Men's Lacrosse Wins Tight Contest Over Princeton 7-6
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March 12, 2006
Princeton, N.J. – Ben Rubeor and Drew Thompson scored back-to-back goals midway through the fourth quarter to break a 5-all tie and lift the second-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to a 7-6 win over fifth-ranked Princeton before a crowd of 5412 at Princeton Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Virginia remains undefeated at 6-0, while Princeton suffers its first loss to fall to 2-1 this season.
“It was a big win early in the season, versus a quality team, on the road and in the rain,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. ” I thought we started out very slowly and played with a lack of poise, but we started to get better with about 10 minutes to go before halftime. We were taking better shots and even though we were down 4-2 at halftime I was happy with how we were playing. The play of their goalie (Alex Hewit) was the story of the first half.”
Hewit recorded 12 saves in the first half to keep the high-powered Virginia offense in check. The Tigers scored on three of their first four shots to build a 3-1 lead after 11 minutes. Pete Striebel scored his first goal of the season seven minutes and five seconds into the second quarter as the Tigers’ lead grew to 4-1. Following that goal the Cavaliers held Princeton scoreless for nearly 26 minutes.
Matt Ward flicked a loose ball past Hewit just over six minutes before halftime to cut UVa’s deficit to 4-2. Neither team was able to find the back of the net the rest of the way as Princeton’s 4-2 lead held up at the break.
“I told our team at halftime that when you run into a hot goalie you’ve got to keep shooting,” said Starsia.
The Cavaliers heeded the head coach’s advice and outscored Princeton 3-0 in the third quarter to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. Thompson scored the first of his two goals and was followed by Kyle Dixon and a man-down goal from Ward in the quarter. Goalie Kip Turner preserved UVa’s lead by stuffing Tripp Shriner in front with 14 seconds left in the quarter.
Zach Goldberg tied the score early in the fourth quarter with a low bouncer from the right side that got past Turner to end Princeton’s scoring drought after 25:42.
Rubeor broke the tie at the 7:31 mark with a nifty change of direction shot that beat Hewit. “I try not to make up my mind before my dodge,” he said, “and I tried to use him (Princeton defenseman) a little bit as a screen. We knew we had to keep taking the right shots and eventually they’d fall.”
Thompson added his second of the game 45 seconds later by beating Hewit stickside high with a hard rip.
Sophomore Rob Schneider made things interesting with his first goal of the season with 2:27 remaining on the clock to cut Virginia’s lead to 7-6.
Princeton had an excellent chance to tie the game when Virginia was penalized for having too many men on the field with 1:27 to play. The Tigers were unable to capitalize, however, and lost possession 20 seconds later when Shriner dropped a pass out of bounds.
Virginia called two timeouts, and Thompson, Danny Glading and Ward were able to play keepaway and run out the clock.
Charlie Glazer won eight of 12 faceoffs, including all three in the third quarter, to consistently give Virginia possession. He also finished with a game-high seven ground balls.
The Cavaliers owned decided advantages in ground balls (42-31) and shots (44-30).
Thompson led the way with two goals and an assist, while Ward tallied twice for his fourth multigoal game of the season.
Hewit was spectacular in goal for Princeton, finishing with 20 saves.
Virginia returns home to host Mount St. Marys Tuesday night at 7 pm at Klöckner Stadium.
#2 Virginia 1-1-3-2--7 record: 6-0
#5 Princeton 3-1-0-2--6 record: 2-1
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Scoring (G-A)–V: Drew Thompson 2-1, Matt Ward 2-0, Kyle Dixon 1-1, Matt Poskay 1-1, Ben Rubeor 1-0. P: Peter Trombino 1-2, Zach Goldberg 1-0, Alex Haynie 1-0, Mark Kovler 1-0, Bob Schneider 1-0, Pete Striebel 1-0, Trip Cowin 0-1, Whitney Hayes 0-1, Jim O’Brien 0-1.
Goalie Summary–V: Kip Turner 60:00 mins., 10 saves, 6 goals allowed.P: Alex Hewit 59:43 mins., 20 saves, 7 goals allowed; Dave Law 0:17 mins, 0 svs, 0 ga.
Shots: V–44, P–30
Ground Balls: V–42, P–31
Clearing: V–23×27, P–20×23
Faceoffs: V–11, P–6
Penalties: V–3-2:00, P–4-3:00
EMO: V–0x4, P–0x3