TOYOTA Video Clip of the Week!
Virginia Dominates Maryland 14-4 to Advance to Finals
by CHRIS McMANES, UVA
Photos by Bob Ogrudek
Baltimore - The Virginia Cavaliers' Tillman Johnson will likely be named first- or second-team All-American on Monday. The Virginia goalie turned in an All-American performance Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
Johnson tied his career high in saves and Joe Yevoli scored three unassisted goals in the midst of a 9-1 run to lead Virginia in a 14-4 victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the 2003 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships.
The Cavaliers (14-2) will meet top-ranked and top-seeded Johns Hopkins for the national championship Monday at 11 a.m. ESPN will televise the game live. The Blue Jays advanced with a 19-8 win over Syracuse. An NCAA-record crowd of 37,823 saw both games.
Hopkins defeated No. 2 and second-seeded Virginia 8-7 on March 22.
The Cavs held the No. 3 and third-seeded Terps to their lowest point total of the year and the fewest goals in national semifinals history. Maryland (12-4), trying to advance to the national title game for the first time in five years, scored twice in each half and went 23 minutes and 34 seconds between second-half goals.
Johnson's career-high-tying 18 saves keyed Virginia's victory over its Atlantic Coast Conference rival and helped the team set the school record for wins.
"I felt good all day," said Johnson, a junior from nearby Annapolis, Md. "I just wanted to stay relaxed and composed and just play my game. I didn't want to let the crowd or the whole tournament overwhelm me.
"I just wanted to stay focused on the job at hand. That was my main objective going into this game."
Terrapin Coach Dave Cottle sang Johnson's praises.
"I thought Tillman Johnson was the difference in the first half," Cottle said. "I think he had 11 saves and we (didn't) shoot from real far outside. He made some great saves. When we were down 5-2 at the half, we were 11-for-11 clearing and we out-groundballed them (30-21), we outshot them (21-17), and we're losing by three.
"Then the game got a little bit away from us in the third quarter."
Matt Ward's five points (four goals on four shots and one assist) tied Yevoli for the Cavalier team high. A.J. Shannon added a pair of goals, and Foster Gilbert contributed two assists. Virginia outscored Maryland 6-1 in the third quarter and fired 15 shots to the Terps' eight.
The Cavaliers' two leading scorers (John Christmas and Chris Rotelli) were held scoreless. Christmas has 34 goals and 11 assists on the year and Rotelli 25 and 19. Rotelli was named ACC Player of the Year.
"Every time they shot the ball, they got pretty good looks," Maryland senior All-American defenseman Michael Howley said. "It's pretty unbelievable when you shut down two of their best players and they still score over 10 goals. You've got to give Virginia credit. They played excellent today and they're an excellent team.
"If we scored a goal, they would come back and score two, and it's kind of frustrating playing defense."
The Terps got one goal each from Mike Mollot, Brendan Healy, Sean Leary and Joe Parker. Paul Gillette had the team's lone assist. Maryland's leading scorer, freshman Joe Walters (46 points), did not score. He had three goals and an assist in the Terrapins' 8-7 victory at Virginia on March 29.
Johnson allowed three goals and faced 34 shots in 56:20 of playing time. Many of his stops were at close range.
"I think clearly those kind of saves lift the whole group," said Cavalier Coach Dom Starsia, who led Virginia to the 1999 NCAA Championship. "As a former defenseman myself, there's nothing that does more for you than playing in front of somebody who's stopping the ball and giving you that kind of effort.
"I think subtly it wore on Maryland a little bit. I think they looked a little like they were trying to cut it a little too fine offensively at time with some of their shots."
VIDEO ACTION
Virginia's Matt Ward High Bandwidth
Virginia's Trey Whitty High Bandwidth
Maryland's Paul Gillette to Ryan Moran High Bandwidth
Virginia's A.J. Shannon High Bandwidth
Virginia's Billy Glading High Bandwidth
Maryland's Sean Leary High Bandwidth
Virginia's Foster Gilbert to Matt Ward High Bandwidth
Virginia's Joe Yevoli High Bandwidth
Virginia's Joe Yevoli again! High Bandwidth Only
Maryland's Mike Mollot High Bandwidth
Virginia's Matt Ward again! High Bandwidth
Virginia's John Christmas High Bandwidth Only
Virginia's Tillman Johnson High Bandwidth Only
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