offs are even more crucial. While Virginia prefers a more high-octane style of play, face-offs are nevertheless important in fueling offensive runs which the team has had to rely on due to offensive inefficiencies early in games.
This meeting of two players face to face, both with even positioning, provides for a unique confrontation. In that one moment, instead of being a war between two teams, the face-off becomes a battle between two players
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