Ireland’s Tim Chryssikos loses his stick after a great check from Rhodri Evans of Wales at the World Lacrosse Championships, Tuesday, July 18, 2006, in London, Ontario, Canada. (Click for a larger version: 140K.) Chryssikos had 3 goals and an assist as Ireland thumped Wales, 12-4.
Men’s lacrosse coach Dom Starsia announces that attackman Ben Rubeor, defenseman Ricky Smith and midfielder Drew Thompson have been selected team captains for the 2007 season.
Rubeor, a junior from Towson, Md., enters his third season as a starter on the attack. One of the most dynamic offensive players in the country, he earned second-team All-America honors last season as the Cavaliers won the national championship with a 17-0 record. He finished second on the team behind Player of the Year Matt Ward in points (58) and assists (24), both career-high figures. He also notched 34 goals and led the team on eight occasions.
Smith, a senior from Hicksville, N.Y., has been one of the team’s most underrated performers throughout his career. A two-year starter on close defense, he will be looked to as a defensive leader this season. A slick stickhandler, he led ACC longsticks with 51 ground balls and was named a third-team All-American.
Thompson, a senior from Northport, N.Y., will be one of the top midfielders in the country this spring. He blossomed last season into an exceptional all-around player, playing offense, defense and taking face-offs. He tallied 23 assists, 17 goals and 40 points a year ago. He led the nation’s middies with 23 assists and was one of only seven to score at least 15 goals and add at least 15 assists last season. Thompson also snared 67 ground balls and won 57 percent of his faceoffs.
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Wed 27 Sep 2006
The University of Vermont has named Ryan Curtis as its new men’s lacrosse coach. Vermont Director of Athletics Dr. Robert Corran made the announcement today. Curtis replaces Steve Beville who resigned on August 28th to become the men’s lacrosse coach at Division III Cortland State.
“We are excited to have Ryan assume the head coaching role in our men’s lacrosse program,” Corran said. “He brings tremendous experience as a player at every level of the game and all the attributes of a leader and coach. He has a bright coaching future ahead of him and I’m thrilled that it will be as a Catamount.”
“I am very excited to be here and this is a great opportunity for me professionally and for my family,” Curtis said. “Dr. Corran and Chris McCabe (Assistant Vice President for Athletic Marketing and Business Development) have been great and I want to thank them for this opportunity. Plans are in place for the team to succeed here and I am excited to get started.”
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Tue 26 Sep 2006
The University of Virginia’s Men’s Lacrosse program is the source of a significant number of impact players in the MLL. One of those players is Michael Culver, who was named the MLL’s Sportsman on the Year. He received some early attention by “guaranteeing a win” for the Chicago Machine against the Los Angeles Riptide. (The Machine lost, Culver donated his salary for the game to The Children’s Heart Foundation.) Culver recently sat down with Major League Lacrosse correspondent Dan Campagna for an in-depth interview.
Chicago Machine defensemen Michael Culver was on top of the college lacrosse world. His University of Virginia team went undefeated en route to a NCAA title and he was selected in the first round of the 2006 Collegiate Draft (7th overall pick). He was on a hot streak, but things cooled down for Culver in the windy city as the Machine went winless in 2006. MLL was able to chat with Michael and get some details about an interesting change of scenery.
Read the complete interview here.
Sat 23 Sep 2006
Like the Men’s team, the Virginia Women’s team ended up ranked by Inside Lacrosse in its annual Recruiting Issue. In fact, while the Men’s team was rated #3, Virginia’s first-year class tops the list at #1.
While only one Cavalier — Brittany Kalkstein (Roland Park)– made the Top 10 Freshmen list, Inside Lacrosse had this to say about Julie Myers’s newest recruits:
The Cavaliers loaded up with seven Under Armour All-Americans. Do-it-all performer Brittany Kalkstein is the headliner, but Kaitlin Duff, Marye Kellerman, Allo Perry, Missy Sunseri, Caity Whiteley and defender Katelyn Strasdauskas add to the embarrassment of riches.
Fri 22 Sep 2006
A midfielder for Japan’s Team Zipang resets the offense against the Long Island Jesters in the Master’s tournament at the World Lacrosse Championships, Thursday, July 20, 2006, in London, Ontario, Canada. (Click for a larger version: 212K.) The Jesters won convincingly.
Inside Lacrosse has released its annual Recruiting Issue, and the Virginia Cavaliers did pretty well. Two incoming first-year players were ranked on their top 10 list: Midfielder Brian Carroll, (from Gilman) came in at #8, while Defenseman Ken Clausen (Hill School) rounded out the list at #10.
As part of the issue, Inside Lacrosse rated Virginia’s incoming class #3 among NCAA schools, after Gerogetown and Johns Hopkins. They commented:
When you think Virginia, you think offense. So it might be slightly surprising (and frightening) that this Cavalier class is built on defense. Bolstered by Ken Clausen, the Wahoo defense is in good hands for the next four years.
Wed 20 Sep 2006
The National Lacrosse League, North America’s professional indoor lacrosse league, held their 2006 Entry Draft on September 13th, 2006. Five former University of Virginia players were drafted, beginning with Matt Ward’s selection by the Arizona Sting in the 3rd round (33rd overall). The Colorado Mammoth immediately selected Matt Poskay as the draft’s 34th pick. Kyle Dixon went to the Philadelphia Wings in the middle of the 4th round (43rd overall).
There were no more Cavalier selections until the 6th and final round. The San Jose Stealth made the 68th pick, taking Steve Holmes. Mike Culver joined Dixon on the Wings, drafted in 69th place.
The NLL has thirteen teams playing in the major markets of the United States and Canada. NLL teams each play a 16-game regular season schedule (eight home and eight away) that begins in December and runs through April, followed by the Champion’s Cup Playoffs. The 2007 season begins December 30th.
Full results of the NLL Entry Draft are available here.
Thu 14 Sep 2006
In an attempt to emphasize stickwork and passing in the game of college lacrosse, the NCAA is in the process of adopting rule changes that will bring back a more traditional, triangular, shape to the lacrosse stick. Current sticks will remain legal until the 2009 season begins.
A diagram of the new specification is available here. (.pdf, 79K)
Full release, via the NCAA:
In a press release issued last week, the NCAA announced that the Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee redefined the specifications of the lacrosse stick, adjusted its timeout rules, and addressed several areas for emphasis at its annual meeting, August 7-10 in Bonita Springs, Florida. The committee’s recommendations must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel before the rules become official.
The committee received considerable input regarding the lacrosse stick in recent years and agreed that there is a need to return to a more traditional design that is triangular in shape.
“The committee has spent a considerable amount of time discussing this aspect of our game,” said Willie Scroggs, senior associate athletics director at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and chair of the committee. “Our major concern is that the ball is not coming out of the stick as easily as it should. These specifications will reign in the sticks while still allowing manufacturers plenty of time to adjust.”
The free dislodgement of the ball is the main rationale for the change, due to the narrowing of the channel in the stick head. Additionally, a legally strung stick under current specifications sometimes allows a ball to become lodged in the back of the stick, which the committee believes should not be allowed.
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The University of Virginia has released the 2006 fall ball schedule for the women’s lacrosse team, a schedule that features a game against the US Elite Team on October 1 in Alexandria, Va. In addition, the Cavaliers will square off against two-time defending national champion Northwestern in Baltimore and will face in-state rivals James Madison and William & Mary.
Virginia will participate in the first inaugural US Stars and Stripes Weekend, an event created by the US Lacrosse National Teams Committee. The weekend (Sept. 29-Oct 1) is designed to showcase the US National Elite, Developmental and U-19 Teams, and USLacrosse has invited three top-10 collegiate teams to participate in games against the national squads. On Sunday, October 1, Virginia will face the Elite Squad at 10:00 am and the University of Richmond at 2:00 pm on the fields at St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Va. Current members of the US Elite Squad include former Cavaliers Amy Appelt (’05) and Nikki Lieb (’06). In addition, four Cavaliers, Jessy Morgan, Blair Weymouth, Megan O’Malley and Jen Holden are members of the USA National Developmental Team. Holden is a 2005 graduate of St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes, while rising third-years Kendall McBrearty and Jenny Hauser graduated from SSSAS in 2004.
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Sat 9 Sep 2006
Nate Rullman celebrates a goal in the 2004 Charlottesville Summer Lacrosse League Championship game, Tuesday, July 27, 2004. (Click for a larger version: 268K.)
Fri 8 Sep 2006
Via Laxpower
Keswick resident, Charlottesville Summer Lacrosse League player, and Norfolk Academy graduate Pierce Derkac officially joined the Cornell University men’s lacrosse team as it officially opened its fall practice on September 5th. Derkac joined 12 other players from the US and Canada. Commenting on the freshmen, Cornell Head Coach Jeff Tambroni remarked, “Our coaching staff is thrilled about this year’s addition into the Cornell lacrosse family.”
From the complete article:
A four-year starter at Norfolk Academy, Derkac was named an All-American and team MVP as a senior captain. The 6-1 midfielder was a three-time first-team all-state, first-team All-TCIS and All-Virginia Prep League selection. Derkac played in the 2006 U.S. Lacrosse National Senior Showcase, and as a freshman, he helped his team to the Virginia private school state championship. He also earned four varsity letters in football and two in basketball and was a three-time first-team All-TCIS selection on the gridiron, earning TCIS MVP honors following his senior season.
Derkac was also one of the subjects of this Friday Photo from the 2004 summer league championship game. His brother, Britton, plays in the MLL for the Boston Cannons.
Wed 6 Sep 2006
Several former University of Virginia men’s lacrosse players have received postseason honors for their play in the professional league this season.
Matt Ward, a standout on UVa’s national championship squad this past season, was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. The fourth pick by the Baltimore Bayhawks, he was the team’s second-leading scorer with 33 points. He was also second on the team with 23 goals. In his debut against New Jersey on June 11 Ward scored two goals, including a two-pointer. His most impressive performance came against the Boston Cannons on July 8, when he scored six goals and added three assists. His offensive explosion earned him the Offensive Player of the Week award, as he became the only rookie this season to win the award.
John Christmas, a key member of three Final Four squads at UVa and currently a member of the Boston Cannons, was nameed the league’s Most Improved Player. As a rookie last season, he was relegated to a role player and scored just five goals and three assists. This season Christmas moved into a starring role and broke out with 21 goals and 17 assists to finish second on the team. Against the Long Island Lizards in the season’s second game he notched a hat trick and added an assist to start a streak where the tallied at least four points in four games in a row.
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Fri 1 Sep 2006