The Virginia men's lacrosse team has proven so far that its defense is strong enough to protect last year's national championship. In 11 games the Cavaliers have dominated groundballs, controlling 504 to opponents' 405; have caused 108 turnovers to opponents' 76; and have allowed only 76 goals.
Without a doubt, these statistics reflect an entire team effort. Freshman defenseman Ken Clausen, however, has become one of the team's primary contributors.
The No. 1 defenseman recruit in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse, Clausen is one of only two first-line freshmen for Virginia. Coaches and teammates alike have been mesmerized by the maturity Clausen has shown beyond his rookie status.
"He's got poise and he has a sense of attentiveness in the field game that's a little uncanny for a first-year player," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "He does some things that are indicative of an upperclassman, somebody with more experience, and that's probably what got him on the field as much as anything else."
The area that Clausen has excelled in the most is groundballs. He leads the team with 49 groundballs on the season, which is nearly unheard of for a freshman defenseman.
"Everyone on our defense brings something to the game, and I really wanted to figure out something I could contribute to the players that we have," Clausen said. "The groundballs are something that I really take pride in and something I hope I can continue to do for the rest of the season."
Clausen has also shown his ability to be outspoken on the field. Communication is one of the most important aspects of any team defense, and Clausen has already established himself as a vocal leader for Virginia.
"He's very talkative off the ball, and that's a very strange thing coming from a rookie," senior goalkeeper Kip Turner said. "You usually learn that by your third or fourth year, but he picked it up very quickly."
Although Clausen was highly touted as a high school senior, the Virginia coaching staff had not seen much of him before this year. After initially committing to Duke, Clausen made a last-minute decision to attend Virginia following a scandal in which several Duke players were arrested on rape charges. As a result, the Virginia coaching staff did not know what to expect from Clausen as the year began.
"The freshmen and upperclassmen were all battling [for] what was one spot in the starting rotation," Starsia said. "Because he was going to Duke, I really hadn't paid that much attention to him at the beginning of the year playing-wise."
As the fall progressed, however, it became clear that Clausen was going to live up to the preseason hype.
"At first when you come here you want to just be able to hang with the players you're around," Clausen said. "Once you start getting more comfortable, I think it's everyone's goal to get playing time."
Players like Clausen will have the responsibility of maintaining the winning tradition of men's lacrosse. The way he has performed this season, it appears that Virginia's future is in safe hands.
"Ken Clausen is somebody who's going to be a leader at the defensive end of the field," Starsia said. "He's going to be one of the outstanding defenders in the country without a doubt, but he's also going to be a leader on this team throughout his career."
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