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Virginia Downs Maryland 11-10 in Semifinals of ACC Tournament
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April 27, 2007
Durham, N.C. – Second-seed Virginia got off to a rough start and withstood a furious comeback attempt to defeat Maryland 11-10 in the semifinals of the ACC men’s lacrosse tournament at Duke University’s Koskinen Stadium.
“It was a great lacrosse game, furious, end to end, back and forth; a game of spurts,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “I don’t think we played very smartly in the beginning of the game and I don’t think we played very smartly in the last five minutes, but I thought we played hard throughout. I was proud of the effort overall, and it is certainly a good win. You beat Maryland twice in the same season that gives says a little something, so certainly we’re pleased to come away with 11-10.”
Ben Rubeor led the way for Virginia with three goals and two assists. The Virginia defense led by defenseman Ricky Smith and goalie Kip Turner held Maryland scoreless for more than 33 minutes as the Cavaliers built the four-goal advantage.
The game was the Cavaliers’ sixth one-goal game of the season and fourth in a row. The six one-goal games are the most in school history. Only Hofstra (7) has played more games decided by a goal than the Cavaliers have this season. With the win, the third-ranked Cavaliers improve to 12-2 this season and have won 40 games in the last three seasons, the best run in program history.
Midfielder Jack Riley got the Cavaliers off to a fast start, scoring on the game’s first shot after 40 seconds of play. But the Cavaliers got sloppy with turnovers on seven of their next nine possessions–and a penalty on Rubeor–in the ensuing 10 minutes as Maryland took a 4-1 lead late in the quarter.
Rubeor brought the Cavaliers back to life with back-to-back goals 29 seconds apart as Virginia closed its deficit to 4-3 going into the second quarter.
Sophomore Dan Groot scored the second of his game-high four goals to extend the Terrapins’ lead to 5-3 just over a minute into the second quarter. Virginia sophomore Steve Giannone answered Groot’s goal 35 seconds later by surprising goalie Harry Alford with a shot in tight space with his back to the goal.
Danny Glading scored an extra man goal for the Cavaliers to force the game’s second tie at 5-all at the 11:20 mark of the second period. Rubeor tallied his third goal of the half less than seven minutes before halftime, but defenseman Brian Farrell scored on the fast break a minute later to knot the score at six.
Riley scored his second of the game with 9:47 elapsed to send the Cavaliers to a 7-6 lead at halftime. Riley’s goal was the only one for more than 10 minutes, the game’s longest scoreless stretch. Garrett Billings benefited from a favorable bounce to end the drought. Faced with a one-on-one opportunity, his shot hit Alford in the face mask and bounced right back to him. His around-the-world shot hit the far post and trickled into the goal, giving his team an 8-6 lead.
Seven and a half minutes elapsed before Giannone notched his second of the game off a nice pass from Riley as Virginia entered the fourth quarter with a 9-6 advantage. Ryan Kelly, who started in place of Rubeor, opened the fourth quarter scoring with his first goal in five games for the Cavaliers’ fourth goal in a row.
The Terrapins got back-to-back goals from Michael Phipps and and an extra-man goal by Groot to halve Virginia’s lead. Freshman Brian Carroll finished an open shot in front to extend UVa’s lead to 11-8 with 5:13 left.
Thomas Alford sent a hard right-handed shot past Turner to trim the Virginia lead to 11-9.
Following a holding penalty on Rubeor, Groot notched his fourth goal with 1:21 to go. Maryland’s Bryn Holmes won the ensuing faceoff and drew a holding penalty, giving the Terps another extra-man opportunity. They couldn’t capitalize, however, as Turner made a nice save of Groot’s attempt to tie with 49 seconds to play. The Cavaliers cleared the ball and ran out the clock to seal the win.
“I thought we gave them back some opportunities; we did a couple fouls late in the game that I think we didn’t need to do,” said Starsia. “We put them back in the game with a few extra-man goals in the fourth quarter and that certainly really hurt us. And then we were a man down in the last 90 seconds and came up with a big play that kind of sealed the game off. We just need to take better care of the game in the last five minutes, but we’re certainly happy to get the win.”
Virginia faces Duke, a 13-9 winner over North Carolina in the second semifinal game, Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Duke won this season’s first match-up 7-6 in overtime two weeks ago.
| No. 8 Maryland | 4-2-0-4-10 | record: 9-5 |
| No. 3 Virginia | 3-4-2-2-11 | record: 12-2 |
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Scoring (G-A)–M: Dan Groot 4-1, Michael Phipps 2-1, Thomas Alford 1-1, Jeremy Sieverts 1-1, Brian Farrell 1-0, Chris Feifs 1-0, Max Ritz 0-2, Joe Cinosky 0-1, Bryn Holmes 0-1. V: Ben Rubeor 3-2, Jack Riley 2-1, Steve Giannone 2-0, Garrett Billings 1-2, Danny Glading 1-1, Brian Carroll 1-0, Ryan Kelly 1-0, Drew Thompson 0-1.
Goalie Summary-M: Harry Alford 60 mins., 9 saves, 11 goals allowed. V: Kip Turner 60 mins., 9 saves, 10 goals allowed.
Shots: M-39, V-41
Ground Balls: M-36, V-42
Clearing: M-20×25, V-14×22
Faceoffs: M-8, V-17
Penalties: M-3-2:00, V-5-3:30
EMO: M-3×5, V-1×3