UVa lax analysis—from the Middle East! (guest blog)

by Whitey Reid on March 31st, 2011

With the Virginia-Maryland men’s lacrosse game set for Saturday at Scott Stadium, 2007 Virginia grad Caroline Darney previews the action.

Darney, a member of the Naval ROTC during her time at UVa and an aspiring journalist, is currently deployed with her squadron in the Middle East. She’s managed to keep tabs on Virginia by following all the action on the Internet. I’ll be writing a profile on Darney for our print edition sometime next week.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Also, be sure to check out my video interviews on our Cavalier Insider YouTube page. Today, I talked with Virginia players Chris Clements and Rob Emery, as well as coach Dom Starsia.

Go Bockers!

By Caroline Darney

Maryland vs. Virginia: The Rivalry Continued

The University of Virginia men’s lacrosse program finds itself in unknown territory this coming weekend in both the rankings and location as they take on fellow Atlantic Coast Conference rival Maryland.  Virginia dropped two spots to No. 4 in the Nike Division I poll this week after losing a close game to Johns Hopkins University.

Maryland’s Terrapins arrive in Charlottesville with a tough game fresh in their minds as well, a game in which they gave up eight straight goals to North Carolina in an eventual 11-6 loss.  Saturday’s matchup between the Cavaliers and the No. 10 Terrapins marks the 86th meeting of the two teams, this time in an arena unknown to either team. Virginia’s Scott Stadium, usually home to Mike London’s football team, is hosting its first men’s lacrosse game since 1995 with the hopes of setting a new attendance record in the 61,500 capacity venue.
Recent history in the heated rivalry has gone in Virginia’s favor with the Wahoos emerging victorious in the last three meetings, including the 2010 ACC Championship game.  Virginia net-minder Adam Ghitelman pulled off 16 saves in a phenomenal performance, helping Dom Starsia’s squad clinch the title.

Historically, Cavalier points leader Steele Stanwick performs at the top of his game when playing the Terrapins, posting 10 goals in the last three matchups.  Both Stanwick and fellow attackman Chris Bocklet notched four tallies in 2010’s regular season 11-10 victory, while the Virginia defense held Maryland’s heralded scorer, Grant Catalino, without a point. The last time the two teams met in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers walked away with the 10-9 victory in a seven-overtime barnburner that ended on a left-handed rip from midfielder Brian Carroll. 
Maryland enters the contest with a 6-2 record with both losses coming in conference play, while Virginia stands at 7-2 as they enter the ACC portion of their schedule. Offensively, both squads have been able to put up points so far this season. Virginia holds a slight scoring advantage, notching an average of 14.1 goals per game on 32-percent shooting.

Senior Steele Stanwick (20g, 19a) and junior Chris Bocklet (23g, 3a) pace Virginia’s blazing attack, while the third attack spot is filled by a rotation between Mark Cockerton, Matt White, and Connor English. The potent Cavalier offense will have its work cut out for them against Maryland’s stingy defense led by senior Brett Schmidt (36 ground balls, 18 caused turnovers).  The trio of Brett Schmidt, Max Schmidt, and Ryder Bohlander are holding opponents to an average of 6.75 goals a game, amassing 60 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers in the process.  Long stick midfielder Brian Farrell will most likely pick up a matchup with one of the dynamic Bratton brothers as one of their most versatile and productive defensive players with 20 ground balls and 5 goals.
 
Shamel Bratton, Colin Briggs, and Rhamel Bratton provide a significant offensive threat from the midfield with a combined 40 goals and 15 assists.  Freshman Rob Emery has already made his mark in a Virginia uniform with seven goals on the second midfield line.  Faceoff play is certain to be a major factor in the game as Maryland’s Curtis Holmes emerges victorious in 62 percent of his attempts.  Defensively for Virginia, freshman Scott McWilliams and redshirt junior Matt Lovejoy will look to increase their caused turnovers (27 combined) and ease the burden on Adam Ghitelman between the pipes.
Maryland relies on the 6-foot-5 Catalino offensively to throw his height and weight around, and so far it has paid off to the tune of 18 goals and 7 assists.  McWilliams is the closest in size to Catalino in a match-up scenario, but the Cavaliers may opt for more experience in either Lovejoy or Bray Malphrus to guard the opponent’s leading scorer.  While Virginia’s defensive unit has struggled at times this season, their man-down defense has performed lights-out.  Opposing teams have only been able to capitalize in 4 out of 37 attempts (10 percent), scoring only one more time man-up than the Wahoos have man-down. Conversely, the Cavaliers are taking advantage of every penalty situation, capitalizing a phenomenal 60 percent of the time with 20 goals in 33 attempts.

Fans that come out to the game will be in for a great show between two Top-10 programs. The Cavaliers will look to get back to their winning ways and get off to a better start than their last few outings where they had to come back from early deficits.  Scott Stadium will hopefully increase Virginia’s fan base by attracting some football fans that will be on location for the Orange and Blue Spring scrimmage that starts 35 minutes after the conclusion of the lacrosse game.  If the Wahoos play a smart game, limit turnovers, and win about 50 percent of the faceoffs, Dom Starsia and the Cavalier faithful should have something to smile about Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville.

Side note: Both Virginia and Maryland boast sons of former ACC greats that are playing in Saturday’s game.  Maryland’s goalie from 1974-1977, Jake Reed, is the father of Terrapin attackman Travis Reed (7g, 6a).  Jake Reed played for the 1975 National Championship team and ended his career as a two time All-American.  Matt (2g, 1a) and Mark (9g, 1a) Cockerton are the sons of lacrosse superstar Stan Cockerton who played for North Carolina State University from 1977-1980 and finished as a three time All-American.  In 2003, Cockerton was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and he still holds the NCAA record for goals per game with an average of 4.39 (193 goals in 44 games). Although Maryland and N.C. State did not play each other in 1977, Jake Reed would have been a senior and Stan Cockerton a freshman, the same ages as Travis Reed and Mark Cockerton this season. It’s not often that the offspring of two such acclaimed ACC players get the chance to face each other in the conference their fathers helped mold. 

**All statistics used were from http://www.virginiasports.com, http://www.umterps.com, and the NCAA website. Stan Cockerton’s stats were taken from the 2010 Men’s Division 1 Rankings.**

Post a comment