It’s freezing today in Charlottesville, and it wasn’t much warmer in Annapolis, Md., over the weekend. That didn’t stop the men’s lacrosse teams from Virginia and Navy from getting together Saturday for a scrimmage.

    The Cavaliers are the defending NCAA champions, and they looked the part in Annapolis.  Score isn’t kept is these scrimmages, but U.Va. dominated the Midshipmen.

  “I was actually surprised,“ Virginia coach Dom Starsia said Monday. “I never would have guessed that we were going to pull away from them and control the scrimmage the way we did ... I thought we had a lot of built-in excuses.“

    U.Va.‘s best midfielder, senior Drew Thompson, sat out the scrimmage because of a groin strain.  Morever, the team had missed two days of practice last week to attend the funeral of midfielder Jack Riley’s father in New Jersey.  That experience, however, seemed to pull the Cavaliers closer.

  “It was good for the soul of the team,“ Starsia said of the trip to Jersey.

    Riley, a junior, played well against Navy, as did U.Va.‘s other midfielders.  The Cavaliers’ attackmen—Danny Glading, Ben Rubeor and Garrett Billings—sparkled too.

  “We were very sharp,“ Starsia said.

    Virginia’s second and final scrimmage, against Georgetown, is Saturday afternoon at the University Hall Turf Field.  Admission is free for the 1 p.m. scrimmage.  Starsia said he may hold Thompson out this weekend, too, as a precaution.

    U.Va. opens the season Feb. 18 against Drexel at the U-Hall Turf Field.

—Jeff White