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UVA junior attackman Steele Stanwick was awarded lacrosse’s highest individual honor, the Tewaaraton Award, following the 2011 season. Stanwick is the third Cavalier to win the award, given to the nation’s top male collegiate lacrosse player.

Stanwick finished the season No. 3 in the nation with 2.24 assists per game and No. 4 in the nation with 4.12 points per game. The junior tallied 21 points (9 points, 12 assists) in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, leading Virginia to the program’s fifth all-time title. Stanwick was named to the All-NCAA Championship Tournament team. He also was the ACC Player of the Year and earned USILA first-team All-America accolades in 2011.

Read more about Stanwick and the award here.

The University of Virginia Men’s lacrosse team won their 5th National Championship with a 9-7 over the Maryland Terrapins in front of over 35,000 fans in Baltimore. As a number 7 seed, the Cavs were the lowest seeded team to ever take home the title.

Following a slow start by both teams, UVA rode Colin Briggs to a 5-3 halftime lead. Briggs finished with 5 goals and took home Championship MVP honors.

You can read more about the victory and see video highlights and post-game interviews below and here.

UVa Men’s Lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia has announced that Rhamel Bratton will not play against Cornell in the NCAA Quarterfinals this Saturday. Rhamel was suspended indefinitely earlier in the season. Rhamel’s twin brother Shamel was booted from the team at the same time.

Starsia is quoted in InsideLacrosse:

“Rhamel’s status is unchanged. He’s not activated for this weekend’s game,” Starsia said Tuesday. “He has academic issues this week in Virginia. He may join us at Hofstra, outside of that nothing more to report.”

Meanwhile, Steele Stanwick has been named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding player. Stanwick joins four other finalists and is the sole ACC representative. He was named the ACC player of the year earlier this month. Stanwick ranks 8th nationally with 3.77 points per game.

The UVa Men’s lacrosse team defeated Bucknell in a thrilling 13-12 overtime game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this past Sunday. Following a significant rain and lightning delay, the 7th seeded Cavs were able to come from behind in the fourth quarter and escape with the overtime victory over the unseeded Bison. Steele Stanwick lead the charge with 3 goals and 5 assists, including the final helper to Matt White who sealed the overtime with a nifty sneak around the right pipe for the stuff. You can read more about the game here and here. The men move on to face a very good Cornell team on Saturday. That game is set for noon and will be broadcast on ESPNU. UVa defeated Cornell earlier this season.

The UVa women’s team fell to UNC for the third time this year in their first round NCAA game in Chapel Hill 15-7. The Cavs were not able to get back on track following a rain delay of over an hour and finish their season with a 9-9 record. You can read more about the loss and the season here.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Hofstra at Johns Hopkins      Noon              ESPN2/ESPN3.com 
Penn at Notre Dame            2:30 p.m.         ESPNU 
Delaware at Duke              5 p.m.            ESPNU 
Hartford at Cornell           7:30 p.m.         ESPNU

Sun., May 15, 2011

Maryland at UNC               1 p.m.            ESPN/ESPN3.com 
Bucknell at Virginia          3 p.m.            ESPNU 
Villanova at Denver           5:15 p.m.         ESPNU 
Siena at Syracuse             7:30 p.m.         ESPNU

Both the University of Virginia men’s and women’s teams were selected Sunday to play in the NCAA tournament for the shot at a national championship.

Following a slight hiccup toward the end of the season including losses and the dismissal of one its best players, Shamel Bratton, and the indefinite suspension of another key midfielder, Rhamel Bratton, the men’s squad received an 7th seed. They will host Bucknell on Sunday at 3pm. It is the Cavalier’s lowest seed since 2001. Bucknell is unseeded following their win of the Patriot League, and enter the tournament with a 14-2 record, including eight wins in a row.

The women’s squad earned an at large bid into their tournament, one of five ACC teams to make it. They enter the tournament with a 9-8 record and will face the North Carolina Tarheels (13-5) in the first round. The Cavs and Heels have faced off twice already this season, with North Carolina taking both matches. Game day and time have not been determined.

Courtesy: Thomas Wilson/UVa Media Relations

Shamel Bratton has been dismissed from the University of Virginia Men’s lacrosse team. Citing a consistent violation of team rules, head coach Dom Starsia removed Bratton from the roster effective immediately. Starsia also suspended Shamel’s twin brother Rhamel indefinitely.

Rumors around the net are that the team voted to boot the Bratton’s following repeated violations of the team’s new alcohol policy. The policy was implemented this year following the death of  Yeardley Love and the subsequent arrest of  George Huguely. Both Brattons have already been suspended this season for violating team rules.

Both perenial All-Americans, Shamel finishes his career with 129 points, most all time by a UVA midfielder.

Read more about the situation from the Washington Post and Inside Lacrosse. Read the UVA press release, including a statement from Starsia, here.

The #11 Cavaliers close the regular season on Saturday afternoon against #13 Pennsylvania in Charlottesville with NCAA Tournament berths on the line. The game also marks Senior Day for UVA fourth years.

The Charlottesville Boys Middle School Lacrosse league was featured on the Newsplex as a growing sport attracting the attention of many kids. The piece focused on the increased number of participants at the lower levels and the increase in the team numbers in the league. Very cool. The video also shows plenty of highlights of kids playing from this past Sunday and a sound bite from the man making it happen, Jim Loffredo. See the video below:

Also featured on the Plex were some highlights from the STAB Girl’s battle with Episcopal.

NBC-29 ran highlights of the Albemarle Boy’s win over Brooke Point (Skip ahead past the baseball highlights):

NBC-29 is also running a preview of the UVA Men’s matchup with Duke tomorrow in Durham:

Here is your roundup of all the week’s lacrosse action in and around Charlottesville:

UVA Men

The University of Virginia men’s lacrosse team defeated #20 Ohio State at Klockner stadium to a packed house on a glorious Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect, the crowd enthused and the Cavaliers on point as they took care of business against the Buckeyes. Overcoming a sluggish start and a furious comeback that came up short, UVA put on an offensive display in the middle periods, scoring early and often against one of the nation’s better defenses. Steele Stanwick paced the Cavs with 4 Goals and a helper, while Rhamel Bratton added 4 goals of his own.

It was a physical matchup that saw plenty of bodies flying around. There were two blow-to-the-head penalties, one of the 2-minute variety, but overall it was just a hard hitting contest with minimal chippiness. Logan Schuss led all scorers with 5 goals, leading a spirited effort in the second half which saw the Buckeyes score 6 of the final 8 goals of the game.  It was not enough to overcome the 7 goal hole they dug themselves in the first half, however and UVA moves to 7-1 on the season.

You can read full reports and complete stats on the game, along with video highlights, from the University of Virginia, Inside Lacrosse, and Lax Power.

#2 ranked Virginia is back in action on March 26 when they travel to Baltimore to contest Johns Hopkins for the Doyle Smith Cup. The game will be televised live on ESPNU. Faceoff is slated for 2 p.m.

UVA Women

The UVA women’s team squeeked out another victory at home, beating Princeton 10-9 in the first half of Saturday’s double header with the men. Riding the hot scoring touch of juniors Ainsley Baker, Charlie Finnigan, Julie Gardner and Josie Owen, the Cavaliers were able to hold of the #15 team in nation at home. Finnigan and Gardner’s tallied three goals a piece, while Gardner also tacked on one assist for a game-high four points; Owen contributed two goals and Baker added one. It was the second big win for the team who erased a 7 goal defecit for a comback, emotional victory over #16 William & Mary on Wednesday.

You can read reports on the contest, along with video highlights and complete stats at the University of Virginia.

High School

3/15

Girls

 Albemarle 19, Charlottesville 9

3/17

Girls

St. Anne’s-Belfield 19, James River 3
Covenant School 12, Steward School 16
Monticello 19, Albemarle 15

3/18

Boys

Tadem Friends 8, Steward 11
Albemarle 8, Colonial Forge 3
Blue Ridge School 20, Christchurch 14
Charlottesville 8, Western Albemarle 5
Woodberry Forest 5, Winter Park (FL) 6

3/19

Boys

Monticello 12, Kettle Run 19
Covenant 4, Christchurch 11
St. Anne’s-Belfield 8, Severn (MD) 11

Girls

Monticello 19, Kettle Run 14

The Herd

Last, but not least, the Herd travelled to the beach on Sunday and had a strong showing in a rare away double-header. All around strong play on both ends of the field led to victories over the Virginia Beach Sharks and Norfolk Neptunes on a blustery day at Dre’ Bly Memorial Field. Check out pictures from the game.

Although they were just scrimmages, the Herd set the table and got the sticks warm for their first big league game at home under the lights at STAB on April 1st. That’s right. Hide the women and children, Herd v. Capital, Friday night lights on April Fool’s Day. Anything could, and will, happen.