University of Virginia Library

Navy's Stickmen
Are Looking Good

By Winston Wood
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

With Navy's 6-4 upset victory
over the Mount Washington
Lacrosse Club Saturday a new light
will be cast on the race for the
national championship, a race in
which Virginia is very much a part.

The Middles were able to pull
off an upset over the Wolfpack for
the second year in a row, giving
future opponents a preview of an
excellent defense and a more than
adequate attack. The key man in
the victory was Greg Murphy, the
only senior defenseman. He held
Joe Cowan, the best collegiate
attackman in the country last year
to only two assists. "Murphy kept
Cowan away from the goal," said
head coach Bill Bilderback, "and
that took away their punch. We
didn't do a lot of scoring, but our
boys were quick, very quick all
around. If we get our attack moving
we're going to give lots of people a
lot of trouble."

Before the season the Middles
were predicted to end up in pretty
much the same position as last year.
A lack of scoring power on attack
handicapped the 1969 Navy team,
and what scoring was done came
mostly from the midfield. Of the
three attackmen who did figure
prominently in the scoring two
have graduated, as have a number
of their reserves. With two
sophomore starters on attack little
was expected of the Middies until
the middle of the season. Besides
that, the defense is missing
All-American John Padgett and Bo
Scharnus, another letterman, and a
late spring football practice will
keep the football jocks until the
end of April.

Their young attack has come
along very fast and when the
Cavaliers travel to Annapolis on
April 25 it will make for a very
interesting matchup. Both teams
have strength in the midfields, a
mixture of the old and new on
defense, and young but talented
attackmen. The deciding factor
may rest in the goal. Navy's Dennis
Supko put in a brilliant
performance against the Wolfpack
and has the experience of three
years in the nets. He has a cool
head and can take a great deal of
pressure. Virginia's Al Hirsh still
needs some experience, after two
years of playing second fiddle to
All-American Jim Eustice. Against
this same Mount Washington in the
season opener he played well for
the first half, but eventually was to
give up 11 goals. While certainly
not bombed out of the goal, he
must have left the game a little
shell-shocked.