The Cavalier daily :: Wednesday, May 9,1973 :: University of Virginia Library

Without doubt, last
Saturday afternoon's 17-7
shellacking of the Virginia
lacrosse team by a talented
Maryland outfit proved quite a
few things. The victorious
Terrapins, facing a big
Saturday test against Johns
Hopkins, are at least able to
sleep nights knowing that
they're the best team in the
country.

Maryland possesses a fine
goalie in sophomore Bill
O'Donnell, runs three of the
strongest midfields ever
assembled on one team, and
seems more than adequately
staffed everywhere else. It will
be most difficult for the
Cavaliers, Hopkins or anyone
you can name to handle the
Terps in the NCAA tourney.

Future Cloudy

Prospects for the Cavs
defending the national title
they won last year are 100 per
cent up in the air. What should
still be remembered, however,
is that the 'Liers can still do it.
Virginia, despite losses to
Maryland and Hopkins, is still
good enough to whip any team
in the country on a given
afternoon.

Team Lacks Superstar

What this Virginia team
lacks, and what last year's
championship squad had, are
the superstar players of the Jay
Connor and Pete Eldredge
variety, players capable of
personally dominating a game.
What we have in Charlottesville
this year is simply a very good,
solid lacrosse team.

Leading the Cavs on attack
are fourth-year men Tom
Duquette and Rick Bergland,
both excellent one-on-one
players. Constant
double-teaming of
All-American Duquette has led
to an increased reliance on
Bergland, who has responded
with 30 goals.

Both Duquette and
Bergland are closing in on
University records, "Bergy"
needing only six more goals to
tie Eldredge's record of 36 in a
season, set last year, and
Duquette, a four-year starter, is
only 15 points shy of Connor's
mark for career scoring.

CD/Dan Grogan

Attackman Rick Bergland

Barry Robertson, Johnny
Eppler and Al Sadtler have all
been tried in the crease this
year with Robertson playing
and contributing the most (14
goals). The trio has totaled 19
goals.

Scoring production from
the Wahoo midfields is also
down but, according to Cav
lacrosse boss Glenn Thiel, this
was not unexpected. "We're
not going to be able to score as
much this year," he said before
the season opened, and so far
the facts have borne him out.
The Cavs are 29 goals behind
their pace of last season.

Acclaimed Defense

Defensively, as the Cavs
returned all three starters, the
team was supposed the equal
of anyone in the nation.
Boasting All-American Bruce
Mangels on the crease flanked
by Ed Spencer and Boo Smith
with Ted Coburn in reserve,
the Wahoos were supposed to
be quite high-powered.

Cavalier opponents,
however, have increased their
production over last year by
nine goals, and this was a
development no one foresaw.

It should also be
remembered that, during the
entire regular season, Mr. Thiel
alternated goalies Rodney
Rullman and Scotty Howe
while this year "Hot Roddy"
has been a clear first-stringer.

Rullman, however, seems
rather blameless as not even
Sports Illustrated's favorite
net-minder could be expected
to stop the persistent onslaught
of breakaways, follow shots
and one-on-ones that
Rullman's faced this year.

What differentiates this
year from last on defense,
however, is the plain fact that
the Cavaliers just don't have
the ball as much. Last year,
with the accent on the
tournament, it was almost a
rule that whenever Virginia was
able to control the ball and the
game, a victory followed. This
is one thing that hasn't
changed.

Local lacrosse fans have
been down on Duquette
recently because he hasn't been
dominating on offense the way
Connor used to. There are
reasons for the lack of ball
control by Virginia this year,
but Duquette's play isn't one
of them.

Duquette Is Own Man

Comparing Duquette to
Connor is similar to the
mythical "apples to oranges"
analogy. It was never intended
that "Duke" step in and fill
Connor's shoes. The
contrasting styles of the two
players made that impossible.
"Tom's a dodger, not a
feeder," says Mr. Thiel, and
that means that Duquette is
most effective with the ball,
moving toward the goal. He
can't do that and run the
offense a la Connor.

Midfielders, another area
where some say the 'Liers are
falling down, offers little
better explanation. This year
the Cav middies have frankly
not been winning the big
faceoffs and controlling the
ball around the perimeter the
way last year's units seemed to.

In the two Cavalier losses
Virginia has been victimized by
the strong, fast Maryland and
Hopkins middles, top-line
squads that have simply been
able to out-physical our boys.
This is mentioned only as a
testimonial to the Terps and
Blue Jays. Virginia, missing
only Eldredge and Steve Nauss
from last year's top nine, has
just as much potential in the
midfield as ever.

Virginia, then, is in much
the same shape as last year,
going into the Washington &
Lee game wanting a win to
insure their NCAA tourney
status. With only two losses to
the two national powerhouses,
however, even a loss to W&L
shouldn't keep the Cavs out of
the tourney. The Rutgerses,
Hofstras, Towson States and
assorted other pretenders still
can't match our program.

What should be avoided,
however, is the mood of
"hopelessness" that seemed to
descend on Scott Stadium
during the Maryland game.
"We can't best Maryland," the
fans were saying but that sort
of judgment is a little speedy.
On a day when everything goes
right, I, at least, feel the Cavs
are capable of beating
Maryland, Hopkins or anyone
else.

Having the fans here kill
our chances off before the
"second season" starts is
disturbing. Why they would
want to is even more unsettling
as there's a lot of lacrosse yet
to be played this year. Suicide
may be painless, but it's also
lethal.