Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511280013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
``When I went to college, they were the equivalent of Virginia,'' said Arena of the Hartwick Hawks, who surprised St.John's 3-2 in the first round.
To be honest, Virginia has won five NCAA championships - including the past four - while Hartwick captured its lone title in 1977. But the Warriors are a perennial national power, with 36 NCAA Tournament victories to their credit.
Unranked Hartwick (13-5-2) was an underdog to St. John's, but had the advantage of playing on its home field because the NCAA selection committee wanted to avoid the artificial surface at St. John's.
Snow had to be scraped off the field at Hartwick, located in Oneonta, N.Y., but good weather is expected today, when the Warriors visit No. 1-ranked Virginia (19-0-2) at 2 p.m. at Klockner Stadium.
It's the first meeting between Hartwick and Virginia, ``although they were in our tournament once and we were in the Mayor's Cup [in Oneonta] when we would have played if they had won their first game,'' Arena said.
The Cavaliers, coming off a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Rhode Island in the opening round, come in with a 31-game unbeaten streak dating to the 1994 season. Virginia has won 28 consecutive games over non-conference opposition.
Hartwick features five British players, including its entire back line - three defenders and a goalie. The Warriors have the same coach, Jim Lennox, who took them to the NCAA championship.
by CNB