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March 14, 2000
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers received three goals and four assists from All-American attackman Drew McKnight in posting a 17-8 victory over Rutgers in men’s lacrosse action at Yurcak Field.
The Scarlet Knights (1-2) hung tough early, taking a 2-1 lead and trailed by just a 4-3 count after one quarter. Virginia (2-1) then turned up its offensive intensity, out-shooting the Knights 21-2 in the second quarter to take a 10-5 halftime lead. The Cavaliers added to their momentum by opening the second half with five straight goals to build an insurmountable 15-5 lead. Rutgers responded with back-to-back fourth quarter goals by Zach Gilbert (Hopewell, NJ) and Scott Oliver (No. Syracuse, NY) but for the Knights it was too little, too late.
Sophomore attackman Ian Shure scored three goals for the Cavs while sophomore attackman Conor Gill added two goals and chipped in with three assists. For Rutgers, freshman attackman Mike McLaughlin (Camillus, NY) scored two goals, while junior All-American attackman Keith Cromwell (Hicksville, NY) led the Knights in assists with three.
Virginia held a 57-26 edge in the shooting department, but Rutgers goalie John Martino (Corning, NY) held tough in the cage, saving 22 shots on the afternoon. Virginia led in ground balls 65-51 but the Scarlet Knights won 14-of-27 faceoffs. Goalie Derek Kenney had six of Virginia’s eight saves.
“We did a lot of good things out there, especially early in the game, but Virginia is a great team,” said Rutgers head coach Tom Hayes. “They have seven All-Americans and that makes things tough. But I’m proud of my kids. They played hard. My goalie did an outstanding job and I think we are improving as a team. But we made too many mistakes, turned the ball over too many times and you can’t do that against a team as good as Virginia.”
Rutgers is next in action on Saturday, March 18 when the Scarlet Knights host Navy at 2 p.m. at Yurcak Field. The game marks the first-ever ECAC Conference game for the Scarlet Knights as Rutgers and Navy are charter members of the first-year men’s lacrosse conference.
RUTGERS VS. VIRGINIA
3/14/2000
SCORING SUMMARY
| Pd | Team | Time | Goal | Assist | Score |
| 1 | Rutgers | 11:11 | Nick Schmidt | — | 1-0 RU |
| 1 | Virginia | 9:15 | Drew McKnight | — | 1-1 |
| 1 | Rutgers | 6:14 | Steve Snider | — | 2-1 RU |
| 1 | Virginia | 5:27 | Jason Hard | Conor Gill | 2-2 |
| 1 | Virginia | 3:56 | Conor Gill | Drew McKnight | 2-3 VA |
| 1 | Virginia | 2:29 | Aaron Vercollone | Conor Gill | 2-4 VA |
| 1 | Rutgers | 1:38 | Mike McLaughlin | — | 3-4 VA |
| 2 | Rutgers | 13:57 | Keith Cromwell | Jason Brown | 4-4 |
| 2 | Virginia | 11:49 | Ian Shure | — | 4-5 VA |
| 2 | Virginia | 10:31 | Drew McKnight | — | 4-6 VA |
| 2 | Virginia | 10:20 | Jay Jalbert | — | 4-7 VA |
| 2 | Virginia | 7:49 | Jason Hard | Drew McKnight | 4-8 VA |
| 2 | Rutgers | 5:03 | Tim Horgan | Mike McLaughlin | 5-8 VA |
| 2 | Virginia | 3:29 | AJ Shannon | Jamison Mullen | 5-9 VA |
| 2 | Virginia | 1:19 | David Bruce | AJ Shannon | 5-10 VA |
| 3 | Virginia | 10:46 | Drew McKnight | — | 5-11 VA |
| 3 | Virginia | 7:04 | David Bruce | Drew McKnight | 5-12 VA |
| 3 | Virginia | 1:38 | Ian Shure | Drew McKnight | 5-13 VA |
| 4 | Virginia | 13:21 | Ian Shure | — | 5-14 VA |
| 4 | Virginia | 12:11 | AJ Shannon | Conor Gill | 5-15 VA |
| 4 | Rutgers | 8:52 | Zach Gilbert | Keith Cromwell | 6-15 VA |
| 4 | Rutgers | 8:41 | Scott Oliver | Keith Cromwell | 7-15 VA |
| 4 | Virginia | 7:37 | Derrick Preuss | — | 7-16 VA |
| 4 | Rutgers | 5:23 | Mike McLaughlin | Keith Cromwell | 8-16 VA |
| 4 | Virginia | 4:33 | Derrick Preuss | Bruce Townsend | 8-17 VA |
GOALS
Rutgers – McLaughlin (2), Cromwell (1), Gilbert (1), Horgan (1), Oliver (1), Schmidt (1), Snider (1).
Virginia – McKnight (3), Shure (3), Bruce (2), Hard (2), Preuss (2), Shannon (2), Gill (1), Jalbert (1), Vercollone (1).
ASSISTS
Rutgers – Cromwell (3), Brown (1), McLaughlin (1).
Virginia – McKnight (4), Gill (3), Mullen (1), Shannon (1), Townsend (1).
STATISTICS
| Score By Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Virginia | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | |
| Rutgers | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Shots | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Virginia | 11 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 57 | |
| Rutgers | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 26 |
| Ground Balls | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Virginia | 17 | 20 | 11 | 17 | 65 | |
| Rutgers | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 51 |
| Faceoffs Won | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Virginia | 4/8 | 4/8 | 2/4 | 4/7 | 14/27 | |
| Rutgers | 4/8 | 4/8 | 2/4 | 3/7 | 13/27 |
| Saves | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Virginia | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 8 | |
| Rutgers | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 22 |
Attendance: 435