Steele Stanwick, the 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy winner, was shut out — no goals or assists — in Virginia’s season opener Saturday at Drexel, but it turned out the Cavaliers had no reason to worry about a prolonged slump for the defending national player of the year.
Stanwick, who has been dizzying defenses at Klockner Stadium since his very first UVa game in 2009, did it again during the Cavs’ home opener Tuesday night, racking up seven points before heading to the bench to make way for younger players midway through the third quarter of Virginia’s 19-5 rout of VMI.
“I’m not sure he cared one bit that he didn’t score the first game,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said of Stanwick. “We take so much of our cue from him. He draws so much attention and opens up the field for everybody else. Tonight there were some openings and he was able to get us going.”
The star power of Stanwick and the rest of the returning players from the defending NCAA champions were too much for a Keydets program that finished 2-11 last year and fell to 0-17 all-time versus the Cavaliers (2-0). VMI (0-3) won the opening face off and scored less than two minutes later, but the lead was short lived.
After settling in, the Cavs got goals from Stanwick, Matt White and Colin Briggs, all coming in less than two minutes, setting the pace for what would grow to a 14-3 halftime lead.
Stanwick scored two goals with five assists, all in the first half, and White and Mark Cockerton led all goal scorers with three. Chris Bocklet finished with two goals and tied a career high with three assists and freshman attack mate Owen Van Arsdale added a pair of goals.
“We just wanted to come out here and have a good go and I was real proud of the way we played tonight,” Stanwick said. “We’re at our best when we play hard and we were doing that all night tonight. We weren’t as smooth or as sharp as we wanted to be on Saturday, so I think this is a confidence builder.”
Keith Long had two goals and an assist to lead the Keydets.
The Cavs figure to face a much stiffer test Saturday when they play host to Stony Brook.
“It was an important game because we haven’t been that sharp the past couple of weeks,” Starsia said. “We got our hands full. Things are going to get tougher. We’re going to need to continue to improve.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement