Revenge might be a dish best served cold, but the frigid conditions did not stop a record crowd of 7,440 people from watching the No. 1 Virginia men's lacrosse team (9-0) defeat defending national champion No. 9 Johns Hopkins (3-3) 12-6 Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.
The win avenges a heartbreaking loss to the Blue Jays in last year's NCAA tournament and continues Virginia's 17-game home winning streak. The Cavaliers also received the inaugural Doyle Smith Cup, named after the Hopkins alum and long-time sports information director at the University.
The game started off on the right note for Virginia when sophomore attacker Ben Rubeor took a feed from senior Matt Ward and scored his first of two goals to give the Cavaliers the lead with 10:11 to go in the first quarter. The Blue Jays answered with a goal by attacker Kevin Huntley to tie the game at one with 6:57 remaining in the first quarter.
Minutes later, Virginia's Kyle Dixon and Paul Rabil of Johns Hopkins exchanged goals in a span of 12 seconds to keep the score deadlocked. In the waning minute of the first quarter, senior midfielder Drew Thompson read the defender and stole the ball, leading to a score by Matt Poskay to give Virginia the lead after one quarter.
Virginia would go on to score the next four goals of the game thanks to a stifling defensive performance by the Cavaliers which held the Blue Jays scoreless for 38 minutes. When Michael Doneger finally broke the drought for Hopkins, there was only 11:40 left in the game. The Cavaliers responded with four more unanswered goals to make the score 11-3 and lock up a huge rivalry-game victory. The complete team effort showed there is more to Virginia than its high-powered offense.
"When is the last time you heard that Virginia plays good defense?" Virginia coach Dom Starsia asked. "We lead the country in scoring, that's all anyone wants to talk about. But I felt early on that we could defend these guys."
The Cavalier defense was led by junior Ricky Smith. Smith picked up a team-high seven ground balls and was seemingly all over the field. Senior captain Michael Culver helped out as well, shutting down a talented offense and contributing a goal on a fast break in the third quarter. Their leadership proved to be the difference against a relatively young Hopkins team that seemed a bit rattled from the beginning. In a series that is 102 years old, this was the first time that Hopkins has scored fewer than seven goals.
"We had to go out there and prove a point," Smith said. "We're really physical and this is the first game we got to show that."
Ten different Cavaliers scored a goal in this game, with Rubeor and freshman Danny Glading leading the way with two each. Senior Matt Ward had an off shooting day, going only 1-11, but he also picked up two assists to keep the Virginia offense running.
Virginia must now set its eyes on the ACC season. The Cavaliers have not won an ACC Championship since 2003, and even though winning the Doyle Smith Cup is a great accomplishment, it's not the only trophy they are concerned about.
"This is my third year here and we still don't have an ACC trophy," Thompson said. "I really want one."
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