Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 21, 1994 TAG: 9405210042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Long before she was a prolific scorer, Greer was a first-team All-America defender. And more than anything, she has been a winner.
That won't change regardless of what happens this weekend in College Park, Md., where UVa (13-3) meets Princeton (14-1) at 5:30 p.m. today in an NCAA semifinal.
It will be the fourth consecutive trip to the final four for Greer and the Cavaliers, who won championships in 1991 and 1993. If not for an overtime loss to eventual champion Maryland in 1992, Virginia might be going for a four-peat.
"Just being at the final four is a great feeling," Greer said, "but to win national championships back-to-back would mean a lot to me."
It would cap a year in which Greer was the only collegian to play for the U.S. team that won the World Cup. She also was named UVa's female athlete of the year.
"I was shocked by the award," Greer said. "I didn't expect that at all."
Greer, who played field hockey during her first two years at UVa, came by her athletic ability naturally. Her father, Hal, was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 after a long career in the NBA.
Basketball was one of three sports in which Cherie Greer made all-state at Harriton High School in Narbeth, Pa., located 20 minutes from downtown Philadelphia.
"Maybe I could have been a Division I basketball player, but I'm not sure about here," said Greer, whose teammate and fellow starter, Jill Havlicek, is the daughter of Basketball Hall of Fame member John Havlicek. "At times I've definitely missed basketball, but I don't think there have been three days that I've dribbled a ball since I've been here."
In lacrosse, as in basketball, Greer's primary focus has been on defense. Even now, she has difficulty thinking of herself as the No. 2 goal-scorer in Division I lacrosse.
"My goal this season was not to score 55 goals or even close to that," said Greer, who had 24 goals as a junior. "I'd rather just pass the ball."
That was evident when Greer did not have a goal in the first three games of the season, including a 5-1 loss to Maryland.
"I told myself, `Cherie, you need to get up there and score,' " Greer said. "After the Maryland game, things turned around. But I still don't think offense first. I think defense first and the offense comes."
In women's lacrosse, a defender has much more freedom to run the field than in the men's game.
"I'd been waiting for this to happen," said Jane Miller, UVa's coach. "Cherie has always fit into the system, but I don't think she felt it was her role to score before this year.
"She hasn't really sacrificed her defense for this. We've asked Cherie to play both ends of the field, which means she spends a lot of time in transition defense, but in a set defense she's still one of the best."
Greer is one of five Cavaliers starters from the Philadelphia area, four of them seniors. She comes from the same high school as Julie Plzak, a teammate on the 1991 team and now a UVa assistant coach.
"I stayed with Julie on my recruiting trip, which was good because I was already friends with her sister," Greer said, "but I had a tough time deciding between Virginia and Maryland. It was really close."
The Cavaliers would like to get another shot at top-ranked Maryland, the only team to hold them to fewer than eight goals, but first they have to get past Princeton. The Tigers defeated UVa 15-14 in overtime during the regular season, avenging an 8-6 overtime loss in last year's championship game.
"I feel we're the underdog going up there this week," Greer said.
Nevertheless, Miller said she feels as good about this year's team as any she has taken to the final four. The Cavaliers start six seniors and four juniors and were toughened by playing only five of 15 regular-season games at home, none between April 13 and May 14.
"We're not making any excuses," Greer said, "but it seemed like we spent every weekend on the road or were traveling at least one day a week."
In comparison, it will seem almost like a home game today, when Greer will be playing in front of her parents, who are in golf-course management in Pennsylvania.
"When I was in high school, my dad really didn't know the game and always thought of lacrosse in basketball terms," she said. "Since I've gotten to college, he's learned the rules, but he's still always telling me, `Shoot, Cherie, shoot.' "
Obviously, he knows a scorer when he sees one.
by CNB