Sometimes it's difficult to live up to expectations. Right now, the Virginia men's lacrosse team knows the burden of not living up to the hype. The defending national champions, who started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, are 1-4 and free falling down the national rankings, currently at No. 17. Virginia will try to stop the early season bleeding and notch its second win when the team travels north to face the No. 18 Towson Tigers on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Cavaliers are on a four-game slide, the worst losing streak in 17 years for Virginia. The losing streak can partially be attributed to the Cavaliers' difficult schedule, which has included national powerhouses No. 3 Syracuse and No. 7 Princeton. Adding to Virginia's difficult schedule is the fact that there have only been two unranked teams on the slate so far this season, Drexel and Air Force. Another factor resulting in the four-game skid is Virginia's status as defending national champion.
"Coming off the championship, we're getting everybody's best shot," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "We expected that to happen, but we're not up to the challenge yet."
Also, the Cavaliers have not been able to close out games, losing two contests by one goal and another by two goals. The inability to score in the final minutes has hurt Virginia this season, and Starsia is looking for ways to remedy the situation.
"We're a team that right this second is not ready to win yet," Starsia said. "That's a combination of a lot of things -- it has to do with confidence and experience and talent and all those things coming together. It's a fragile mix for guys this age."
In Virginia's most recent game against Princeton, the Cavaliers had three shots on goal in the final minute, including a shot by leading goal scorer Matt Ward with less than 15 seconds remaining, but could not find a way to put the ball in the back of the net.
"I seem to find the back of the net early, but those aren't the points that matter," Ward said.
On Sunday, the Cavaliers will look to gain some momentum against a Towson squad that is 1-2. Towson's last game was a March 13th matchup against No. 2 Maryland that the Terrapins won, 8-6. Maryland opened that game by running out to an 8-1 advantage, but Towson was able score five straight goals in a fourth quarter comeback attempt that fell short for the Tigers.
Ward, for one, expects the game on Sunday to be an offensive battle because of the strategies employed by the two teams.
"Towson's always a crafty team," Ward said. "They always have great sticks and are really good inside. They're also a run-and-gun offense so hopefully that will mean more scoring."
Virginia's offense could get a shot in the arm from another source this weekend. Last year's leading goal scorer, John Christmas, will be playing in his second game back since sitting out the March 6th contest against Syracuse due to a groin injury. So far this season, Christmas, a Face-Off Yearbook preseason All-American, is second on the team with six goals, despite only having started three of Virginia's five games. With Christmas back in the lineup, the Cavaliers will look to notch a key win on Sunday.
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