Virginia's Title Run Is Picture Perfect

PHILADELPHIA Only after Virginia's 15-7 victory over Massachusetts in the NCAA men's lacrosse title game before 47,062 at Lincoln Financial Field did the team begin to consider what it had accomplished.

It was the first undefeated season and fourth NCAA title for Virginia (17-0).

The Cavaliers won their playoff games by 4, 12, 7 and 8 goals. They won all but one of their regular season games by more than five goals. They trailed for 50 minutes 16 seconds this season.

"It's a little overwhelming to hear all the statistics about our team," Virginia Coach Dom Starsia said. "The whole undefeated thing snuck up on us, but to come in here as expected and do this is a very special moment for our program."

Seniors Matt Ward and Matt Poskay each had five goals for the Cavaliers. Ward was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

"Our goal was to get better every day," Ward said. "Every week, every Saturday, we were getting better."

Unseeded Massachusetts (13-5) certainly embraced its underdog status. The Minutemen had beaten the teams ranked Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the final USILA poll to reach the title game. They watched the movie "Rocky" on the bus ride to Philadelphia. Someone put a quote from another underdog made good, Joe Namath, on the dry-erase board in the locker room before Monday's game.

When the Minutemen tied the score at 5 following a goal by junior Brett Garber early in the third quarter, the roar of the crowd came from all but a couple of sections of orange-clad fans.

But the Cavaliers put the game away soon after. Ward and senior Kyle Dixon scored back-to-back goals for a 7-5 lead. Massachusetts closed to 7-6 following a goal by senior Jamie Yaman, off an assist from senior Sean Morris, with 7:59 left in the third quarter.

Virginia ended the quarter with four goals in 4:12; seniors accounted for all four. The last one, on a 10-yard shot by Ward, gave Virginia an 11-6 lead. In the crucial quarter, the Cavaliers had the ball for 9:43, took 17 shots and scored six goals. The Minutemen had the ball for 5:17, took eight shots and scored twice.

U-Mass. senior Jack Reid was named a first-team all-American defenseman Friday. He held Maryland career leading scorer Joe Walters scoreless Saturday. He struggled with Ward on Monday.

"He's got a lot of talent around him," Reid said. "He was setting up for shots before I could engage him. I was trying to create as little free space and as little time for him as I could."

The Massachusetts game plan centered on two main aspects: a strong performance from freshman goalkeeper Doc Schneider and control of faceoffs by senior Jake Deane, a rarity in that he takes draws with a defenseman's longstick.

Virginia used quick hands and depth to handle Deane. Junior Drew Thompson won 8 of 12 faceoffs; senior Charlie Glazer won 7 of 13.

That success led to Virginia taking 55 shots, the most in the title game since Syracuse had 56 in a 13-9 victory over Maryland in 1995.

Virginia's offense averaged more than 15 goals and had assists on nearly 70 percent of those scores. It had to be unsettling for Schneider to face that unit, considering that last year at this time, he was playing for Massapequa High and was preparing to face West Islip in the New York state playoffs.

Schneider finished with 17 saves and kept the Minutemen in the game as long as he could.

"Offensively, they are so strong we kind of needed to keep the faceoffs down," U-Mass. Coach Greg Cannella said. "We weren't able to do that, particularly early on in the game. I thought we needed to have a strong game [on faceoffs], and we weren't able to do that."

Virginia senior Michael Culver, the NCAA defenseman of the year, guarded first-team all-American attackman Sean Morris. Morris finished with no goals and two assists and took only four shots.

The weekend was the culmination of a stellar career for Ward, a four-year starter. At Landon, his teams won four Interstate Athletic Conference titles and went 64-3; he was the All-Met player of the year twice.

At Virginia, his teams went 48-14 and won two national titles. The Cavaliers had lost in sudden-death overtime in the semifinals last year, though Ward had scored to give the Cavaliers a one-goal lead with 12 seconds left in regulation in that game.

Ward was dominant enough this year that he scored two goals in the ACC championship game against Maryland, one after breaking his hand. He played his final four games with a protective cast under his glove.

"Going 17-0 is not something anyone expected to do," Ward said. "Once we got rolling this season, we really wanted to do that."