Winning consecutive championships in college athletics is by no means an easy feat to accomplish, but champions are expected at least to earn the chance to defend their titles in the playoffs the next year. The defending national champion Virginia men's lacrosse team, however, may not earn that chance this season.
The Cavaliers (3-6, 0-2 ACC) slipped closer toward a premature end to their season Saturday, as they fell to North Carolina (6-3, 2-1) in Chapel Hill, N.C., 11-9. The Cavaliers came up short against the stellar Tar Heel defense despite receiving considerably better offensive production than in the 11-2 loss last weekend at Maryland, including a career-high five goals and two assists from sophomore attackman Matt Ward.
Ward, Virginia's leading scorer with 20 goals and 11 assists, points to effort as the team's foremost setback Saturday.
"We didn't give 100 percent at all," Ward said. "Not one person on the team really played as hard as they could have. Especially when we're sliding like we are now, to put in 90 percent doesn't cut it."
Ward provided a spark for the struggling Cavalier starting attack, which was held scoreless versus the Terrapins. Junior attackman John Christmas followed Ward's lead with two goals of his own, his first since he scored one against Princeton nearly one month ago. His first score with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter led to Virginia's 6-5 halftime edge.
Cavalier goalkeeper Tillman Johnson recorded 16 saves in the game -- including several from pointblank range -- in a spectacular effort to keep the Cavaliers in contention for the win. Unfortunately for the Virginia attack in the second half, the performance of Johnson's counterpart, North Carolina goalkeeper Paul Spellman, proved to overpower its offensive efforts. Following Christmas' second goal of the game at 9:06 of the third quarter, which gave Virginia a 7-6 advantage, the Cavaliers suffered a 21 minute, 41 second scoreless drought. During that period, Spellman saved nine shots on goal and enabled his team to turn a 7-6 deficit into an 11-7 lead.
Besides failing to score during the period, Virginia also committed five penalties, resulting in five extra man opportunities for the Tar Heels which led to two power play goals that gave Carolina a lead it would not relinquish. Two of the Cavalier penalties were carelessly collected outside of their defensive zone, one on an offside call and the other an illegal equipment stick penalty.
"It's very frustrating," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "We made so many mistakes -- things that we could have prevented by just thinking about what we were doing."
The reasons behind the Cavalier mistakes are often attributed to inexperience, but Starsia also called attention to his team's lack of mental toughness.
"It's sort of a virus," Starsia said. "It may start when a younger player breaks down, but the guys who have been around the block are also not stepping up and leading the way for us. It's team-wide right now, and we need someone to step up and take some responsibility for what's going on."
Time is running out for the Cavaliers to find the leadership they need to promote mental strength -- if not for this postseason, then for the future. In the meantime, if the team hopes to climb out of the ACC basement, then Virginia will likely have to deliver a complete performance of strength and intelligence in its final home game of the season Saturday against Duke.
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