UVa men's lacrosse national champions, baseball snags ACC tourney title and No. 1 seed in NCAA tourney
LACROSSE
UVa finished off a miraculous run through the postseason Monday with a 9-7 national title victory over Maryland in Baltimore, a team that handled Virginia quite easily in 12-7 win earlier in the season. It is Virginia's fifth national title in men's lacrosse. The Cavs had one of their worst regular seasons in my recent memory. It certainly seemed like the worst since I started paying attention to lacrosse my first year at UVa, though I haven't done the research. So what changed in the postseason? Before Virginia played Penn in its final regular season game of the season, senior twins Shamel and Rhamel Bratton were suspended from the team. Shamel was eventually kicked off for good, while Rhamel was suspended indefinitely. After a subpar season, many people thought the Hoos had no chance of winning in the postseason without two of the best players on the team--and Shamel was considered probably the best. Virginia defeated Penn easily 11-2, but in the first round of the NCAA tournament, UVa needed a comeback to nip Bucknell in overtime 14-13. I certainly figured that's where the run would end. But the Cavs kept winning. The defense got stingier and the offense attacked like it hadn't all year. Virginia scored 13 goals on Cornell in the quarterfinals and 14 on Denver in the semifinals.
One theory given as to how Virginia was able to turn it around is that the Cavs bonded together even more, dug in, and each player took more of a responsibility of how the team performed, on and off the field, after the twin's dismissal. This is obviously a team that has gone through a lot the past year, given the murder of UVa women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. George Huguely, a former Virginia lacrosse player, was accused in her murder. In addition, in a more x's and o's type reason as to why the team improved, the offense maybe flowed more freely without the Brattons. Perhaps the Cavs had been relying on their scoring too much. It ended up slowing down the offense when teams were able to shut them down. Virginia became more multi-faceted once the twins were kicked off.
Whatever it was, it ended up being a wild ride for Wahoo fans, and an unexpected surprise. My friend who I work with, Matt Lutey, put it best in a headline for the title game in Tuesday's Waynesboro paper--"Hoo expected this?"
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BASEBALL
I watched the entire lacrosse championship at Buffalo Wild Wings in Harrisonburg with my girlfriend, Holly, but didn't get a chance to catch all of Virginia's ACC title game against FSU on Sunday. I have it recorded though and will watch it soon hopefully. The Cavs beat the Seminoles, 7-2, to capture their second ACC tourney title in the last three years. Virginia was awarded the top seed in not only the Charlottesville regional, but also the top seed in the entire NCAA tournament. Virginia's region consists of No. 2 seed East Carolina (a team Virginia took two out of three games from in the first series of the season), No. 3 seed St. John's and No. 4 seed Navy. The Cavs play Navy on Friday at 1 p.m. at Davenport Field in the regional's first game.
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MEN'S TENNIS
The men's tennis season came to its official end Sunday. Michael Shabaz lost 7-6 (4), 4-2 (retired) in what appears to have been a bizarre match to USC's Steve Johnson in the NCAA singles tournament semifinals. Shabaz reportedly left the court after some bad calls by the umpire. Coach Brian Boland tried to get him back on the court but it didn't work. Shabaz also lost to Johnson in two sets during the team championship. Here is a good run down of all that went on, as told by Daily Progress writer Whitey Reid, who was in California for both the team and individual portions of the NCAA tournament., though he said he had left before this match. http://www.mydailyprogress.com/index.php/whiteysworld/article/ugly_shabaz_aftermath/40526
In doubles, the team of Shabaz/Drew Courtney failed to defend their title and lost in the semifinals to a team from FSU.
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NBA
The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night in Miami. Dirk Nowitzki said after the game he tore a tendon in his middle finger on his left hand. He finished with a game-high 27 points but it wasn't enough. LeBron James scored 24, Chris Bosh netted 19, and Dwyane Wade recorded 22 points. Maro Chalmers added 12 points for the Heat. Shawn Marion (16) and Jason Terry (12) were the only other double-digit scorers for Dallas. I hope the Mavs can pull out the series but I'm doubtful. I like the Heat to win it in 7.
UVa finished off a miraculous run through the postseason Monday with a 9-7 national title victory over Maryland in Baltimore, a team that handled Virginia quite easily in 12-7 win earlier in the season. It is Virginia's fifth national title in men's lacrosse. The Cavs had one of their worst regular seasons in my recent memory. It certainly seemed like the worst since I started paying attention to lacrosse my first year at UVa, though I haven't done the research. So what changed in the postseason? Before Virginia played Penn in its final regular season game of the season, senior twins Shamel and Rhamel Bratton were suspended from the team. Shamel was eventually kicked off for good, while Rhamel was suspended indefinitely. After a subpar season, many people thought the Hoos had no chance of winning in the postseason without two of the best players on the team--and Shamel was considered probably the best. Virginia defeated Penn easily 11-2, but in the first round of the NCAA tournament, UVa needed a comeback to nip Bucknell in overtime 14-13. I certainly figured that's where the run would end. But the Cavs kept winning. The defense got stingier and the offense attacked like it hadn't all year. Virginia scored 13 goals on Cornell in the quarterfinals and 14 on Denver in the semifinals.
One theory given as to how Virginia was able to turn it around is that the Cavs bonded together even more, dug in, and each player took more of a responsibility of how the team performed, on and off the field, after the twin's dismissal. This is obviously a team that has gone through a lot the past year, given the murder of UVa women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. George Huguely, a former Virginia lacrosse player, was accused in her murder. In addition, in a more x's and o's type reason as to why the team improved, the offense maybe flowed more freely without the Brattons. Perhaps the Cavs had been relying on their scoring too much. It ended up slowing down the offense when teams were able to shut them down. Virginia became more multi-faceted once the twins were kicked off.
Whatever it was, it ended up being a wild ride for Wahoo fans, and an unexpected surprise. My friend who I work with, Matt Lutey, put it best in a headline for the title game in Tuesday's Waynesboro paper--"Hoo expected this?"
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BASEBALL
I watched the entire lacrosse championship at Buffalo Wild Wings in Harrisonburg with my girlfriend, Holly, but didn't get a chance to catch all of Virginia's ACC title game against FSU on Sunday. I have it recorded though and will watch it soon hopefully. The Cavs beat the Seminoles, 7-2, to capture their second ACC tourney title in the last three years. Virginia was awarded the top seed in not only the Charlottesville regional, but also the top seed in the entire NCAA tournament. Virginia's region consists of No. 2 seed East Carolina (a team Virginia took two out of three games from in the first series of the season), No. 3 seed St. John's and No. 4 seed Navy. The Cavs play Navy on Friday at 1 p.m. at Davenport Field in the regional's first game.
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MEN'S TENNIS
The men's tennis season came to its official end Sunday. Michael Shabaz lost 7-6 (4), 4-2 (retired) in what appears to have been a bizarre match to USC's Steve Johnson in the NCAA singles tournament semifinals. Shabaz reportedly left the court after some bad calls by the umpire. Coach Brian Boland tried to get him back on the court but it didn't work. Shabaz also lost to Johnson in two sets during the team championship. Here is a good run down of all that went on, as told by Daily Progress writer Whitey Reid, who was in California for both the team and individual portions of the NCAA tournament., though he said he had left before this match. http://www.mydailyprogress.com/index.php/whiteysworld/article/ugly_shabaz_aftermath/40526
In doubles, the team of Shabaz/Drew Courtney failed to defend their title and lost in the semifinals to a team from FSU.
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NBA
The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night in Miami. Dirk Nowitzki said after the game he tore a tendon in his middle finger on his left hand. He finished with a game-high 27 points but it wasn't enough. LeBron James scored 24, Chris Bosh netted 19, and Dwyane Wade recorded 22 points. Maro Chalmers added 12 points for the Heat. Shawn Marion (16) and Jason Terry (12) were the only other double-digit scorers for Dallas. I hope the Mavs can pull out the series but I'm doubtful. I like the Heat to win it in 7.
Wow. That's the first I've heard of the Shabaz incident. He ought to be ashamed of himself. If I were Boland I'd have kicked him off the team, too bad he can't cause he's a senior. What an ugly display of sportsmanship
ReplyDeleteyeah i was quite perplexed a little nagry too when i heard it. i was busy over the weekend so i hadnt heard it and one of the sports guys in the office told me when i got back.
ReplyDeleteangry*
ReplyDelete