“We’re on a mission a little bit more than last year.”
While Virginia sophomore Rhamel Bratton meant for the statement to apply to the entire Cavalier men’s lacrosse team, it is perhaps most relevant to the squad’s midfielders.
Although the main offensive threat on a lacrosse team typically lies with a team’s attack, Virginia’s returning midfielders still feel as if they were not up to par in 2008.
“Defenses would slide down and favor the attack more, so it would make games tougher when the midfielders didn’t pick up the slack,” Bratton said.
This year, the Cavaliers’ midfield is looking to create more opportunities on offense, and much of that production could come from Rhamel’s twin brother, Shamel, who netted 14 goals last season, including overtime winners against Johns Hopkins and Syracuse during the regular season.
“Shamel has been a revelation since the beginning of fall lacrosse,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “One, he’s coming to terms with what we’re trying to get done. Two, he is having some consistency in his game.”
Both brothers — not just Shamel — will be expected to step up and lead the midfielders this year after making an early impact last year as highly-touted freshmen.
“With [Shamel] and Rhamel both, they’ve been much more consistent with what they’re doing on the field — making fundamental plays [and] shooting the ball more consistently,” Starsia said. “I think they are both going to play a key role for us, and they’ll likely improve considerably because the learning curve between your freshman and sophomore year is probably as great as any period of time. Both those kids have given every indication of taking that next step up.”
Though the Brattons are expected to step up and shoulder a heavier load this year, the most productive returner to the midfield is junior Brian Carroll, who totaled 28 goals and nine assists last season without even starting a game. Indeed, this year’s edition of the Cavalier midfield should come together as a more competitive unit.
“We’ve got four or five guys that we feel like are playing very well in the midfield,” Starsia said. “We have had [junior] Mike Thompson out for most of the preseason so far in terms of our short-stick midfielders. I feel like we’re pretty athletic overall in the midfield. I feel like what’s been a strength for us in these first two scrimmages has been leaving our midfielders on the field a little bit to play both offense and defense.”
A deeper midfield this year also gives Starsia some flexibility with his lineup.
“One of the questions going into the season is whether or not we can get increased production from the midfield, which I think is going to be a requirement to be the offensive team we want to be,” Starsia said. “I’m confident that’s going to happen, but at the same time, we’re not absolutely set with all the different lineups. I’m probably going to mix and match the pieces a little bit, especially early in the season.”
Starsia will need to figure out his perfect combinations as quickly as possible, though, given the obstacles the attack is trying to overcome, including having to start freshman Steele Stanwick on his offhand side and losing the experience of graduate Ben Rubeor.
Even the attack, however, already has noticed the apparent improvement of the midfield.
“I think the midfielders are playing smartly, confidently, and they are playing fast right now,” senior attack Danny Glading said. “When you have a combination of those things, it’s going to translate into a lot of goals and a lot of production coming from them. They’re all playing really well, and I think that you can tell there’s more experience at the midfield and that’s going to help a lot this season.”
Overall, the midfielders are adjusting to the college game after a year’s experience and expect to give a significant boost to the team.
“You have to pay attention to the small things — hustling, getting back on defense, things like that — you kind of took for granted in high school and kind of came easy,” Shamel Bratton said. “Now you have to go 100 percent in every aspect of the game, Looking back on [last] season, what could’ve happened and you already see things going well for you in practice now, so it’s kind of nice.”
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