Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411220038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``Boy, I hope I have this burden all the time,'' said Arena, in his 17th season as the Cavaliers' head coach. ``I'd rather be in this position than the other guys'.''
Virginia, winner of the ACC championship for the fourth year in a row, begins defense of its NCAA title against North Carolina-Greensboro at 1 p.m. today at Klockner Stadium.
The Spartans (17-4) captured the Big South Conference championship and made the NCAA field by beating Furman 2-1 in a play-in game. UNC-Greensboro won five Division III championships in the 1980s and finished second in Division II once before jumping to Division I in 1991.
``I don't know a whole lot about them, to be honest with you,'' Arena said. ``Everybody respects UNC-Greensboro. Whenever you see a team that's not on an ACC team's schedule in their home state, that means they're pretty damn good. That, to me, is proof in itself.''
The Spartans have shut out 11 of 21 opponents, but have not faced many teams with Virginia's firepower. The Cavaliers (17-3) have three players with as many goals as UNC-Greensboro's leading scorer, senior forward Shawn Maloney, who has 14 goals and five assists.
A.J. Wood has 18 goals for UVa, followed by Mike Fisher and Nate Friends with 14 each.
``It's hard to say this is our most explosive team when we had the same three guys and [national player of the year] Claudio Reyna last year,'' Arena said. ``Oddly enough, since we're not as dominating as we've been, the game has opened up because the other teams have come at us.''
The Cavaliers have been only slightly less dominating than in past years. In the past three seasons, UVa has been 17-1-1, 17-2-1 and 17-3 entering the tournament.
``I expected to lose games this year; I always expect to lose games,'' Arena said. ``I've never walked into a tournament saying we're going to win it, but to this point we've had a damn good year.''
by CNB