SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2010
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
KLMNO
COLLEGES
Cavs honor Love, coast to victory
Top-seeded Virginia routs Mount St. Mary’s on emotional night
by Zach Berman
BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS
With Simon Gagné, left, back in the lineup, Mike Richards and the Flyers have won four straight as their unlikely run continues.
Flyers, Canadiens
make surprising pair
Lowest-seeded teams play for finals berth
by Tarik El-Bashir
History suggests the Phila- delphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens should be carrying golf clubs right about now. But on Sunday, they’ll have hockey sticks in their hands — and Stanley Cup aspirations on their minds — when, for the first time, the Eastern Confer- ence finals will feature the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. Each team’s path to this point is as remarkable as it is unlikely. Ten days ago, the injury-rid- dled Flyers, a team that qual- ified for the postseason via a shootout victory in the regular season finale, went down three games to none to the Boston Bruins. On Friday, they com- pleted the rarest of comebacks, becoming only the third team — in 162 attempts — to rally from the NHL’s equivalent of a death sentence. And they pulled it off by rallying from a 3-0 first period hole, joining the Washington Capitals (1988) and Edmonton Oilers (1991) as the only teams to overcome a three- goal deficit in a Game 7. “Out of 16 [playoff] teams
there’s only one team that we can play that we could have home ice advantage,” Flyers for- ward Danny Briere said, “and you know it happened. So this whole thing is unbelievable.” Opposite Briere and the Fly-
ers at Wachovia Center ice will be Jaroslav Halak and the Cana- diens, the first eighth seed to contend for the conference title since the current playoff format was adopted in 1994. Montreal rallied from a three-games-to- one deficit against the Presi- dents’ Trophy-winning Wash- ington Capitals in the quarterfi- nals, then closed out venerable Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh by ousting the defending champi- on Penguins in a seven-game, second-round classic. “When you see how they’re
playing,” said Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau, who noted re- cently that the Canadiens were the last team he wanted to face in the first round, “you start to think maybe it’s not such a sur- prise.” The Flyers’ farfetched tale, though, eclipses the Canadiens’ — even if by just a smidgen. When Philadelphia fell in Game 3, most considered the Flyers’ season to be finished. But in the first period of that game, it turns out, hard-hitting Flyers captain Mike Richards delivered a series-turning hit. He knocked David Krejci out of the playoffs with a dislocated wrist, exacerbating the offen- sive woes for a Boston team al- ready minus 20-goal scorer Marco Sturm. A game later, the Flyers got a bit healthier. Although leading scorer Jeff Carter (foot) re- mains sidelined indefinitely, Si- mon Gagné returned from a broken toe and scored the first of his four goals in the series, in overtime nonetheless. The Fly-
ers are 4-0 since Gagné rejoined the lineup. Then, late in Game 7, Gagné capitalized on a Boston blunder that might rival Bill Buckner’s. Forwards Marc Savard and Vladimir Sobotka had a mixup on a line change, and the Bruins were whistled for a bench mi- nor for too many men (the 33rd of the postseason as referees cracked down on the common infraction). Gagné’s goal on the ensuing power play and Mi- chael Leighton’s 22 saves pro- pelled the Flyers to their first four-game winning streak since February. Leighton has stopped 66 of 70 shots (.943 save per- centage) since replacing the in- jured Brian Boucher (knee) in Game 5.
“I really feel like we’re ready,” said Philadelphia Coach Peter Laviolette, who replaced John Stevens in December after the Flyers slipped to 14th place in the East. “We’re still dialed in. You get one day off. I think it’s a good thing for our team.” Philadelphia may have mo- mentum, but the Canadiens are the more rested of the two teams, who split their four reg- ular season meetings and fin- ished with 88 points. The Habs have been off since Wednesday, regrouping after consecutive seven-game series. If they’re going to “upset” the surging Flyers, they’ll do it much the way they beat the Capitals and Penguins: with Halak’s scintillating play in net, the smothering defense of Josh Gorges and Hal Gill and Mike Cammalleri’s pinpoint shots from the right circle. Halak turned back 131 of 134 shots in Games 5-7 of the quar- terfinals to thwart Ovechkin’s Capitals. Then against Pitts- burgh, the unheralded Slovak shook off a weak Game 1 effort and yielded only 11 goals on the next 199 shots he faced (.947 save percentage.)
Remember Ovechkin saying
Halak looked nervous? These days, Halak has the look of something else: Conn-Smythe candidate. “He’s big, covers a lot of net and his positional play is really good,” Boudreau said this week. “His demeanor — nothing seems to rattle him — and he’s very quick. And now he knows he’s the No. 1 goalie in Mon- treal. That might be a bigger thing than we think.” Halak vs. Leighton. Gorges and Gill vs. the Flyers’ top line of Gagné-Richards-Daniel Car- cillo. Cammalleri vs. Philadel- phia defenseman Chris Pron- ger. Indeed, the individual matchups figure to be intrigu- ing.
But the most enticing story- line of this series is the simple fact that, based on the regular season, neither of these teams should be here. “I woke up this morning, it was not a dream,” Gagné said. “It was true. It was just hard to believe.”
elbashirt@washpost.com
charlottesville — The Vir-
ginia men’s lacrosse team gath- ered before Saturday’s NCAA tournament game for a moment of silence honoring Yeardley Love, a women’s lacrosse player who was found dead on May 3. One player was missing from the team’s sideline, although he was not missing from the subtext of the Cavaliers’ 18-4 win over Mount St. Mary’s. Charged with the first-degree murder of Love, George Huguely remained in a 4-by-8-foot jail cell four miles from Klockner Stadi- um. The incident occurred nearly two weeks ago, during which time top-seeded Virginia re- mained silent while reports of Huguely’s violent past were un- covered. Saturday marked the first time the team returned to the public eye since the incident, playing on its home field in front of 3,355 adoring fans who saved a hearty cheer in the pre-game introduc- tions for Coach Dom Starsia. This came after the 13 seconds of si- lence in Love’s honor. The team’s uniform included a patch that read “Y.L.1.” The same decal was worn by the baseball team and could be seen on the shirts of ath- letic department officials. Despite the questions of the
past two weeks, which included speculation about whether Vir- ginia would even continue its season, it was quickly apparent that the Cavaliers were prepared to play. They jumped to a 12-1 halftime lead and dominated the Mountaineers. Mount St. Mary’s seldom pos- sessed the ball, and Virginia had little trouble finding the net. Sha- mel Bratton started the scoring, and it was 8-0 before the Moun- taineers finally netted a goal. Vir- ginia goalie Adam Ghitelman re- mained effective in net. Ghitel-
S
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PHOTOS BY TRACY A. WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST
Virginia Coach Dom Starsia, center, bows his head during a moment of silence for Yeardley Love.
line that Huguely previously oc- cupied. The team marched out of its
Shamel Bratton shoots and scores in the first quarter of U-Va.’s win.
man departed the game in the fourth quarter after recording nine saves.
Virginia advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, where it plays
eighth-seeded Stony Brook in Stony Brook, N.Y., on Sunday. Matt Kugler, a Fairfax Station resident who played at Robinson, filled in on the second midfield
locker room minutes before 6 p.m., shielded on both sides by family and fans supporting the team. A few players acknowl- edged the fans during the en- trance. They passed stadium em- ployees with ribbons pinned to their shirts, and flowers that were laid out next to a board indicat- ing the daily schedule. Virginia’s players took the field wearing warmup shirts that read “One Love” on the back. Love wore No. 1 on the women’s la- crosse team. The left sleeve read “JTB,” an acronym for “Just the boys” that was adopted after for- mer Virginia player Will Barrow died of an apparent suicide in 2008. Neither the win nor the elapsed time will quiet the unan- swered questions that still sur- round the team, particularly about how aware the players were of violence in Huguely’s past. But for a few hours on Sat- urday night, the focus was back on lacrosse, a forum in which Vir- ginia has proved it’s capable of handling.
bermanz@washpost.com
U-Md. keeps Hofstra at bay in NCAA win
Terps reach 2nd round in men’s lacrosse behind balanced offense
by Christian Swezey
Hofstra did what it could to get some open looks for junior Jamie Lincoln, the team’s leading goal scorer, against Maryland in an NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament first-round game Saturday at Byrd Stadium. Lincoln even moved to mid-
field early in the fourth quarter to try to escape junior defenseman Ryder Bohlander. None of it worked. Bohlander held Lincoln without a shot for the first 57 minutes in Maryland’s 11-8 victo- ry before 1,641. The third-seeded Terrapins
(12-3) advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday in Princeton, N.J. They will play the winner of Sunday’s game be- tween sixth-seeded Princeton and Notre Dame. The defense was a big reason
Maryland outlasted the Pride (9-5). Hofstra’s three leading scorers this season — by far — were its trio of junior attackmen: Lincoln, Jay Card and Stephen Bentz. But Maryland did a good job of containing them. Bentz finished with one goal while being guarded by junior Max Schmidt. Card finished with four goals against junior Brett Schmidt, though two came on ex- tra-man situations and another came with 1 minute 11 seconds to play, after the outcome had been decided.
Lincoln finished with no points and only one shot on goal. It was the second time in the NCAA tournament that Lincoln had come to Byrd Stadium with gaudy statistics and left frustrat- ed.
As a freshman at Denver in 2008, he entered with 47 goals but was held to 1-for-7 shooting in a 10-7 loss.
“Card has that explosive hitch when you run at him with a bad angle,” Maryland Coach Dave Cottle said. “He’s much quicker than I gave him credit for. . . . We had played Jamie when he was younger, so we had an idea. I thought Ryder Bohlander did a really good job on him and stayed on him.”
Said Card: “Maryland did a
great job. They got on our hands and pressured the ball. It was hard to operate.” The score was tied at 4midway through the third quarter when Pride junior Tim Holman inter- cepted a lazy clearing pass by sen- ior goalie Brian Phipps at mid- field, then scored on a breakaway for a 5-4 lead. It was Hofstra’s last lead. The
Terrapins answered with a goal from sophomore Joe Cummings, a transition goal from sophomore Jake Bernhardt and a goal from senior Dean Hart in an unsettled situation — it was essentially a one-on-four against the Pride de- fense — for a 7-5 lead with 2:43 left in the third quarter. The Terrapins put away the game with another 3-0 run mid- way through the fourth quarter. Junior Ryan Young scored two of the goals, the second of which gave Maryland a 10-6 lead with
HIGH SCHOOLS WCAC TRACK AND FIELD
McNamara’s Stroman stars, but Seton takes title
by Carl Little
Alexis Stroman limped over to the fence and draped her body across it. She clutched at her right thigh. She grabbed at her left knee. Through pain and exhaustion
at the Washington Catholic Ath- letic Conference championships at Good Counsel, Stroman cracked a wan smile. The Bishop McNamara junior won three events, scored in another and was
named the most valuable female performer of the two-day meet in Olney. “This meet I feel has been my best meet all season,” Stroman said through heavy breathing. Behind senior Ambrosia Iwu-
go, Elizabeth Seton captured its fourth straight WCAC girls’ title over Bishop McNamara and Good Counsel. Gonzaga, led by boys’ most valuable performer Stacy Robinson, won its third straight boys’ title over Good Counsel and DeMatha.
Stroman, who was on the track for the first and last events on Saturday, won the 100-meter hur- dles in 14.67 seconds. She began pulling away at the fourth hurdle, but Good Counsel junior Teju Adewole closed late. Stroman clipped the final hurdle, which slowed her down a tad, but still held off the field and crossed the line in a personal-best time. She was the favorite in the 300 hurdles and there were no sur- prises. Stroman won by nearly two seconds in 45.81. She was
third in the 100 (12.60) behind Elizabeth Seton’s Chelsie Stevens and Briana Young. Before she took the track for the 4x400, Stroman was dry heav- ing over a garbage can. Moments later, she was helping to pace the Mustangs to victory. Paulette Fo- gle, Stroman, Leia Conrad and Shanelle Debreaux brought the baton around in 4:06.31. Iwugo was also a multiple win-
ner. She went head-to-head with Carroll sophomore Kiah Seymour in two highly anticipated match-
Walker runs: DeMatha’s Christopher Walker won the boys’ 400 in a personal-best 48.17 and anchored the Stags’ 4x200 relay team that won in 1:27.28.
ups and prevailed both times, winning the 400 in 55.27 and the 200 in 24.89. Iwugo also anchored Elizabeth
Seton’s 4x200 relay team that won in 1:41.92. For a Gonzaga team already rich with talent, Robinson was a gem. He won the boys’ 300 hur- dles (38.28), triple jump (44 feet 7.5 inches) and long jump (21-0.5) and was fifth in the 100 (11.19). Senior teammate Billy Ledder won an exciting 1,600 over Good Counsel’s Kyle Graves in 4:19.28
At a distance: Kyle Graves won the 3,200 in 9:18.15, was runner-up in the 1,600 (4:20.39) and was fourth in the 800 (1:58.28).
before taking the 800 in 1:54.18. In the field, Good Counsel’s
Thor Serafenas controlled both throwing competitions. He dom- inated Friday’s discus with 167- 10.75 and took Saturday’s shot put with a personal-best 56-10. During warmups for the shot put, Serafenas had a throw go nearly 60 feet and the 12-pound ball plunked into a wooden bar- rier meant to keep the shots from rolling away.
littlec@washpost.com
5:15 to play. Young finished with a team-high two goals. Nine other players had one goal each. “Look at who scores for us: We
have one guy with two and the rest have one,” Cottle said. “That’s kind of who we are.” The game-within-the-game
featured a battle of ultra-com- petitive faceoff men in Maryland senior Bryn Holmes and Hofstra freshman John Antoniades. Holmes won 15 of 22 and also knocked two Pride players to the ground with legal hits. “John is a fierce competitor,”
Hofstra Coach Seth Tierney said. “I had the opportunity to recruit Bryn Holmes [as an assistant at Johns Hopkins]. And they are wired the same. They don’t give up a blade of grass.”
swezeyc72@yahoo.com
Women’s tournament
Ten players scored for Mary- land in the top-seeded Terrapins’ 20-5 win over visiting Marist in the first round of the NCAA wom- en’s tournament. Sophomore attack Karri Ellen
Johnson (Broadneck) scored five goals to pace Maryland (19-1). She has scored in all 42 games she has played as a Terrapin, which is the third-longest streak in Division I. The Terrapins took 46 shots, the fourth-highest total in NCAA tournament history, while Marist (10-8) took only 11, which is the fifth fewest in NCAA tournament history. Maryland will host eighth- seeded Pennsylvania next week- end in the quarterfinals.
SYRACUSE 15, GEORGETOWN
8: Freshman Tegan Brown scored seven goals and Christina Dove
Lacrosse scores
NCAA men’s tournament First Round
1 Virginia 18, Mount St. Mary’s 4 3 Maryland 11, Hofstra 8 5 Duke 18, Johns Hopkins 5 7 Cornell 11, Loyola 10 (3OT) 8 Stony Brook 9, Denver 7
Sunday’s games
2 Syracuse vs. Army, 7:30 4 North Carolina vs. Delaware, 5 6 Princeton vs. Notre Dame, 2:30
NCAA women’s tournament First round
1 Maryland 20, Marist 5 2 Northwestern 19, Notre Dame 7 3 North Carolina 18, Navy 5 Syracuse 15, 4 Georgetown 8 5 James Madison 9, Stanford 8 8 Pennsylvania 14, Boston Univ. 9
Sunday’s games
6 Virginia vs. Towson, noon 7 Duke vs. Vanderbilt, 2
added four to lead the Orange (14-6) to an upset of the fourth- seeded Hoyas (13-6) in North- west. Senior attack Molly Ford scored four goals for George- town. The Hoyas had beaten Syra-
cuse twice in the past two weeks, including the Big East champi- onship game, but they were un- able to add a third victory as Or- ange goalie Liz Hogan made 13 saves. Georgetown had won regular season and tournament champi- onships in the same season for the first time in program history.
NORTH CAROLINA 18, NAVY 5:
The No. 3 Tar Heels (16-2) jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back against the Midshipmen. Erin Rawlick scored three goals to pace Navy.
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