Virginia vs. Denver: Halftime thoughts
Denver’s magical run to the Final Four appears to be nearing an end as the sixth-seeded Pioneers trail seventh-seeded Virginia, 9-2, at halftime in the first NCAA tournament semifinal at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday.
Denver (15-2) is making its first appearance in the Final Four, but a subsequent debut in the title game doesn’t look good courtesy of the Cavaliers (11-5).
Since freshman midfielder Jeremy Noble converted a feed from sophomore midfielder Eric Law to halve Virginia’s lead to 4-2 with 5 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first quarter, the Cavaliers have scored five unanswered goals.
Virginia junior attackman and Tewaaraton Award finalist Steele Stanwick has registered two goals and one assist, but the Cavaliers are also getting timely contributions from sophomore attackman Matt White (one goal and two assists) and junior attackman Chris Bocklet (two goals).
Other notes:
*Virginia’s zone defense has befuddled the Pioneers. No starting attackman has recorded a single point, and sophomore midfielder Cameron Flint, who scored three times in the team’s 14-9 rout of No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals, is also pointless.
*Goalie Jamie Faus has started 16 of Denver’s 17 games this season, but the freshman appears to be struggling on the biggest stage of his young career. He has stopped just four shots and surrendered two goals from 14 and 15 yards away and another goal from a poor angle left of the net.
*Sophomore Chase Carraro entered the game having won 58.9 percent of his draws (224-of-380), but he is not finding that kind of success against the Cavaliers, who have won 8-of-13 draws in the first half. Virginia also leads in shots (19-12) and ground balls (17-9).
*Under coach Dom Starsia, the Cavaliers are 11-8 against teams coached by Bill Tierney. Tierney, who guided Princeton to six national championships, is seeking his 300th career victory.
