Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505220029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers reached the NCAA championship game last year after losing the ACC final by eight goals on their field.
This year, UVa didn't even win a game in the four-team conference tournament, falling 17-10 to a Duke team the Cavaliers had beaten one week earlier in Durham, N.C.
``After the ACC Tournament, I talked to the Duke coach [Mike Pressler] and said, `It will be very interesting to see what happens to us in the playoffs,' '' Starsia said. ``Then, Duke goes out and gets upset by Notre Dame in the first round. We'll see how it all plays out for us.''
Virginia was spared that aggravation of a first-round game when it was awarded the second seed out of the 12 teams in the Division I field. The Cavaliers received a bye and will meet Brown, a Final Four team last year and a 17-9 winner over Cornell last Saturday in the first round.
The opening faceoff is at 1:30 p.m. today at Klockner Stadium, with the winner advancing to the NCAA semifinals next Saturday in College Park, Md.
It will be Starsia's first game against Brown, where he was the head men's lacrosse coach from 1983 until he was hired by Virginia in 1992. The Bears are coached by Peter Lasagna, a former Starsia assistant and younger brother of Starsia's wife, Kristin.
Starsia, who said his wife will be most preoccupied with the family angle, was pleased when the pairings reflected a second-round date with an Ivy League team.
``I'm really glad that we're paired against the winner [between] two teams we haven't played,'' said Starsia, noting that three ACC rivals were in the opposite bracket.
The Cavaliers (11-2) will be playing their first game in 22 days, although Starsia is not concerned with rustiness. In its first game after the ACC Tournament, UVa routed Maryland-Baltimore County 26-9.
``I'd like to think we're back on track,'' Starsia said. ``If somebody wants to give us a win in that Duke game, I'll take it, but I think it set us in the right direction. I was shocked by how we played in that game.
``We've had a little sharper edge in practice the last three weeks.''
Brown (10-5) is one of the hottest teams in the country, with seven victories in its last eight games.
The Bears are led by junior attackman David Evans, who has scored 48 goals, three more than record-setting UVa sophomore attackman Doug Knight.
by CNB