Message:
First posted in 2006. We have again have a very promising young defenseman who
will probably make this list when his career is completed, but for now, this is what
we have.
Over the years, UVa has had some pretty good defenders and I'm going to miss a
few good ones. I'm not going to go into much of a preamble, except to say that
much of what is based here is due to what I've seen and the recognition they
received while playing at UVa, so here they are.
Two players have been named 1st team AA twice and that occurred 20 years apart.
They are:
Kevin O'Shea ('77-'80): 2x 1st AA, 2x All ACC, ACC POY
Ryan Curtis ('97-'00): 2x 1st AA, 1x 2nd AA, 2x All ACC, PPOY
The following players (late '60s onward) were named 1st team AA once while
matriculating at UVa.
Peter Coy (1968): + 2x 2nd AA
Doug Hilbert (1970)
Tom Schildwatcher (1971)
Bruce Mangles (1973): NCAA Champ, + 2x 2nd AA
Boo Smith (1974): NCAA Champ, PPOY + HM AA
Mike Sotir (1982): + 1x 2nd AA + 1x HMAA
Steve Byrne (1983): PPOY + 3rd AA + HMAA, ACC POY
Tommy Smith (1996): + 2x 3rd AA, 2x All ACC
Mark Koontz (2001): NCAA Champ, 2x 2nd AA, 3x All ACC, ACC POY
Michael Culver (2006): 2x NCAA Champ, PPOY + 3rd AA, 2x All ACC
A few other notable UVa AA were:
Willie Hazlehurst (UVa & JHU): 1x 1st AA (JHU) + 1x 2nd AA + 1x HMAA (UVa)
Mike Schattner: 2x 2nd AA, 1x All ACC
Brett Hughes: NCAA Champ, 2x 2nd AA, 1x All ACC
On the goalie side, the following have been 1st team AA at UVa (late '60s onward).
Jim Eustace (1969)
Rodney Rullman (1975): NCAA Champ, + 2x HMAA
Peter Sheehan (1986)
Tillman Johnson (2003): NCAA Champ, PPOY + 1x 3rd AA, 2x HMAA, 3x All ACC,
ACC ROY, 2x All ACC Tour Team, NCAA All Tour Team & MVP
I am going to include four defenders on each team with one goalie. As before, these
are just teams with no reflection on the integrity and quality of players not included.
There have been many other excellent UVa defenders and goalies (Chris Sanderson
comes to mind who has been a stalwart on the Canadian National Team).
First Unit Defense
Ryan Curtis (tough, mean player but in a good way, never backs down and has no
conscience)
Kevin O'Shea (very smooth with excellent stick skills, always tough to get around
him)
Michael Culver (you kind of don't notice him on the field much, but then again his
man is pretty much invisible too, no matter who he is)
Steve Byrne (another smooth, classic defender with excellent stick skills another
tough man to get around)
Tillman Johnson (What can you say, this guy made some pretty amazing saves
goal, just as the folks from JHU. He seemed to love playing against them. Broke
Rullman's career save record at UVa. Excellent gb goalie and a pretty darn good
passer.)
Second Unit Defense
Bruce Mangles (looked like a wild man when he played, long flowing hair and real
aggressive on ball play)
Boo Smith (another really aggressive defender just like Bruce, and I just loved it
when the crowd would start yelling "boo" when he was guarding someone)
Tommy Smith (didn't see him play so can't comment much but he kind of anchored
the UVa team of the mid-'90s, the 'oh so close' teams)
Mark Koontz (another one of the very tough defender guys Dom puts on the field,
that knee injury in '02 ACC tourney maybe costing the Cavs a NCAA title)
Roddy Rullman (I saw him make some unbelievable stops but he probably didn't
have as good a defense in front of him as Tillman except in 1972 & 1973. The one
stop I'll never forget was on a dreary, rainy day in C'ville when they were playing
UMd and FranK Urso. I was sitting on the hill in Scott Stadium watching the play
and UMd was on a fast break (that Md team was always on a fast break) when Urso
cranked one from the outside. No one saw the ball, and I mean no one, and it was a
moment before the refs found the ball lodged in the wire on Roddy face protector. It
was obvious that he never saw the ball either. He was one of the most fearless
goalies I ever had the priviledge to watch.)
If everyone were fit, I couldn't tell you which team I think would be better. In 1972,
Rullman as a freshman put the clamps on JHU in College Park in a pretty good
NCAA championship game. It was the first time I saw Jack Thomas and Les
Matthews play, both sophmores, and to say I was impressed would be an
understatement. In subsequent years, they battled UMd with Urso (another one of
my favorite players) for the NCAA championships. For anyone reading this board,
they know that these guys are on my all favorite player team.
For those of you who want a long stick middie, I give you my favorite defender of all
time at UVa:
Willie Hazlehurst (I absolutely loved watching him play; he seemed so effortless in
everything he did and his stick skills were second to none on this list. He had the
unfortunate circumstance of playing on some pretty bad UVa teams and the fact
that he made AA while at UVa was a tribute to his defensive skill. It hurt to have him
leave for JHU but he really showed how good he was by joining the Jays and
becoming a first team AA. If he had played all four years at JHU, he might have had
even more accolades. AS a LSM he would have put the clamps on anyone at that
time, except maybe Urso.)
Again, I apologize in advance for leaving anyone off the list. It is not meant to slight
any particular player, but again, these are the ones who stood out to me. The
players today are pretty much bigger and more athletic, but the players from earlier
years typcially had better positioning and stick skills. It was harder to pass with the
older style sticks, so you had to be really good.
Addendum 2008: Ken Clausen has the opportunity, if he continues to play and
improve, to head this list. Right now he is not as "tough" as my 1st teamers, but his
stick skills and passing are as good as anyone on the list. He reminds me in many
ways of Willie Hazelhurst. I would also like to add that Kip Turner was a pretty good
goalie, and if I had a third team, he would be in consideration. Like Ben Rubeor, an
injury in 2007 probably cost us.
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