More on the Under Armour All-America game

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Saturday night found Dom Starsia at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium, where he watched six of his incoming freshmen play in the Under Armour All-America boys lacrosse game.

In a phone interview Monday, U.Va.’s longtime coach talked about those recruits: Chris LaPierre, Howie Long (St. Anne’s-Belfield), Connor English, Matt White, Nick O’Reilly and Harry Prevas.

“I think they all have a chance to be players,” Starsia said.

From a team that advanced to the NCAA semifinals this year, the Cavaliers have to replace three of their top four attackmen, with only rising sophomore Steele Stanwick back from that group.

Another rising sophomore, Chris Bocklet, is likely to be on the first-team attack in 2010, but the identity of the third starter may not be determined for some time.  Rising sophomore Matt Kugler, a reserve attackman this season, is probably moving to the midfield.

“Obviously, we’re in transition on the attack, and in Matt White and Nick O’Reilly and Connor English, you’ve got three young players there that I think are all going to compete for playing time,” Starsia said. “O’Reilly and White are both athletic enough to be middies, but I think everybody gets a chance to play on the attack at first come fall.  That’s the position where clearly we’re going to be in the most transition, and I don’t know the answers yet.”

Stanwick is right-handed, but he played as a freshman in the spot that’s ideally occupied by a lefty.

If the left-handed English is ready to start, then Stanwick might replace Danny Glading behind the cage.

“If English isn’t quite ready, then maybe Stanwick continues to play over on that side, and two of those other guys [start],” Starsia said.

“We’re going to mix and match those pieces early, but I think everybody,  including you, will get a chance to play attack for Virginia on Sept. 1.  And the guys who distinguish themselves are going to define how that plays out.  What’s likely is that we’re probably not going to have that piece of it answered completely, even by the end of fall lacrosse.  Maybe we will.  But maybe we go into the spring with four attackmen we’re sort of rotating around till it plays out.”

In the Under Armour game, which the South won 19-16, White led the North with four goals and two assists, and O’Reilly added three goals for the losing team.  White, who’s from Connecticut, also was involved in a spectacular play that made SportsCenter’s highlights.

There’s no question where LaPierre will play.  He’s a middie.  The 6-2, 210-pounder was named the Under Armour game’s MVP after totaling two goals and four assists for the South.

“He is a brute of a kid,” Starsia said.  “He just looked what we hoped: just a big, strong athlete playing in the middle of the field, making plays at both ends of the field.

In terms of his size, LaPierre reminds Starsia of former U.Va. great Kyle Dixon, now a Major League Lacrosse star.

LaPierre, however, is “a much more physical kid,“ Starsia said.  “He may not be able to quite shoot it like Kyle does, but he’s got better skills than people think.  They tend to talk about him athletically when they first see him, but he’s got very good lacrosse skills and sees the game at a high level.”

Long and Prevas were close defensemen in high school, but long-stock middie will be an option for each at U.Va.

“They’re both athletic enough to play both spots,” Starsia said.  “I think Howie and Harry both have the size and the speed to play up top or behind … I think both of those guys have a chance to compete for playing time in 2010.”

—30—