BALTIMORE — Among the three high-profile Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse teams at the NCAA Final Four, the Virginia Cavaliers are the least likely to underestimate the new kid on the block.
Just ask Cavs coach Dom Starsia, who last week became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I lacrosse history.
“We’re clearly going to have our hands full,” Starsia said of today’s semifinal matchup against the University of Denver.
Defending national champion Duke, which plays Maryland in today’s second semifinal, might still be stinging from its 13-11 loss to DU a month ago, but Starsia witnessed a more complete Pioneers performance just last week. That was DU’s 14-9 dismantling of No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals.
“It was startling to watch them do what they did against Hopkins,” Starsia said. “It kind of took your breath away, frankly.”
Now, DU is two victories from a national championship, and Pioneers players are still somewhat in disbelief.
“This is pretty unbelievable,” DU junior attack Alex Demopoulos said while looking onto the field of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens at practice here Friday. “You look at the stadium, imagine that it’s full and you know it’s going to be a pretty crazy experience (today).”
Denver (15-2), the first team west of the Mississippi River to win an NCAA Tournament game, hasn’t lost since March 12, a 10-9 setback against then-No. 1 Notre Dame. Virginia (11-5), meanwhile, has won three in a row since losing consecutive games at Duke a month ago.
“They are just a very skilled, very quick team offensively,” Starsia said. “They’re a little unorthodox with all the Canadian kids and what they do … but we have to squeeze down those guys and keep them outside the front of the cage, keep them to the width of the field.”
Today’s matchup features DU’s speed against Virginia’s strength, and a freshman goalie (DU’s Jamie Faus) against a senior (Adam Ghitelman). The Pioneers are undoubtedly the quicker team, but Virginia is much bigger.
Virginia is led offensively by junior attackmen Chris Bocklet (41 goals) and Steele Stanwick (35 assists). Stanwick, who also has 29 goals, was the ACC player of the year.
“Virginia, along with Syracuse and Hopkins, has as much talent as anyone in the country,” said second-year DU coach Bill Tierney, the National Lacrosse Hall of Famer who is making his 11th Final Four appearance.
“But to be honest, we just have to continue to do what we have been doing. I know it’s a cliche, but we just have to play our game. We have to share the ball, we have to get our midfielders moving, we have to win the majority of the faceoffs and we have to play sound defense in front of Jamie.”
Do that, and DU could be playing for a national championship come Monday.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Lacrosse 101
If you’re new to the sport, a few tips if you tune in for today’s NCAA semifinal between DU and Virginia.
Possession. Winning faceoffs and scooping groundballs are essential in lacrosse. If you lose these battles, your chances of winning greatly diminish. DU has one of the country’s best faceoff men in sophomore Chase Carraro (224-of- 380), who doubles as a first-line midfielder (19 goals).
Sharing the ball. Passing the ball around the cage is essential to creating good scoring opportunities, particularly when a defense is in zone coverage and defenders’ backs are to the ball carrier. It’s more tiring to defend than attack, and teams benefit from being patient. There is no shot clock, but stalling is called if the team that is ahead appears to be doing no more than clock-killing while with the ball.
Positions. Each team has 10 players on the field: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen and a goalie. Each team must have three players on the offensive end and four on the defensive half or offsides occurs. A goalie can cross midfield if a teammate stays behind. Each team’s middies can play the entire field. There are also specialists such as faceoff midfielders and long-stick middies.
Short sticks, long sticks. It’s easier to shoot and pass with short sticks, and easier to defend with long sticks.
