Lax Teams Punch their Ticket to the Super Regionals

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Last week's article mentioned the 17 members of the Northern Region Boys First-Team lacrosse squad led by T.C. Williams head coach Mike Mulherin.

Regarding the Northern Region Girls First-Team lacrosse squad, no T.C. Williams Titans were selected, but the 18 members include: W.T. Woodson's Rachel Obregon, Robinson's Katie McHugh and Stone Bridge's Lauren Giusti (all on attack); Annandale's Maggie Bermingham, Yorktown's Hope Barrazotto, Chantilly's Elizabeth Dunwoody and Kacey Norwood, Langley's Elsperth McGarry, Madison's Aly Beden and Allison Hahn, Oakton's Lauren Burke and Jackie Rupp, Stone Bridge's Kayle Sleece and Westfield's Mary Barondess (all on midfield); Centreville's Rachel Behne, Madison's Kelly Wagaman and Westfield's Naomi Ngalie (all on defense) and McLean's Hanna Longwell (the lone goalie represented).

In terms of the NCAA Division One Baseball Tournament: Both Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech were ousted last week during the "Round of 64".

On the other hand, the University of Virginia advanced to the "Round of 16" (having won their four-team bracket) and hosted the University of Oklahoma (June 12-14) in the "Super Regional".

With 16 teams playing in eight "Super Regionals" over the past few days, those eight schools that came out victorious punched their ticket to the eight-team College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska (mid/late June).

Regarding the University of Virginia, they defeated the visiting Sooners in Charlottesville 3-2 in game one (June 12th).

Thereafter, they dropped a 10-7 contest to the Sooners (June 13th) which made the ensuing game a decisive one.

Things went "south" for the Cavaliers early on in game three (June 14th) as Virginia bowed out to the visitors 11-0 and headed home for the summer short of their goal. (Virginia advanced to Omaha last season - having defeated Oregon State in the 2009 "Super Regional". But that was last year and this was this year).

Look for head coach Brian O'Connor's squad to again be strong next season in Charlottesville.

In terms of Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals currently weigh-in at 31-33 on the season which puts them in the basement of the competitive National League East.

Currently, the Atlanta Braves lead the East with a record of 37-27 (.578). The second-place New York Mets weigh-in at 35-28 (.556) - merely 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta. The third-place Philadelphia Phillies weigh-in at 32-29 (.525) - just 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta. The fourth-place Florida Marlins weigh-in at 31-32 (.492) - just 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta.

As mentioned above, the Nationals (managed by Jim Riggleman) 31-33 record puts them with a win:loss percentage of .484 - just 6 games behind Atlanta.

In terms of the five other Divisions in Baseball, none of the other Divisions are as tightly bunched as the National League East.

Just in case one has been under a rock for the past seven days or so, rookie right-handed pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg recently improved his record to 2-0 following a June 13th 9-4 win versus the Cleveland Indians on the road.

Strasburg recorded 14 strikeouts in his first major league win versus Pittsburgh (June 8th) and followed that up with eight strikeouts versus the Indians.

The 22 combined strikeouts (versus five walks), an ERA of 2.19 as well as his undefeated 2-0 record earned Strasburg the "National League Player of the Week" Award for his past two outings.

In fact, five National pitchers have ERA's of 2.28 or below currently.

Is it possible that the Nats will make June, July, August and September months to remember and possibly contend for a playoff berth this season ? Time will tell.

In terms of the Men's Soccer World Cup, being held in South Africa - the USA is coming off of a 1-1 tie with England and is preparing for a June 17th matchup with Slovenia.

Thus, in "Group C" (as of June 15th), Slovenia leads with a record of 1-0 (a 1-0 win versus Algeria); the USA and England are tied for second and Algeria with a record of 0-1 find themselves in the basement.

Each team in Group C will play each other once and the top two will advance to the "Round of 16".

That will also be the case for the four teams in Group "A", "B", "D", "E", "F", "G" and "H".

In the most recent World Cup (2006) - Italy defeated France for the Title.