Although statistics may not reflect his importance to the team, 6-foot captain junior short-stick midfielder Will Barrow has proved vital to an undefeated 8-0 Virginia men's lacrosse team.
"There has never been any doubt in my mind of what Will's value to the team is; when we don't have him, there is a big hole to fill there, and it's not usually filled by one guy but by committee," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "When he is on his game and in shape and healthy the way he has been recently, I am not sure there is a better player in the country to do what we ask him to do."
Barrow plays a position that traditionally is not glorified, yet requires the most versatility. Although coaches and true lacrosse fans may understand what the position demands, it often goes unnoticed. As a midfielder, Barrow is a key component to both sides of the ball, defensively as well as offensively, allowing him to become a pivotal component in ball transition.
"The position entails the full range of what we try to do as a program," Starsia said. "Those guys [midfielders] epitomize Virginia lacrosse as much as anyone else in terms of playing the full field and getting from end to end as quickly as possible."
Barrow has enabled Virginia to continue playing in that style, which Starsia explains as the core of the team's strategy.
"A lot of teams will take that defensive middie and run him off the field after they have regained the ball," Starsia said. "We like to leave that guy out there, and if we can catch the other team's offensive midfielders on the field on defense, we feel like we can take advantage of that."
In Virginia's overtime 14-13 win against Syracuse March 1, Barrow depicted his indispensability with his OT clearing play, where he was knocked to the ground while picking up a bouncing, clearing pass yet hung onto the ball and cleared it himself.
On a team that has outscored opponents 129-67 this season, it is not difficult to get lost in the numbers; however, one of the most fundamental components of lacrosse is ball movement. Barrow's three goals, two assists and 17 ground balls this season are not representative of his efforts.
"Will pushes the ball on transition and beats guys when he has it in his stick; he's definitely an unsung hero," fellow midfielder junior Danny Glading said, "What he does doesn't necessarily show up in the stats, but he definitely adds another threat for us offensively."
According to Starsia, Barrow has stepped up to the task and has "picked up more of the load" after having graduated Ricky Smith, a defender crucial in ball transition last year.
"Losing Ricky was big
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