Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 29, 1993 TAG: 9311290029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"I would have envisioned this as our starting lineup in August," said Bruce Arena, UVa's coach. "It just took us three months to get it on the field."
Two players who had missed significant time with injuries, A.J. Wood and Clint Peay, accounted for all the goals Sunday as third-ranked Virginia defeated Wisconsin 3-0 and kept alive its hopes for a third consecutive NCAA championship.
The Cavaliers (20-3) advanced to the final four for the fourth time since 1989 and will meet Princeton, coached by former UVa assistant Bob Bradley, on Friday in Davidson, N.C. The Tigers (13-4) defeated Hartwick 3-0. Cal State-Fullerton (16-6) plays South Carolina (15-3-4) in the other semifinal.
"I know Princeton is a lot brighter than Virginia," said Arena, who vowed to jump into nearby Lake Norman if the Cavaliers make it three in a row. "We're probably going down there as the underdog."
Then, he turned serious.
"There were times when I thought, `We don't have it,' " said Arena, whose team was ranked No. 1 for much of the regular season. "In the last month, things started to pick up as we got our people back.
"We didn't think we'd get A.J. back, at least back where he would be effective. We knew we'd get him back on the field physically, but whether he would make a difference, we just didn't know."
Wood, who injured a knee in UVa's opener and missed 14 games, scored the tying goal in the Cavaliers' 2-1 victory over Loyola in the second round and got the Cavaliers on the board with 10 minutes, 16 seconds elapsed Sunday.
His second goal was highlight material as he caught up to a lead pass from Claudio Reyna, deadened the ball against his chest and controlled it in time to lob it over Wisconsin goalie Tim Deck.
"My coming back helped Claudio and some of the other guys get back to their natural positions," Wood said. "They're getting the ball to me in decent positions and it's my job to score."
Peay, making his first start in more than a month, had two good chances to score even before he nudged in a shot by Damian Silvera to give Virginia a 2-0 lead after 3:48 of the second half.
"The early goal was important," Arena said, "but oddly enough, I thought we let up. In the first half, Wisconsin may have had the better of us. The good part, I think, was that they spent a tremendous amount of energy trying to get the equalizer."
The Cavaliers outshot Wisconsin 14-3 in the second half and, with Wood's goal with 36:57 remaining, became the second team to score more than two goals against the Badgers in the past 63 games.
"They play a really different style than Indiana," said Wisconsin coach Jim Launder, whose team had ousted the top seed 1-0 on Nov. 21. "They're going to give up some chances to get a bunch of chances, and they say they're going to take them better than you do."
The Badgers (15-4-4) had a chance to tie the score when reserve Shea Huston's shot hit the crossbar with 6:55 left in the first half, but Reyna hit a crossbar for UVa and the Cavaliers also had several futile breakaways.
Technically, UVa has not lost an NCAA Tournament game since 1988, although the Cavaliers were eliminated from the 1990 tournament on penalty kicks.
"There were times this year when we didn't look like a final four team, but those were times when it wasn't important," said Reyna, a junior who may turn pro after this season. "We knew, once we got everybody back, that we were still very capable."
by CNB