University of Virginia Library

Cavs Win ACC Title

Hirsh's 'Miracle' Shot Beats Maryland, 9-8

By Tom Bell
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photo By Howard Weinberg

Virginia's Jay Connor Attempts Spectacular Airborne Shot Against Maryland

High Point Man Connor And Unlikely Scorer Al Hirsh Starred As Cavs Beat Terps.

Cavalier goalie Al Hirsh heaved a
75-yard shot into an untended
Maryland goal Saturday with only
ten seconds remaining to break an
8-8 deadlock and give Virginia its
third straight ACC title and an
almost certain berth in the NCAA
Tournament.

The unbelievable shot saved the
Cavaliers from having to play
overtime, after the Terrapins had
come back from a 5-1 deficit in the
third quarter to lead 8-7 late in the
fourth.

The shot looked like a complete
fluke to most of the crowd of more
than 5,000 that gathered at
University Hall Field to watch the
Cavaliers try to hold on to their top
national ranking, but both Hirsh
and Head Coach Glenn Thiel
verified after the game that the shot
had been worked on
before. According to Hirsh it was
actually intended as a shot. The
Maryland goalie moved past the
restraining line, and, as Hirsh says,
"in that situation I'm supposed to
shoot if I have the ball."

Mr. Thiel credited Hirsh with his
best effort of the season in the goal,
even before the final shot. He also
had praise for the entire defense
which held Tom Cleaver, the ACC's
top goal scorer, without a score and
gave up only one goal to leading
overall scorer John Kaestner, that
coming on an extra-man situation.

On offense, Jay Connor led the
Cavaliers with four goals, three of
them coming in the second half
letdown which almost cost the
Cavaliers the game. Connor also
chalked up an assist.

Duquette Tallies Twice

Tom Duquette scored two goals,
including the one which tied it up
at 8-8, and Pete Eldredge and Bob
Proutt each accounted for one.

The Cavaliers had their greatest
trouble of the day in clearing the
ball from the defensive zone. There
were 17 broken clears in the game,
many of them coming on long
passes which failed to reach their
mark.

The first quarter was slow, as
neither team could break the ice in
the early minutes. Duquette finally
came through for the Cavaliers with
3:35 left as he took a feed from
midfielder Doug Cooper across the
crease, and rammed it home for a
1-0 lead.

Proutt, Connor Score

Bob Proutt then upped the lead
in the early seconds of the second
period with a long shot from the
right of the goal after the Cavaliers
had controlled the faceoff.

Ten minutes later the Terps
finally broke the ice with a long
shot by Phil Morino. Then Connor
broke for the goal; faked a pass,
and fired in the shot to give
Virginia a 3-1 halftime lead.

It looked as if the Cavaliers were
ready to turn the game into a romp
early in the third quarter, as
Eldredge and Connor picked up
quick scores to make it 5-1.

The Terps came roaring back,
however, as they scored three quick
goals to make it 5-4. According to
Mr. Thiel, they "took their offense
to their midfield."

Kelley Leads Terps

Tom Kelley led the barrage of
Terp goals with two, and only
Connor's third goal late in the
period kept Virginia in its
precarious lead at 6-5 at the
period's end.

Kaestner got his only goal on a
feed from Dennis Dorsey with just
:27 gone in the final quarter with
the Terrapins in an extra man
situation.

The score remained tied until
seven minutes later, when Connor
broke across the field from the
right side, and fired in his final goal
of the day.

Maryland then got quick goals
from Morino and David Dempsey
to go ahead 8-7, before Duquette's
goal from the restraining goal tied it
again with 2:35 to go and set the
stage for the final goal.

Hirsh Heaves Bomb

Maryland got the faceoff, one of
their 13 of the day to Virginia's 6,
and held the ball until losing it with
about one minute left. The
Cavaliers could not get out of
their defensive zone until when
Hirsh heaved his bomb from behind
the line which bounced twice past
the startled Maryland defense and
landed in the net.

Maryland topped the Cavaliers
in a number of important statistics,
as they got more shots (47-35),
faceoffs (13-6) than the Cavaliers.
Hirsh had 18 saves to 16 for
Maryland's Bill Reilly, who played
his first game ever in the nets.

W&L Here Wednesday

Virginia now has two games left
in the regular season and a chance
to go undefeated for the first time in
history. The next hurdle is a strong,
nationally-ranked squad from
Washington and Lee which comes
to Charlottesville Wednesday for a
3:30 game.