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Cavalier Men's Lacrosse Tops #4 Princeton 13-11
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March 9, 2002
Charlottesville, Va. – Goalie Tillman Johnson recorded 13 saves, including two on Princeton’s final two possessions, to key Virginia’s 13-11 win over the defending national champion Tigers today at a rainy Kl?ckner Stadium.
Johnson turned aside a Sean Hartofilis effort with just over two-and-a-half minutes remaining to end one possession. Following a Virginia turnover, the sophomore from Annapolis, Md., denied Owen Daly’s one-on-one bid with 2:05 left in the game to end the Tigers’ hopes for their first victory in Charlottesville since 1994. From there the Cavaliers maintained possession and benefited from three Princeton penalties in the final 1:17.
The victory is Virginia’s fourth straight in Charlottesville over Princeton as the Cavaliers improve to 2-1 this season. The loss is Princeton’s second in a row this season for the winless Tigers.
Since the start of the 1996 season, Princeton is 4-5 against UVa and 76-6 against all other opponents.
The first quarter featured two ties and one lead change in what was a nip-and-tuck affair. B.J. Prager and Josh White scored extra-man goals to give the visiting Tigers a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes of play.
Virginia roared back to take the lead on goals by Conor Gill and freshman Joe Yevoli in the first five minutes of the second quarter, but Hartofilis forced the fourth tie of the half with a goal 6:37 before halftime. The tie was short-lived, however, as Cavalier middie A.J. Shannon notched his first goal of the afternoon 35 seconds later. The Cavaliers got a huge lift with just over three minutes to play in the half when freshman John Christmas fed Chris Rotelli for a man-down goal and the two-goal lead. Virginia’s run reached three straight goals as Christmas scored in front off a Gill feed a minute later. Hartofilis scored his second goal of the quarter to trim the Virginia lead to 7-5, but Brenndan Mohler answered with 17 seconds in the half to give UVa an 8-5 lead at the break.
The Tiger offense came to life in the third quarter as B.J. Prager’s second goal of the afternoon capped a three-goal run and knotted the score at 9-all. Prager’s goal at the 4:03 mark followed goals by defenseman Damien Davis, who scored on a fast break, and Brad Dumont, and forced the fifth tie of the afternoon.
Once again the freshman duo of Christmas and Yevoli played like seasoned veterans to put Virginia back in front. Christmas scored in front on another Gill feed at the 3:03 mark and assisted on Yevoli’s goal with 22 seconds in the quarter to give the Cavaliers some breathing room entering the final 15 minutes.
Ryan Boyle got the Tigers within one less than six minutes into the final stanza, but goals by Billy Glading and Rotelli midway through the period pushed the UVa lead back to three at 13-10. Dan Clark scored Princeton’s final goal with 6:29 to play to cut Virginia’s lead to 13-11, the Tigers weren’t able to get any closer the rest of the way. Johnson came up big when needed and recorded five saves in the period, including stops that ended Princeton’s final two possessions.
Yevoli scored three goals to lead the Cavalier attack for the third game in a row. He has scored 11 goals this season and is the first Virginia rookie to score three-or-more goals in three consecutive games for head coach Dom Starsia. Christmas and Shannon both scored twice and assisted on two others, while Gill added a goal and three assists. Midfielder Brenndna Mohler contributed two goals and an assist, while Rotelli scored twice.
Virginia returns to action on Tuesday (March 12) against Notre Dame at 4:00 p.m. at Kl?ckner Stadium.
Score by Quarter
Princeton 3-2-4-2=11
Virginia 2-6-3-2=13
att-1,554
Shots
PU 35
UVa 36
Clearing
PU 19 of 27
UVa 25 of 27
Faceoffs
PU 16
UVa 10
Ground balls
PU 57
UVa 34
Penalties
PU 6-3:30
UVa 5-4:00
Extra-Man Scoring
PU 2 of 5
UVa 0 of 5
Goalie Summary
PU-Julian Gould-9 saves, 13 goals, 60 minutes.
UVa-Tillman Johnson-13 saves, 11 goals, 60 minutes.
Princeton scoring:
Goals-Dan Clark 2, Owen Daly 2, B.J. Prager, 2, Sean Hartofilis 2, Josh White, Ryan Boyle, Brad Dumont.
Assists-Boyle 2, Daly 2, Dumont, Trevenen, White.
UVa scoring:
Goals-Joe Yevoli 3, A.J. Shannon 2, Chris Rotelli 2, Brenndan Mohler 2, John Christmas 2, Conor Gill, Billy Glading.
Assists-C. Gill 3, Christmas 2, Shannon 2, Mohler.