Virginia's Starsia admits team needed win vs. North Carolina
With three consecutive Final Four appearances and recruiting classes that are annually among the top-5 in the nation, Virginia is rarely lacking in confidence.
But coach Dom Starsia conceded that morale had dipped after back-to-back setbacks to No. 3 Johns Hopkins and No. 7 Maryland prior to Saturday’s 11-10 overtime decision against No. 6 North Carolina.
“I don’t think it was an overwhelming thing, but it was just a little crack there,” he said Monday. “These guys were experiencing things for the first time, and there was a little sense of, ‘What’s going on here?’ For a little seed of doubt to creep in, I’m not completely surprised, but at the same time, you’re trying to quell it and say, ‘Look, everybody just calm down.’ In 2003, the year that we won the national championship, we lost to Hopkins and Maryland in back-to-back games in the middle of the season. I don’t remember back specifically about 2003, but I’m sure there was that same kind of anxiety when you were in the middle of that. It probably helped get our attention for practice last week. With us losing [defenseman Matt] Lovejoy, we needed to have a good week of practice, and I think guys were really zeroed on what we needed to do as we prepared for North Carolina.”
The absence of Lovejoy, a redshirt junior who had started every game since the beginning of last season, forced the Cavaliers (8-3) to unveil a zone defense, which they rarely use. Starsia said the defense fared well without Lovejoy.
“Matt Lovejoy was our best and our most experienced defender, and on a young group, that was a big hit for us to take,” he said. “We had to sort of re-tool there. So there was a lot being required of guys. But I thought the guys were really focused in. We played some zone defense, which we’re not a team that generally shows that. But we just thought we needed to eliminate some of the variables from North Carolina, just simplifying the task but not making it any easier. I thought we did a very good job overall, especially on the defensive end of the field.”
Offsetting the loss of Lovejoy was the return of Shamel Bratton from a one-game suspension for violating an unspecified team policy. The senior midfielder did not start and scored just one goal on six shots, but Starsia said Bratton’s value wasn’t limited to the stat sheet.
“In general, players of his caliber, the guys that can draw teams out, open the field for other guys,” Starsia said. “[Junior midfielder] Colin Briggs had a big day with three [goals] and two [assists]. Some of that is because Shamel was out there at times. He didn’t start, he might have played more of a limited role than he might have otherwise, but he still opens the field for the other guys, and it was constructive for us to be at full strength.”
