COLLEGE PREVIEW 2014 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20 9 S
Enemy Lines WHAT RIVAL COACHES SAY
“Talent all over the field without a true offensive leader or distributor… LaPierre returning will be a huge boost. He makes plays that rally the team and change the complexion of a game… Cockerton will continue to score goals; Emery and Tucker will continue to shoot the ball from everywhere… New system defensively with Joe Starsia. This part of the field has been a major Achilles’ heel.”
Virginia CAVALIERS
2013 RECORD: 7-8 (0-3 ACC) COACH: DOM STARSIA (22ND YEAR) • RECORD AT VIRGINIA: 247-84
09 10 11 12 13
Schedule Feb 6 Feb 8
Key Game So much for this being a
Rhody Heller
fun, early-season barometer. Now it’s a crucial ACC game, especially with the threat of the bottom two teams falling into the 5-6 game in the ACC tournament. Virginia must hold serve at home.
Feb 15 Feb 22 Feb 25 Feb 28 Mar 8
Mar 16 Mar 22 Mar 25 Mar 30 Apr 5
Apr 11 Apr 19
Loyola
at Richmond at Drexel Rutgers
at Mount St. Mary’s Syracuse at Cornell
at Notre Dame Johns Hopkins VMI
at Maryland
at North Carolina Duke
Bellarmine
Projected Starters A Mark Cockerton* (Sr.) G: 49
hortly after Virginia’s season concluded about a month earlier than it normally does, coach Dom Starsia sat down
with rising junior goalie Rhody Heller, who logged most of the time in the cage during the Cavaliers’ disappointing 2013 season and faced as many questions as anyone other than Starsia about Virginia’s difficulties on defense. It was a role no one in Virginia’s program
would have expected Heller to fill until a few months before the season opener, and nearly everyone would acknowledge none of the options were fully ready for the Cavaliers’ rigorous schedule. Still, it was time to acknowledge a truth as Virginia moved into 2014. “I give you a lot
of credit, but we have to be better in the goal next year,” Starsia said he told Heller. “I
don’t think he was angry or disappointed. I have a lot of faith Rhody will give us a big- boy year in the goal. We’ll benefit from the trials he was subjected to last year.” Unless, of course, it’s another goalie
who claims the job. Starsia is perhaps the sport’s most transparent coach, but in this case he is
40 LACROSSE MAGAZINE February 2014 >>
Top Returner A MARK COCKERTON (SR.)
Cockerton has become one of the most effective finishers in the game and is good for a highlight-reel goal per game.
holding off naming a starter until at least the Cavaliers’ preseason scrimmage. Heller would be a logical candidate, but sophomore Dan Marino and freshman Matt Barrett are possibilities as well. Of course, Virginia didn’t finish below
.500 solely because of its goalie play, and the experience of a rare losing season in Charlottesville has ensured Starsia has his team’s attention and can effectively sell the Cavaliers as a bit of an underdog. Virginia lost Nick O’Reilly on attack and
needs production from someone other than Mark Cockerton. That would make the offense more efficient and less reliant on a talented midfield that sometimes sprays shots all over the place. “Midfield shooting and midfield offense being your primary way to score is a dangerous way to make a living,” Starsia said. Still, the biggest uncertainty hovering
over the Cavaliers is in goal. “With the experience that Heller and
Marino had last year, I’m confident this year we’ll be better,” Starsia said. “The question is how much better.” Check back in May, because answer will
go a long way to determining the course of the Cavaliers’ season.
— P.S. A Publication of US Lacrosse
A James Pannell (So.) G: 7
A: 7 A: 5
A Owen Van Arsdale* (Jr.) G: 11
M Rob Emery* (Sr.) G: 22
M Ryan Tucker* (Jr.) G: 15
A: 17 A: 6 A: 5
M Zed Williams (Fr.) G: 95
FO Mick Parks* (Jr.) FO%: 53.9
LSM Tanner Ottenbreit (Jr.) GB: 12
D Greg Danseglio* (Jr.) GB: 35
D Tanner Scales (So.) GB: 33
*returning starters X-Factor G RHODY HELLER (JR.)
Whether it’s Heller or sophomore Dan Marino or even freshman Matt Barrett, Virginia’s ceiling will rise or collapse based on its ability to find a goalie who can regularly stop more than half the shots he sees.
Power Ratings (SCALE OF 1-5)
4 4 2 3 OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FACEOFF
CT: 36 CT: 25
D Scott McWilliams* (Sr.) GB: 48
G Rhody Heller* (Jr.) GAA: 11.52 SV%: 48.2
A: 77 (at Silver Creek) Pts: 2 CT: 7 CT: 8
Tournament Trend
FINAL FOUR FINAL FOUR
NCAA CHAMPIONS QUARTERS
©ANDREW SHURTLEFF (RH); ©PEYTON WILLIAMS (MC)
©GREG WALL (RF, BR); ©MARC PISCOTTY (LT)
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