Two of the nation's top faceoff tandems will go head to head at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Klockner Stadium when No. 1 Virginia battles No. 16 Towson.
The Tigers (1-2) suffered a 12-8 defeat at the hands of No. 3 Maryland last Saturday and will be the first non top-10 opponent for the Cavaliers (4-0) since February.
Although Towson's record is underwater, the squad has dominated in faceoffs, winning almost two thirds of all draws (64.2 percent). Virginia has been victorious almost as often, taking 60 percent of its faceoffs this season.
After winning an unimpressive 44.8 percent of draws last year, Virginia has found a reliable faceoff man this season in the form of sophomore Jack deVilliers.
In his freshman campaign, deVilliers faced off 230 times but only managed to win 110 of them. This season the sophomore has built on his experience, taking 62.5 percent of his draws. Against then No. 1 Syracuse, deVilliers had 19 faceoff wins to only 13 losses.
"The key to faceoffs is it helps us to go on a run and helps us to stop one if we need to," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "It can really make a big difference in the game."
Faceoff success clearly has been key to Virginia's potent offensive output this season. The Cavaliers are averaging 14.8 goals a game and scored 14 against a tough Notre Dame defense March 11.
Towson is another team known for its strong defense.
"Towson has an aggressive defense," sophomore attackman John Christmas said. "We're not going to let down at all. We're going to come out and attack them and try to put another one in the bag."
After making the Final Four in 2001, the Tigers stumbled to a 7-5 2002 campaign and missed the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers have had no trouble with Towson over the last couple years, defeating the Tigers 13-8 on the road last season and 12-8 at home in 2001.
With the Cavaliers alone atop the polls, opponents like Towson have an extra incentive to knock off Virginia, but the Cavaliers don't consider the number one ranking to be much of burden.
"We don't feel any pressure right now," senior midfielder Chris Rotelli said. "We're playing well and our confidence is just continuing to grow. We just want to win every time we get out there and we've got a lot of guys who will do whatever it takes to win."
Virginia's offensive attack has been balanced so far this season, with both the experienced midfield and the younger attackmen getting the Cavaliers on the board.
"This team appears to have nice balance," Starsia said. "If you want to be a good lacrosse team, you can't be one dimensional, and I don't think we are."
Rotelli leads the Cavaliers with 12 goals, but Christmas and senior midfielder A.J. Shannon are right behind him at 11 apiece. All three have had four-goal games this season in different contests.
On the Towson side, senior Ryan Obloj is the offensive leader, dishing out a team-high eight assists and scoring six goals. The Tigers' scoring prowess, however, has not been as strong as Virginia's. Towson averages 11.7 goals per game, a full three scores less than the Cavaliers.
Sunday marks the first of three straight matchups against teams from the Old Line State for Virginia. The Cavaliers head to Baltimore to battle No. 2 Johns Hopkins on March 22 and return home to take on No. 3 Maryland the following weekend.
Read More
ISTVAN: Tony Bennett left Virginia in a hole
By Ben Istvan | 5 hours agoHis decision to retire doomed this men's basketball season.
Football lands three additional transfers
By Peter Kriebel | 2 days agoOne common trait that stands out with this most recent batch of transfers is size.
