UVA's Midfield, At Full Strength, Blasts Hopkins
by Scott Ratcliffe | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia used a
stellar all-around performance to stay undefeated and head into ACC
play on a high note, as the top-ranked Cavaliers coasted by
12th-ranked Johns Hopkins at Klockner Stadium on Saturday
afternoon, 15-6. Virginia (9-0) was led offensively by the
production of the starting midfield trio of Shamel Bratton, Rhamel
Bratton and Brian Carroll, who combined for eight goals and 13
points on the afternoon.
“It’s a big confidence booster, especially playing
Hopkins,” said Rhamel Bratton of the sixth straight Cavalier
win against the Blue Jays. “They’re always a tough
program, and it builds your confidence going into the ACC games,
knowing that your defense can play well, and the offense is
clicking, the goalie’s clicking, and everything’s
rolling right now so we just want to keep it that way.”
Twin brother Shamel, who appeared to be near top form after
battling an early season hamstring injury, scored a season-high
three goals, while Rhamel added a hat trick of his own. Star
freshman Matt White also chipped in with three goals to help pace
the attack. Carroll scored twice to go along with his game-high
three assists, and the 'Hoos also got a big game on the other end
of the field.
After jumping out to a quick 4-1 start less than a minute into the
second quarter, Virginia looked very tough to beat in the early
going, but Hopkins (4-4) responded with three goals in less than
two minutes to get back in the contest. Tom Palasek scored each of
his team-high two goals before John Ranagan knotted the score at 4
apiece, and perhaps that was just the kind of wake-up call that the
Cavalier defense needed.
“I wasn’t that happy at that point. I thought we just
let our guard down a little bit on defense, gave them a couple of
things. They’re going to get some things -- they’re
good enough to just get them -- but I thought we also weren’t
quite as alert defensively in a couple of those situations,”
said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “It gave me something to
talk about between periods, and I think it got their attention
going into the second period. I thought we gained control back of
the game.”
Defenseman Ken Clausen, who came up with a game-high six ground
balls and caused two Hopkins turnovers, added: “We needed to
step it up, so we brought it together and said, ‘Let’s
play our game. We’ve got to buckle down.’ And I think
we did that from there on out.”
The Cavaliers would allow just two more goals over the remaining
38 and a half minutes.
UVA goalie Adam Ghitelman had a big day between the pipes,
finishing with 10 saves. Even though his team enjoyed a comfortable
advantage on the scoreboard through much of the second half,
Starsia was happy to see Ghitelman coming up with key saves to keep
a dangerous Hopkins squad at bay.
“At the end of the day, if you’re looking for one guy
that’s probably going to define the kind of season that
we’re going to have ultimately, it’s the kid in the
goal, and I thought Adam played very well today overall, especially
in the second half,” Starsia said. “He came up with a
big save whenever we had to have it. They were rushing on offense,
they were making some things happen, and it seemed like Adam had
the answer every time.”
Virginia did all the little things well too, as the undefeated
Cavaliers won the ground ball battle, 36-22, outshot Hopkins by 11,
gave up five fewer turnovers, capitalized on an extra-man
opportunity while killing all four of the Jays', and were 13-for-15
on clears. Virginia dominated the third quarter, outscoring the
Blue Jays 5-1 to help seal the win.
The Cavaliers also did a great job of shutting down Hopkins senior
attacker Steven Boyle, who came into the contest with a
team-leading 33 points on the year. On Saturday, Boyle -- ranked
sixth in Div. I in points per game (4.71) and 10th in goals per
game (3) -- was held to just one assist.
Shamel Bratton, regarded as one of the nation’s top middies,
is glad to see that his brother has made an important impact during
the first half of the season, and realizes that the Cavaliers are
more of a reckoning force with he, Rhamel and Carroll on the field
together with Chris Bocklet, Steele Stanwick and White on
attack.
“That’s so important, because you always want your
third middie, all three guys on the midfield line to be playing
well, and he’s playing way more consistent this year,”
said Shamel. “We always knew that he had the potential. He
just had to see it in himself and start hitting shots and getting
his confidence, and he’s got all of it this year.”
The Blue Jays, who have now lost three games in a row and four of
their last five, have also now dropped 12 of the last 14 meetings
with the Cavs. It doesn’t get any easier for coach Dave
Pietramala’s troops, who will host No. 3 North Carolina on
Saturday.
Virginia enters, as Starsia refers to it, "the meat grinder" part
of its season, which begins in College Park on Saturday at No. 4
Maryland. That match-up will be the first of three very tough ACC
regular season affairs for the Cavaliers before taking on UNC in
the Big City Classic in East Rutherford, N.J., the following week,
and then hosting No. 7 Duke on April 10.
“It’s an iron schedule, and in the ACC, all four teams
are really and truly in the top five or six teams in the
country,” Starsia admits. “They’re our most
physical lacrosse games… but it is what it is and
we’ve got to get ready to play, and we’ve got another
tough game in College Park next weekend.”
News & Notes
With the win Saturday, Virginia again claimed the Doyle Smith Cup,
the fifth of five. The annual contest between the two schools
honors the life and contributions of the late E. Doyle Smith, who
served as team manager and statistician for Johns Hopkins from
1963-68 before enrolling at Virginia, where he would assume the
role of sports information director for the next 31 years. Smith
was a key member of the USILA for 22 years, serving as information
director, and was the first non-player, non-coach to be inducted in
the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2000.
