Improved Cavaliers Overwhelm Wildcats

No. 1 Virginia 18, Villanova 6

CHARLOTTESVILLE, May 10 -- Although Virginia was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Cavaliers Coach Dom Starsia still was not convinced of his team's prospects. Virginia sputtered into the tournament, losing two of its last three games after opening the season unbeaten in the first 12 games.

The Cavaliers had not played since April 24, providing a two-week practice window in which Starsia returned to the fundamentals. He pushed the team harder during exam week than he ordinarily does in the spring. The late-season re-emphasis culminated with Virginia's 18-6 blowout of Villanova on Sunday.

"I thought we had been served a pretty significant piece of humble pie that we had to sit with, live with, for the last couple of weeks," Starsia said. "You never quite know how that's going to manifest itself, but I was glad we got off to a great start, and I though that was important because I've had some questions the last couple days and week about our confidence, and you never really quite know about that."

The talent disparity between the two programs appeared evident from the opening minutes. Villanova held opponents to seven goals per game during the season, yet Virginia (14-2) scored its seventh goal less than 10 minutes into the game.

"Fool's gold, fellas," Starsia told his team in the huddle.

By the end of the first quarter, Virginia led 9-0. The Cavaliers added five more goals before halftime. By that point, Virginia validated its improvements.

"I'm glad we were able to play the way we practiced the last few weeks," said senior Danny Glading (Georgetown Prep), who scored four goals in his final game at Klockner Stadium. "I think there was a little bit of a sense of relief."

Starsia said the locker room conversation seemed more animated than usual. He relied upon upperclassmen such as Glading to emotionally prepare the team, piquing Starsia's curiosity about how the Cavaliers would respond to the late-season slide.

"Don't lose sight of what got us here," the upperclassmen instructed in the huddle during the game.

Seven players scored for Virginia, highlighted by junior Brian Carroll's five goals. The Cavaliers dominated faceoffs, winning 17 of 27 and 16 of 21 in the game's first three quarters.

Many of Virginia's top players sat through the entire fourth quarter, when Villanova (11-6) added all six of its goals. Starsia emphasized that he needed to give his team rest -- eighth-seeded Johns Hopkins awaits in the quarterfinals next Sunday in Annapolis -- once he felt secure that Virginia re-emerged as the team he hoped.

"For all the work you put in and for the team you'd like to be, you want to see those results once in awhile," Starsia said. "We've been pushing hard, but you never quite know. It all depends on how you play, and in this case, maybe the time we spent in the last couple of weeks was well spent."

-- MARYLAND 7, NOTRE DAME 3: In South Bend, Ind., the Terrapins got nine saves from junior goalie Brian Phipps and held the previously unbeaten Irish scoreless for 30 minutes 47 seconds in a stretch from the first to third quarter.