With traditional powerhouses Syracuse and Princeton on the Spring Break schedule, Virginia men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia predicted an exciting and difficult stretch of lacrosse for his Cavaliers. He proved correct on both counts, but after securing a 14-13 overtime victory against the Orangemen and a 12-10 win against the Tigers, Starsia can now add "victorious" and "undefeated" to his list of adjectives describing the Cavaliers' recent week of lacrosse.
Saturday's game against Princeton was particularly challenging, but after a slow start in the first half, the Cavaliers (7-0)picked up the pace and intensity and outplayed the Tigers. Afterwards, Starsia said the win was important because it came against a difficult team on hostile turf and in adverse weather conditions.
Indeed, with Towson this weekend and Johns Hopkins, the reigning national champions, on the horizon the following Saturday, Virginia's Spring Break success not only moves the team up a notch to second in the national polls but also provides a confidence boost as the team heads into the thick of the season.
"Early on it is important to win the close ones because winning those kind of games is a skill," senior attack Ben Rubeor said. "You have to learn to be comfortable with the pressure at the end of the game. For the rest of the season, we can draw on the Syracuse and Princeton experiences."
Much to the Orangemen and Tigers' chagrin, Rubeor made his 2008 debut during the break. A knee injury had kept the preseason first-team All-American sidelined for the season's first three games, but he scored once and had two assists in his first appearance of the year against Syracuse.
A week ago Tuesday, Rubeor went on to score four against VMI, the first of which marked the 100th goal of his career. He is now one of only 10 players in school history to have scored more than 100 career goals.
"I was happy to jump back so quickly -- I am finding that the more I play on it, the more comfortable I am with running and changing directions," Rubeor said. "Once I start playing, I don't really think about it too much."
For a team as young as Virginia, Starsia and the rest of the coaching staff have a delicate balance to maintain: schedule enough games early in the season to give their team ample opportunity to improve but not so many that the athletes are worn out by the time conference play begins.
Yesterday afternoon's contest at Mount St. Mary's not only marks the halfway point of the Cavaliers' season, but also was their final mid-week contest. Thirteen players scored as Virginia defeated the Mount 20-2 in Emmitsburg, Md. Junior attack Garrett Billings led the way offensively with four goals and two assists, while Rubeor and junior Danny Glading each found the back of the net twice.
From now until the ACC Tournament, Virginia will only play Saturdays, reserving a full week between each game. This weekend, armed with a perfect 7-0 record, the Cavaliers will travel once more to Maryland to take on Towson.
"I think Spring Break was an important time for our team," Rubeor said. "We were here for a week where it is pretty much just about lacrosse. It was an opportunity for us to get a lot better and I think we did just that"
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