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Feb. 28, 2004
Denver, Colo. – The University of Virginia men’s lacrosse program won three NCAA championships in the eastern time zone, but the team’s first trip West proved unsuccessful as the Cavaliers fell to Air Force 7-6 this afternoon in the opening game of the Pioneer Face-Off Classic, hosted by the University of Denver. The loss drops the Cavaliers to 1-1 this season, while it was the Falcons’ season opener.
Virginia’s Justin Mullen scored the game’s first goal less than four minutes in, but the remainder of the period saw both teams play rather deliberately. Air Force goalie Justin Pavoni recorded five of his 14 saves in the opening quarter.
The Falcons capitalized on a Virginia turnover late in the first quarter as Dave Brown scored on a fast break opportunity with 17 seconds to go in the period.
Virginia took a 3-1 lead into halftime behind second quarter goals by Joe Yevoli and John Christmas.
The Falcons came out strong to start the second half and clearly controlled the pace of the game as they gained confidence. Greg Dangler brought them within one with a goal at the 4:24 mark and William Meister tied the score at three 58 seconds later. Freshman midfielder Justin Kuchta scored what proved to be the winning goal with 8:34 to go in the quarter. Meister ran the Falcons run to four straight with his second of the quarter with 5:37 left.
Matt Ward pulled UVa within one at 5-4 by scoring the first of his three goals on the afternoon.
Air Force tallied twice in the opening three minutes of the final period to build a 7-4 lead. Virginia battled back behind two Ward goals, the last coming with 1:50 to play. The Cavaliers lost the ensuing faceoff, but regained possession when Ricky Smith forced a Meister turnover with less than 40 seconds on the clock. Virginia called a timeout with 33 seconds remaining to set up a final play, but a stingy Falcon defense prevented UVa from getting a shot off before time expired.
Virginia returns to action Sunday against host Denver in a game scheduled to start at 1:30 pm local time.
Virginia 1-2-1-2-6
Air Force 1-0-4-2-7
Shots: UVa-32, AFA-34
Clearing: UVA-20 of 35, AFA-26 of 37
Faceoffs: UVA-11, AFA-5
Ground Balls: UVA-49, AFA-54
Penalites: UVA-3-3:00, AFA-1-0:30
Extra-man scoring: UVA-0 of 1, AFA-0 of 3
Goalie summary: UVA-Tillman Johnson-60 mins, 11 saves, 7 goals allowed. AFA-Justin Pavoni 60 mins., 14 saves, 6 goals allowed.
Virginia scoring (G-A)-Matt Ward 3-1, Joe Yevoli 1-1, John Christmas 1-0, Justin Mullen 1-0, Kyle Dixon 0-1, Foster Gilbert 0-1, Matt Poskay 0-1.
Air Force scoring (G-A)-William Meister 2-1, Greg Dangler 1-1, Dave Brown 1-0, William Keleher 1-0, Justin Kuchta 1-0, Timothy Lorden 1-0, D.J. Benzing 0-1, Michael Colosimo 0-1, Max Miller 0-1.