No. 3 Virginia men's lacrosse opened the 2010 campaign with a 11-8 victory over Drexel Saturday afternoon. The win gave head coach Dom Starsia his 200th win at Virginia, and makes him the second coach in history to win 200+ games at one school and 100+ at another. Starsia is the first to do so at two Divsion I schools.
Georgetown's Dave Urick accomplished the feat first, as the Hoyas' final win of the 2009 season elevated him into the 200/100 club. Urick's first 122 victories came at Hobart College.
Overall, Starsia's 301 career wins breaks a tie he shared with former Massachusetts head coach Dick Garber for second most all-time by a coach at a Division I school.
"With all modesty, as I get older I find myself more impressed with the numbers in my life," said Starsia. "I become more impressed whether it's years married, games coached or games won because it means I have been doing what I do for awhile and I respect that and I respect the people all around me that have helped me get to where I am today."
It was a close battle all day. Drexel took the lead with a quick 45-second goal to put the Dragons on the board first. Drexel would dominate the first quarter, 4-1, but the Cavaliers stormed back during the second quarter 5-1, taking a 6-5 lead at the intermission.
"I knew we would have our hands full coming on the road to play a good Drexel team and that is the way the game played out," said Starsia. "I thought we were tentative early on both the offensive and defensive end. Eventually we got to it a little bit - the faceoff guys picked it up in the second half. Steele [Stanwick] came alive in the second half and I thought the defense settle down and did a nice job. We got some stops when we needed them."
Stanwick led UVa with three goals and two assists for five points. Bocklet added four points on two scores and two assists, while Matt Lovejoy (Orford, N.H.) had a team-high seven groundballs. Ken Clausen (Downingtown, Pa.) returned home and chipped in five ground balls and a game-high five caused turnovers. Adam Ghitelman (Syosset, N.Y.) added eight saves in the cage.
Perri led the Dragons' attack with three goals, followed by Ambler's two scores and assist, as both players led Drexel with three points. Dana Wilber added a game-high 10 ground balls. Mark Manos had a game-high 17 saves in goal.
Virginia returns on short rest on Tuesday when the Cavaliers travel to take on Mount St. Mary's. Faceoff is set for 3 p.m. in Emmitsburg, Md.