Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 16, 1993 TAG: 9305160157
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"I've been a nervous wreck all week," said Starsia, who suspended four players - three of them regulars - before the Cavaliers' first-round NCAA Tournament game against Notre Dame.
No one was questioning his judgment Saturday, however, after fifth-ranked UVa scored the first seven goals and routed the Fighting Irish 19-9 at Kolckner Stadium.
"For us, this is not an insignificant victory," said Starsia, in his first year as the Cavaliers' coach. "We had some team matters to take care of and we didn't finish exams until 5 o'clock [Friday]."
Starsia had decided one week earlier to suspend sophomores David Jones, Tony Nugent, Sean Miller and Michael Vaughan for their failure to attend an awards banquet, but that was not the end of it.
"We scrimmaged a club team [last] Sunday and we looked terrible," Starsia said. "I had a number of upperclassmen come to me Monday and ask me to let the guys play. I slept on it overnight, but I didn't feel [reinstatement] was something I could live with."
The first sign that Virginia was in good shape Saturday came when sophomore Mark Dixon scored the Cavaliers' first goal. Dixon, previously a defensive midfielder, had not scored all season.
Jones and Nugent are the top goal-scorers among UVa's midfielders, but the Cavaliers got nine goals from that position, three each from Greg Traynor and Ray Kamrath.
"Guys rose up across the board," Starsia said.
The Cavaliers (10-4) stretched their lead to 11-1 in the second quarter and it was 15-2 before 15th-ranked Notre Dame (11-3) scored six straight goals in the third and fourth quarter. It did little to brighten the homecoming of Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan, who played and coached at UVa.
"Sometimes you can get up too much too early," Starsia said. "When you tell the guys they've still got 45 minutes to go, they look at you [as if] to say, `Coach, we understand, but look what we've done the last 15 minutes.' "
Not to be outdone by the midfielders, attackmen Tim Whiteley and Kevin Pehlke had four goals apiece, with ACC rookie of the year Whiteley adding three assists.
Pehlke, who is UVa's all-time goals and points leader, admitted he was one of the players who approached Starsia on behalf of the suspended players.
"I got to thinking it was my last year and you want to have the best possible chance to win," Pehlke said, "but it's a step coach [Starsia] had to take. I think guys will have second thoughts about missing stuff in the future.
"I can see where he's coming from. For the last three years, guys have been getting away with so much. They're late for this, late for that. He had to start somewhere."
The suspended players will rejoin the team next Saturday, when the Cavaliers visit No. 4-ranked Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays, who received a first-round bye, defeated Virginia 11-9 during the regular season.
The Cavaliers are hoping for a repeat of their 1988 meeting with Johns Hopkins in the NCAA quarterfinals, when visiting Virginia won 11-10 in double overtime. That was UVa's last tournament win before Saturday. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB