It may have been almost a year ago, but the Virginia men's lacrosse team has not forgotten their painful 9-8 overtime loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA semifinals.
"Certainly everyone has what happened last year in the back of their minds," senior defensemen Michael Culver said. "But they're a completely different team than last year and we are [too]."
The Cavaliers have not lost since that fateful day in Philadelphia, Penn. Virginia is off to their best start in school history (8-0) and is ranked first in the nation according to all three major lacrosse polls. They also own the nation's longest home-winning streak at 16 games. If the Cavaliers are to keep their unblemished record intact, they will have to continue to excel in all phases of the game when they take on the tenth-ranked and defending national champion Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (3-2) on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.
Offensively this season, the Cavaliers have proven to be extremely difficult to shut down. Their versatility seems to be their biggest advantage -- 22 Cavaliers have scored at least one goal this season, and four have scored over 14. One player who has shown a great deal of success against the Blue Jays is Matt Ward. The senior attacker led the team in scoring with four goals in each of the two meetings against Hopkins last year.
The consistency this season in scoring has been impressive too; the nation's top-scoring offense has registered at least one goal in every quarter it's played so far this season.
"It's been a little bit of everything this year," senior attacker Matt Poskay said. "We're finding those seams and finding those extra passes. That's our offense and that's how you win games."
Despite the offensive production, it is the defense that has been instrumental in Virginia remaining undefeated. Last Sunday against the fifteenth ranked Towson Tigers, the Cavalier first-line defense frustrated and confused the opposition, allowing only one goal on fourteen shots in the first half. But some wonder if Virginia's defense can shut down the nation's elite offenses. This Saturday's game will go a long way toward answering that question.
Johns Hopkins also had several questions to answer coming into this season. Despite winning the national title, the Blue Jays lost a great deal of leadership and scoring potential to graduation. The season got off to a rocky start, as Princeton broke Johns Hopkins' 37-game home-winning streak. Then, the team was manhandled by Hofstra on the road. A 14-9 victory over No. 13 Syracuse last Saturday, however, may have put Hopkins back on track.
The Blue Jays are led by sophomore attacker Kevin Huntley, who has 16 goals on the season. Huntley has had some success against the Cavaliers too, with three goals and three assists in his first two contests against Virginia. Despite the relative youth of the team, these players still have a great deal of experience and talent and have the potential to hand Virginia its first loss of the season.
Virginia has lost the last two meetings against Johns Hopkins in dramatic fashion, a trend typical of the series. The last five meetings between these two teams have been decided by a combined seven points. When the defending national champs come to town, there is no need for pep talks.
"It's a big game for both of our seasons," Culver said. "This is another step for us to hopefully win that national championship. I'm excited."
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