Virginia Downs Maryland for ACC Lacrosse Title
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April 30, 2006
Baltimore, MD – The top-ranked Virginia men’s lacrosse team defeated third-ranked Maryland 11-5 in the finals of the ACC Championship to claim the Cavaliers fourth tournament championship. It was UVa’s first ACC title since 2003.
Five UVa players managed a pair of goals as Virginia scored three times in each of the game’s first three quarters. The contest drew a crowd of 5,739 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Maryland (9-4) advanced to the title contest after dispatching North Carolina in Friday’s Semifinals.
The victory gave Virginia a sweep of the ACC men’s and women’s lacrosse titles. Earlier in the day the Cavalier women downed top-ranked Duke 13-8 for their championship.
The Cavalier defense, led by Mike Culver and Kip Turner, keyed the victory and improved Virginia to 13-0. Culver threw a blank over Maryland’s Joe Walters, the ACC Player of the Year. Walters was 0-10 on his shot attempts and did not record any assists. In two games against the Cavaliers this season, he was limited to just one assist.
Turner gave up just five goals and came up with 12 saves during the contest. Maryland outshot Virginia 41-32, including a 22-12 margin in the second half after falling behind 6-3 at halftime.
Leading 6-4, Virginia put the game away late in the third quarter with a three unanswered goals in a span of 2:48. Kyle Dixon scored the first off an assist by Ben Rubeor with 3:55 left in the period. Matt Ward added an unassisted goal with 2:04 to play and then Matt Poskay found the net off of Dixon’s feed with 1:07 to play in the third.
Dixon, Ward, Rubeor, Poskay, Turner and Culver were joined on the all tournament team by Danny Glading. Culver’s defensive efforts earned him MVP honors.
Poskay opened the scoring with Virginia’s first goal 2:34 into the match on a power play opportunity. Rubeor, who assisted on the first goal, scored himself four minutes later to put UVa ahead 2-0. Maryland’s Bill McGlone finally got the Terps on the scoreboard with 2:47 left in the opening period. Ward made it 3-1 with his first of his two goals with eight seconds remaining in the quarter.
Steve Giannone scored off a Glading assist at the 7:09 mark of the second quarter to increase UVa’s lead to 4-1. After Maryland’s Brendan Healy beat Turner with 5:35 to play in the half, Rubeor built the Cavalier lead back to a three-goal margin with his unassisted goal at the 4:31 mark. Healy scored again at 3:57 before Glading closed out the first half scoring at the 3:09 mark to give UVa a 6-3 halftime advantage.
Dixon and Glading added goals for UVa in the fourth quarter for the final margin in the 77th meeting between the two teams.
Virginia will host a first-round match in the NCAA Championships either May 13 or 14 at Klöcker Stadium. The bids to the NCAA Championships will be announced next Sunday.
Summary:
Goals: MD Ben Rubeor 2, Kyle Dixon 2, Danny Glading 2, Matt Ward 2, Matt Poskay 2, Steve Giannone 1, VA Bill McGlone 2, Brendan Healy 2, Michael Phipps 1
Assists: MD Brendan Healy 1, Bill McGlone 1, VA Drew Thompson 3, Ben Rubeor 2, Kyle Dixon 1, Danny Glading 1, Matt Ward 1
Shots: MD 41, VA 32
Ground Balls: MD 34, VA 34
Face-Offs: MD 8-19, VA 11-19
Clears: MD 12-17, VA 13-20
Extra-Man Opps: MD 0-3, VA 1-3
Saves: MD 11, VA 12
Turnovers: MD 21, VA 20
Penalties: MD 3/2:30, VA 3/3:00
2006 Men’s Lacrosse All-Tournament Team
Michael Culver, Virginia (MVP)Kyle Dixon, VirginiaMatt Ward, VirginiaKip Turner, VirginiaBen Rubeor, VirginiaDan Glading, VirginiaMatt Poskay, VirginiaBrendan Healy, MarylandBill McGlone, MarylandHarry Alford, MarylandBen Hunt, North Carolina