UVa looks to rebound

By Whitey Reid

Published: April 18, 2008

According to Virginia senior Ben Rubeor, there has been a noticeable difference in practice this week.
Guys on the team, Rubeor said, are playing with more passion.
When you consider how low Virginia players must have felt in the wake of last Saturday’s 19-9 home loss to Duke, that’s a major positive.
The Blue Devils almost seemed to be toying with UVa as they rattled off 10 straight goals in front of a record crowd of 8,000.
“I think it was a wake-up call for us that we still have a ways to go,” Rubeor said. “I think we’re excited to get back on the field.”
That will happen this afternoon at Klockner Stadium when No. 4 Virginia (10-2) plays host to Dartmouth.
Last month, Dartmouth competed pretty well with Duke, losing 16-9. The Big Green (5-6) is coming off a 17-14 win over Yale that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Last season, Dartmouth came to Charlottesville and nearly pulled off an upset before losing, 10-9.
“They have a really talented attack,” Rubeor said. “We had a close game with them last year. I think we learned our lesson that every team is a tough game and every game you have to play your best lacrosse.”
Dartmouth’s offense has been clicking since the arrival of sophomore Josh Gillam, whose season with the school’s hockey team didn’t end until March 9.
“He’s been scoring like crazy,” Starsia said. “He had six against Cornell and five against Duke. It’s a team that can score goals in bunches and has a very good attack. They’re pretty good overall. We’ll have to play well.”
A positive for Virginia heading into the contest is Rubeor’s health. He says the knee, which hampered him early in the season, is feeling good.
“I think I’m to the point where it’s not something that I think about when I’m playing,” he said. “I’m glad I’ve gotten there.”
Starsia plans on starting Bud Petit in goal for the third straight game. The fifth-year senior played well in his season debut at North Carolina before getting pelted against Duke (which a Swiss cheese defense in front of him had a lot to do with). Petit came out of the game in the third quarter because of a hip flexor injury. He wasn’t able to do much practicing until late in the week.
It should be interesting to see how Virginia bounces back from one of its poorest performances in recent years. Starsia, for one, isn’t expecting any hangover.
“I would be really disappointed if we let last week’s loss carry over into this one,” he said. “This is a very important game. We need to play well.”
Rubeor said Virginia just needs to carry over its play in practice into the game.
“The tone you set in practices is the tone that appears in games,” he said. “I think this was a much better week. I think we took some steps forward.”