Lacrosse Upsets Top-Ranked Princeton

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March 7, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Fifth-ranked Virginia scored three goals in 49 seconds of the second quarter to take a 5-1 lead over top-ranked Princeton, then held off the Tigers for a 9-7 win in men’s lacrosse Saturday.

The loss ended Princeton’s 29-game winning streak, second longest in Division I lacrosse history. The Cavaliers (2-1) were also the last team to beat the Tigers (1-1), besting Princeton 12-9 two years ago here.

Drew McKnight, Jason Hard, and Jay Jalbert each scored between the 12:08 and 11:19 marks of the second quarter to stake Virginia to its 5-1 advantage.

Princeton got no closer than three goals until the fourth quarter and trailed 9-4 when Tucker Radebaugh scored his fourth goal of the game with 10:59 to play.

With the Cavaliers trying to stall out the last half of the quarter, however, the Tigers scored three straight goals–one each by Lorne Smith, Mark Whaling, and Chris Massey–to cut the lead to 9-7 with 2:41 remaining.

Princeton had a man advantage with 44 seconds to play, but Virginia goalie Chris Sanderson scooped up the last of his 19 saves on the day to end the Tiger rally.

Radebaugh tied his career high in goals with four. The last time the Cavaliers scored less than 10 goals and won was in 1993 when Virginia defeated Navy 9-7.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia is 7-7 against Princeton’s Bill Tierney. The Tigers have been ranked first the last two times they have faced the Cavaliers. Princeton won the last outing, 14-13, in overtime.

The last time Virginia played the top-ranked team in the country at home was April 10, 1993, when the Cavaliers rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat No. 1 North Carolina 13-12 on a Kevin Pehlke goal 1:13 into overtime in Scott Stadium.