Men's Lacrosse Romps Over North Carolina 21-13
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April 8, 2006
Chapel Hill, N.C. – For the second week in a row, the top-ranked Virginia men’s lacrosse team scored five times in the opening seven-and-a-half minutes and gained a 21-13 victory over North Carolina this afternoon at Fetzer Field.
The Cavaliers remain undefeated with an 11-0 record (2-0 in the ACC), while the Tar Heels lost for the ninth time in a row to fall to 2-9 overall.
The 21 goals are the most Virginia has ever scored against North Carolina, while the eight-goal margin is the biggest since UVa downed UNC 15-4 in 1998. This marks the first time since 1999 Virginia has reached the 20-goal plateau three times in a season.
Freshman Garrett Billings erupted for a career-high five goals and seven total points to lead Virginia. Seniors Matt Ward and Matt Poskay each scored three times. Sophomore Ben Rubeor tied his career high with three assists. Overall 10 different Cavaliers scored in the contest.
Just like he did last week against Maryland, junior midfielder Drew Thompson scored after just 33 seconds had elapsed to get the Cavaliers started quickly. Poskay’s shot hit the pipe and bounded out to Kyle Dixon who found Thompson for the score. Last week Thompson tallied 15 seconds into the game.
Following a Tar Heel turnover, the Cavaliers struck again. This time Drew Garrison took a Danny Glading pass and beat goalie Grant Zimmerman. Glading scored nine seconds later off the faceoff. Billings became the fourth Cavalier to score in the quarter and sophomore Will Barrow the fifth as they scored at 8:49 and 7:54 respectively.
Ryan Blair ended the run with his team-high 11th goal with 3:20 remaining in the opening quarter. Barrow closed the first quarter with his second goal of the afternoon.
Poskay notched his first of the game less than two minutes into the second quarter as the Cavalier lead grew to 7-1. Tar Heel senior Sean Link scored at the 10:24 mark, but Billings struck quickly with goals at 10:18 and 9:34 to give Virginia a 9-2 lead.
From that point on, the teams basically traded goals the rest of the way. The Tar Heels scored four of the last six goals before halftime as Virginia took a 11-6 lead to the locker room.
Both teams scored four goals in the third quarter, with Ward getting two. Virginia outscored North Carolina 6-3 in the fourth quarter. Curiously a different player scored each time.
Cavalier goalie Kip Turner recorded 13 saves before being replaced by Bud Petit with less than three minutes to play; Petit made one save.
Virginia dominated the faceoff circle, winning 23 of 38 draws. Thompson was outstanding with 11 wins in 16 attempts. He also snared a game-high seven ground balls.
The Cavaliers have off next weekend following the recent cancellation of the Duke game and return to action on April 22 against Bellarmine at Klöckner Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 pm.
#1 Virginia 6-5-4-6–21 record: 11-0/2-0 ACC
North Carolina 1-5-4-3–13 record: 1-9/0-3 ACC
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Scoring (G-A)–V: Garrett Billings 5-2, Matt Ward 3-1, Matt Poskay 3-0, Danny Glading 2-3, Drew Thompson 2-1, Will Barrow 2-0, Kyle Dixon 1-2, Adam Fassnacht 1-0, Drew Garrison 1-0, Steve Giannone 1-0, Ben Rubeor 0-3, Ryan Kelly 0-1, Ricky Smith 0-1. NC: Ryan Blair 2-1, Rob Driscoll 2-1, Sean Link 1-1, Bart Wagner 1-1, Michael Burns 1-0, Kyle Henderson 1-0, Ben Hunt 1-0, Ben Staines 1-0, Nick Tintle 1-0, Ryan Walterhoefer 1-0, Shane Walterhoefer 1-0, Hayward Howard 0-2.
Goalie Summary–V: Kip Turner 57:19 mins., 13 saves, 12 goals allowed; Bud Petit 2:41, 1 svs., 1 ga. NC: Grant Zimmerman 20:26 mins., 3 saves, 9 goals allowed; Trey Sheain 39:34, 10 svs., 12 ga.
Shots: V–46, NC–46
Ground Balls: V–44, NC–43
Clearing: V–23×26, NC–18×20
Faceoffs: V–23, NC–15
Penalties: V–3-2:00, NC–4-3:30
EMO: V–3×3, NC–0x3