Men's Lacrosse 1996 Season Recap

HEAD COACH: Dom Starsia (Brown '74) is in his fourth season at Virginia.

CURRENT RECORD: Starsia's UVa mark stands at 47-16

1996 RECORD: 12-4 overall, 1-2 ACC

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Virginia played Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Semifinals(16-10 won) and Princeton (13-12, loss ot).

1996 SEASON NOTES

* UVa received a bye for only the second time in the NCAA tournament. This is UVa's 20th bid overall, more than any other school except for Johns Hopkins (25) and Maryland (21). UVa is 5-3 vs. the Ivy League in NCAA play (Brown 1-0, Princeton, 0-2, Cornell 2-1, Yale 1-0, and now Harvard 1-0). JHU leads that series 15-47-1. UVa is 7-4 vs. the NCAA field. In the JHU series, UVa trails JHU 3-7, and Princeton 0-2.

* UVa has now lost four straight final games in overtime. UVa is 5-4 in ot games in NCAA play.

* Several UVa players are in the charts now. Tim Whiteley (159 career assists, record; and first in ACC history; 244 career points, second; and third ACC). Doug Knight has broken into the top ten in goals with 126, now second; ninth ACC. Michael Watson now has 110 goals (fourth). Whiteley has now scored at least one assist in 55 games, a new UVa mark. Knight (177, seventh) and Watson (178, sixth) are now on the UVa career points list. Knight is now first, in the single season goal list 56 (and first in season points 86). Watson is third on the season goals list (49) and third on the points list (75). Whiteley is second on the assist list (49). He holds the career record (63).

* UVa has now scored in double figures for the 31st straight time, a school mark.

* The Radford game was coach Dom Starsia's 200th career game.

* UVa players figured prominently in the late-season NCAA stats(Knight leads in points and is second in goals per game and Whiteley is third in assists per game Watson is sixth in points per game and is ninth in goals per game.

* UVa set school marks for goals in a game (38 vs. VMI), margin of victory (33), goals in one period (12), and in a half (21), assists in a game (25), and ground balls (105), goals in an NCAA quarterfinal round game. Also, goals season 275, assists 178, points 451.

* The All-ACC team included Cavalier attackmen Tim Whiteley, Michael Watson, and Doug Knight, along with defender Tommy Smith. ACC All-Tournament selections for UVa were Tim Whiteley, Doug Knight, Tommy Smith, and Michael Watson.

* All-Americans were first team, Doug Knight (A), Michael Watson (A), Tommy Smith (D), Tim Whiteley (A, second team), and Honorable Mentions: David Curry (M), CJ Ginter (M), and Drew Melchionni (M). Smith, Whiteley Watson, and Smith were NCAA All Tournament team members. UVa put a man on the AA first time since 1988, and 1971 was the last time three made the first team.

* Doug Knight ws picked Best Player in men's lacrosse by CollegeSport Magazine. 

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Doug Knight (56+30=86)
Michael Watson (49+26=75)
Tim Whiteley (24+49=73)
Chris Sanderson (190 saves, 161 goals allowed)
Henry Oakey (23+12=35)
David Curry (30+11=41)
David Wren (14+5=19)
Drew Melchionni (13+6=19)
Tucker Radebaugh (10+7=17)

TEAM STATS

Goals 275-173
shots 859-654
ground balls 938-828
faceoffs 263-230
clearing 382 of 469, 327 of 488
saves 204-285
EMO goals 31-31.