Virginia's Clements returns to familiar position
Prior to Virginia’s 11-2 victory over Penn on April 30, the decision was made to move Chris Clements from close defense to long-stick midfield. Since then, the Cavaliers have won three straight, including a four-goal defeat of No. 2 seed Cornell in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals last Saturday.
Coincidence?
“I don’t know about that,” said Clements, a redshirt junior who ranks fourth on Virginia in ground balls (39) and has also caused 11 turnovers. “I think we’re doing the same things schematically. It’s just that we’ve gotten more comfortable playing defense as whole, and we’re getting more comfortable as everybody comes together as a defense. So hopefully, we can continue that progress.”
Moving Clements allows the Baltimore native and St. Paul’s graduate to return to the top of the defensive zone where he was a short-stick defensive midfielder in 2008 and 2009 before sitting out 2010 with an unspecified injury. To make room for Clements, the Cavaliers shifted senior long-stick midfielder Bray Malphrus to close defense.
“I enjoy it,” Clements said. “I played defensive middie my first two years here. So I had some experience playing up top and guarding midfielders. So it hasn’t been that hard of a transition. It’s been great because Bray’s been playing great on close defense. So it’s worked out pretty well.”
The moves have worked well thus far, according to the man who watches them perform on a daily basis.
“It’s definitely been beneficial because Chris was initially a short-stick midfielder, and he’s more comfortable at the top of the defense, covering guys and running the zone from up top,” senior goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman said. “And Bray is such a strong defenseman. He’s able to play wherever you put him on the field. It’s been great for us because both of those guys seem a lot more comfortable in their positions, and the fact that they were able to step up and do that in the middle of the season is something that has really contributed to our defense.”
