If the top-seeded Wahoos are to make it to next weekend’s Final Four in Foxborough, Mass., and continue their quest for a fifth NCAA title, they’ll need to play as well as they did last weekend against Villanova.

When you consider that just one goal separated Virginia and Johns Hopkins when they last met during the regular season, it’s a near certainty that one of the most important players on the field for the rematch this Sunday in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals will be the smallest guy.

Virginia’s Garrett Billings assisted with a pair of fourth-quarter goals to lift the top-ranked Cavaliers to a 16-15 victory over No. Johns Hopkins.

To the naked eye, the 9-0 Virginia men’s lacrosse team seems to be clicking on all cylinders, but UVa senior Garrett Billings sees room for improvement.

Virginia’s end of the field looked like a battle scene from the movie “Braveheart.” Bodies were strewn across the grass playing surface. Goalie Bud Petit lay crumpled and motionless.

Dom Starsia has always believed in building his offense with outstanding attackmen, and that’s what he’s counting on in today’s NCAA quarterfinals men’s lacrosse match against Maryland.

As a sophomore, Ashley McCulloch finished third among Virginia players in points and set a season record for assists by a Cavalier. But with Jess Wasilewski running the show, it was apparent that the Cavalier offense wasn’t yet McCulloch’s to lead.