Virginia 2010

[1moreUVAfan]

play whomever you want OCC - and get roasted like last yr (as did ACC Duke) in the national semi's.

name me another top 10 team with as weak an occ schedule.......thats the point

play whomever you want OCC - and get roasted like last yr (as did ACC Duke) in the national semi's.

name me another top 10 team with as weak an occ schedule.......thats the point

Three points

--the Out of Conference Schedule does not count much when you are in the best lax conference

--as the press release says, UVA has the only schedule which includes all of last year's semi-finalists - Cuse, Cornell, and Duke.

--when the NCAA calculates strength of schedule at the end of the year for seeding purposes, it only counts the top 10 teams you play. So the bottom end drops out and there is no advantage to UVA having played VMI, Mt. St. Mary's etc.

[gotoguy1]

as I expected, you cannot name a weaker OCC schedule for a top 10 team
go Hoos

[dek]

as I expected, you cannot name a weaker OCC schedule for a top 10 team
go Hoos

Again, 'Cuse last year. All games out of conference, weak regular season schedule mostly at home. Only 4 games at risk in the regular season, barring huge surprises.

They also showed there's no correlation between playing a weak regular schedule and success or lack thereof in the post season.

[geb]

the UVA schedule is so lame -vermont,vmi, stonybrook,rbt morris - a joke !!

I love the jealous opposition. They will play 9 games against perennial top 10 or better caliber teams so all will know their pedigree before the tournament. Some of the less heralded teams give the reserves a chance to play. Good idea as well.

Not quite sure how you get to 9 top 10 teams. The 3 ACC teams, Cornell, JHU and Syracuse make 6, plus at least one game in the ACC tournament makes 7 - and 8 if you assume they win their first game (not always a good assumption). Are you suggesting that either Drexel or Towson is a perennial top 10 team?

I do think Dom's schedules lately have been unbalanced. Seven or 8 very tough games - several very weak teams, relatively few teams in the middle. Losses to any of the very six good teams won't be upsets. The team almost certainly wins against VMI, MSM, Vermont, Robert Morris, upsets being almost unconceivable in those games. Of the rest, Drexel is capable of upsetting Virginia, Stony Brook and Towson likely are not.

My 9 teams includes Syracuse, Hop, Cornell. Maryland, UNC, Duke, 2 more against ACC Foes in ACC Tournament & Towson. All very good programs over the long haul & certainly includes the only programs apppearing in the Final 4 recently. If Virginia loses in the 1st round ACC Tourney or you don't consider Towson a top program then between 7-9. Towson had a bad year but are usually strong. Long Time rival, Princeton, dropped Virginia so don't blame Starsia for that one either. Wouldn't mind seeing ACC Tournament go away & adding a couple of other Top teams.

I don't think I'd describe Towson as a perennial top ten team. They've been a pretty good team - but I think their appearances in the top 10 are irregular at best. I'm not blaming Starsia for Princeton - he replaced them with Cornell after all. I don't think, however, that he was about to play both Princeton and Cornell. I would love to see Navy back on the schedule and possibly Loyola or Georgetown.

[geb]

play whomever you want OCC - and get roasted like last yr (as did ACC Duke) in the national semi's.

name me another top 10 team with as weak an occ schedule.......thats the point

I don't get your point. Dom's been playing this sort of schedule for years. UVA has managed to win titles, nonetheless. When I'm criticizing his schedule - it's more as a fan. I like to watch competitive games. And your OOC point doesn't make a good basis for comparison when all the teams in the conference are top ten teams. Name me one team - other than another ACC team - that plays nothing but top 10 teams in conference.

(I assume you mean OOC=out of conference - if not, please enlighten us regarding an OCC schedule. Google lists Orange County Choppers as the number one hit for OCC. Perhaps Onandaga Community College? I know they were NJCAA champs. Are you suggesting that UVA add them to the schedule?)

[Cyanocitta Cristata]

I must admit I don't see the schedule as an impediment to performance in the tournament. This year's schedule does shake out particualrly well for the Cavs with Hopkins, Syracuse and Duke all coming to "Hooville". It's clear to me that the reasons you have this type of schedule (I think PLB pointed this out) are:
- you get to at least .500 - avoid the UVA debacle of 2004 - and you make the tournament
- you get the chance to play alot of people - maybe keep more of your HS AA's happy - and then the reserves can theoretically step up as the temperatures and injuries rise through the season
- With the ACC, Syracuse, Hopkins, and a top Ivy team you clearly get several opportunities to battle test your team and see where they stand

It's a pretty time tested theory that many coaches in many sports have employed (the elder John Thompson at Georgetown would have played high school basketball teams outside the Big East if you had let him).

The only thing I wonder sometimes about UVA's schedule is the time between the last game and the tournament. This year - even with the Robert Morris game - it will be 14 or 15 days. Is that rust imposing or a great time for rest and re-focus? I guess if they don't win its the former and the opposite if they do raise the trophy.

As a Hopkins fan - all I can say is that the last 4 years have shown that a schedule frought with the "gauntlet" can lead to some very anxious moments.

[Gatsby]

Virginia returns home March 27 for a rematch of last year's quarterfinal meeting in the NCAA Championship, a game where Starsia recorded his 300th career victory over Johns Hopkins, 19-8.

Wow, that's a lot of wins by Starsia over JHU!
That sentence could have been written more clearly.

[realist20]

How many home wins in a row over Hop? How many straight overall vs. Hop?

[OCanada]

I believe the number of wins in a row over Hopkins is 4....2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. 1998 might be the last time Hopkins won in C'Ville. That would make 5 in row at home.

[rasheed]

I believe the number of wins in a row over Hopkins is 4....2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. 1998 might be the last time Hopkins won in C'Ville. That would make 5 in row at home.

we beat Hop twice last year

[HowieT3]

I believe the number of wins in a row over Hopkins is 4....2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. 1998 might be the last time Hopkins won in C'Ville. That would make 5 in row at home.

Yes, the Class of 2009 was the first one never to lose to JHU. My son was born on the day of the JHU game in 1998.

[rasheed]

I must admit I don't see the schedule as an impediment to performance in the tournament. This year's schedule does shake out particualrly well for the Cavs with Hopkins, Syracuse and Duke all coming to "Hooville". It's clear to me that the reasons you have this type of schedule (I think PLB pointed this out) are:
- you get to at least .500 - avoid the UVA debacle of 2004 - and you make the tournament
- you get the chance to play alot of people - maybe keep more of your HS AA's happy - and then the reserves can theoretically step up as the temperatures and injuries rise through the season
- With the ACC, Syracuse, Hopkins, and a top Ivy team you clearly get several opportunities to battle test your team and see where they stand

It's a pretty time tested theory that many coaches in many sports have employed (the elder John Thompson at Georgetown would have played high school basketball teams outside the Big East if you had let him).

The only thing I wonder sometimes about UVA's schedule is the time between the last game and the tournament. This year - even with the Robert Morris game - it will be 14 or 15 days. Is that rust imposing or a great time for rest and re-focus? I guess if they don't win its the former and the opposite if they do raise the trophy.

As a Hopkins fan - all I can say is that the last 4 years have shown that a schedule frought with the "gauntlet" can lead to some very anxious moments.

totally agree with your last point

[Cyanocitta Cristata]

Give'm Hell Rhody!
Brett Hughes reports that UVA lands verbal from Regis Jesuit (CO) goalie - Rhody Heller
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/highschoollacrosse

[cloverdale]

Geoff Shannon reported today that IL's #31 Greg Coholan, a middie from Irondequoit (NY), committed to the 'Hoos. 19g, 13a in thirteen games for the Eagles of Section 5.

[discolax]

what are the likely middie lines this Spring?

[1moreUVAfan]

what are the likely middie lines this Spring?

My guess would be as follows:

First line - Shamel, Carroll, Haldy
Second line - Rhamel, Briggs, LaPierre

Haldy is a very good feeder and linking him with our top scorers makes sense. In my judgment, Briggs and La Pierre distanced themselves from the other candidates during the scrimmages and at the 3-4 practices I saw.

There is always the possibility that Dom will put Rhamel on the first line. In that case, Haldy would get bounced down.

[Powellfan22]

what are the likely middie lines this Spring?

My guess would be as follows:

First line - Shamel, Carroll, Haldy
Second line - Rhamel, Briggs, LaPierre

Haldy is a very good feeder and linking him with our top scorers makes sense. In my judgment, Briggs and La Pierre distanced themselves from the other candidates during the scrimmages and at the 3-4 practices I saw.

There is always the possibility that Dom will put Rhamel on the first line. In that case, Haldy would get bounced down.

No Hughley? I can't imagine him losing his spot on the twos right?

[Baltimoron06]

I think 1moreuvafan might have it.

[1moreUVAfan]

what are the likely middie lines this Spring?

My guess would be as follows:

First line - Shamel, Carroll, Haldy
Second line - Rhamel, Briggs, LaPierre

Haldy is a very good feeder and linking him with our top scorers makes sense. In my judgment, Briggs and La Pierre distanced themselves from the other candidates during the scrimmages and at the 3-4 practices I saw.

There is always the possibility that Dom will put Rhamel on the first line. In that case, Haldy would get bounced down.

No Hughley? I can't imagine him losing his spot on the twos right?

Huguely is a good guy and I get the impression the coaches like him. But when you see him on the field with Briggs and La Pierre, they look better. It's not out of the question that George gets some decent playing time, but I am skeptical. (This is just my opinion and I have no inside information on what the coaches are thinking.)

[DakotaDan]

Remembering Will Barrow: Pomper Raises Money for HELP

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - When former Virginia lacrosse standout Will Barrow died in November of 2008, former teammate and close friend Max Pomper (Huntington, N.Y.) started an initiative that will come to fruition Saturday at UVa's Lambeth Field. The fund-raising event “Remembering Will Barrow” is a flag football tournament, featuring area college lacrosse teams, with all proceeds going to HELP, UVa's non-profit, student-run crisis hotline. Play is scheduled to start at noon.

HELP Line is an anonymous, confidential telephone service serving the residents of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia. It is affiliated with UVa's Madison House. HELP strives to provide callers with an empathetic ear for any sort of issue they wish to discuss and on finding long-term services in the community for callers, such as counseling services, medical services or drug treatment programs.

The college lacrosse community has rallied around Pomper's initiative. Programs from Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington & Lee will participate in the tournament. Cavalier lacrosse alumni, UVa fraternities and sororities, as well as friends and family of Will Barrow, will be represented in the 20 teams currently scheduled to compete.

“The hotline has been underfunded for 17 years with no sponsorships,” said Pomper, a senior on the 2010 Virginia men's lacrosse team. “We want to honor our friend Will Barrow and spread awareness of suicide prevention. With the HELP hotline, there is an outlet for people in need in times of crisis around UVa and the Charlottesville area. This is something we wish Will would have known about.”

Pomper cites Barrow, who hailed from Baldwin, N.Y., as a big reason he continued his lacrosse career with the Cavaliers.

“We grew up together in neighboring towns on Long Island,” said Pomper. “Our fathers are great friends and would drive to games together. My favorite memories at UVa, whether we were on the field or off, are with Will. That is why I want to do what I can to use Will's passing as a positive in helping others dealing with crisis.”

When he died, Barrow was enrolled at the University and taking final courses needed to earn his undergraduate degree in sociology. He completed his athletic eligibility following the 2008 season.

As a fourth-year player in 2008, Barrow was a captain of a squad that advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. He was considered one of the top defensive midfielders in the country throughout his career. During his senior season, he finished with a career-high 28 ground balls, while scoring seven goals and adding three assists. Following the season he was selected in the second round of the Major League Lacrosse draft by the Chicago Machine and appeared in five games during his rookie year. He appeared in 63 games during his UVa career and scored 18 goals with seven assists. Barrow also was a member of the Cavaliers' 2006 NCAA Champion team.

More than 300 people are expected to participate in the event, which includes a barbeque and prize raffle. Former UVa football standout and current Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, a friend of Barrow, has donated signed Dallas Cowboys footballs. The Duke lacrosse team will have basketballs signed by Blue Devils' basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski as raffle gifts.

"As we approach the first anniversary of Will's passing, Max's idea for this tournament and the work of his teammates has helped bring a difficult moment into focus,” said Virginia head men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia. “It is certainly appropriate that the HELP hotline be the beneficiary of this effort. It has been very gratifying to see the larger lacrosse community respond in such an enthusiastic and positive manner. Will is still very close to us all and it is helpful to have some good arise from this situation. In Will's memory, I hope this event will help someone else in crisis.”

The tournament costs $150 per team with a roster limit of 10 people per team for the 7-on-7 tournament. All participants will receive an orange and blue bracelet that reads “Remember Will Barrow,” with the hotline number, 434-295-TALK, inscribed on the inside.

All inquires can be sent to WBmemorial23@gmail.com. Donations are welcome via checks payable to Madison House. Please write on the memo line “HELP – Will Barrow.”

Donations can be mailed to:
Kyle Menendez
222 14th St. NW, Apt. 2
Charlottesville, VA 22903