Top-Seeded Cavaliers are Baltimore Bound with Victory Over Stony Brook
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STONY BROOK, N.Y. –Shamel Bratton and Chris Bocklet tallied three goals apiece, while Adam Ghitelman made 13 saves to lead the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (16-1) to a 10-9 triumph over the eighth-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves (13-4) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Sunday in front of 10,024 spectators at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium.
Virginia advances to the Cavaliers’ third-straight Men’s Lacrosse Championship and a semifinal matchup with Duke on Saturday, May 29 at M&T Stadium in Baltimore, Md.
Stony Brook stayed close to the Cavaliers by winning the faceoff battle 18-5, but only managed to win the ground ball advantage by four, 32-28. Virginia, the nation’s most competent clearing team (92.8 percent) was successful on 18-of-20 attempts under heated pressure all day from the Seawolves.
Shamel Bratton (Huntington Station, N.Y.) opened up the game’s scoring with his unassisted goal at 12:12. Stony Brook tied things up at 1-1 when Jared Le Verne scored in transition on a pass from Kevin Crowley at the 11:50 mark.
Virginia then reeled off four-straight goals to take a 5-1 advantage. Bratton struck again unassisted at 2:17, followed by a John Haldy (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) goal via a Steele Stanwick (Baltimore, Md.) pass at 1:23. Brian Carroll (Towson, Md.) capped the first quarter scoring when Bocklet (South Salem, N.Y.) found the senior in front of the cage with 13 seconds left in the period.
Connor English (Manhasset, N.Y.) ended the UVa run with a successful dodge of three Seawolves for an unassisted score at 12:26 in the second quarter.
Stony Brook finished the half scoring back-to-back goals to trail the Cavaliers 5-3 entering the intermission. Timmy Trenkle scored unassisted at 9:41, while Kyle Belton grabbed a Robbie Campbell pass at 7:48 for the goal, to finish out the first half scoring.
The Seawolves opened up the third quarter with back-to-back goals to tie the game at 5-5. Campbell scored unassisted at 13:15 after running behind the cage to his right and scoring while rounding the corner. Crowley scored at 5:30 on a pass from Jordan McBride to provide the Seawolves their fourth consecutive unanswered goal going back to the second quarter.
Bocklet put the Cavaliers back in the lead by scoring back-to-back goals to close out the third quarter. Bocklet’s first, on a pass from Rhamel Bratton (Huntington Station, N.Y.) at 1:49, ended a drought of 25:37 between Cavalier goals. Then after a superb save from point-blank range by Ghitelman (Syosset, N.Y.) on a Belton shot, Virginia pushed the ball and Bocklet scored on a feed from Stanwick with 45 seconds left in the third quarter, giving UVa the 7-5 advantage.
Stony Brook energized the capacity home crowd by opening up the fourth quarter with two straight goals, tying the game at 7-7. Belton scored unassisted at 14:54, followed by a Steven Waldeck unassisted score off the ensuing faceoff at 14:34.
Shamel Bratton put UVa up 8-7 with an unassisted tally at 13:40. Crowely tied the game again for Stony Brook at 5:36 on a pass from Campbell.
Virginia then scored two-straight goals to take a 10-8 advantage. Bocklet recorded his third goal of the game in transition on a Mikey Thompson (Richmond, Va.) pass. Colin Briggs capped UVa’s scoring when Bocklet found the redshirt sophomore for a goal at 2:45.
Stony Brook made a final push when Tom Compitello found the net on a Trenkle pass with 2:11 left. In the closing minutes Ghitelman stood tall in between the pipes, making a couple of clutch saves, including a point-blank attempt from McBride with 28 seconds left, before Shamel Bratton ran the ball out on a clear to clinch the game and the trip to NCAA semifinals.
Ghitelman made 13 saves in between the pipes and Ken Clausen (Downington, Pa.) picked up a team-high six ground balls in the win.
Waldeck snatched a game-high eight ground balls, while goalie Charlie Paar made 10 saves in between the pipes for the Seawolves.
Virginia advances to the NCAA Semifinals at M&T Stadium in Baltimore, Md. The Cavaliers are set to face ACC foe Duke on Saturday, May 29. Faceoff is to be determined and the game will be televised on ESPN2 in HD.
Scoring (G-A) – V: Chris Bocklet 3-2, Shamel Bratton 3-0, Steele Stanwick 0-2, Brian Carroll 1-0, John Haldy 1-0, Colin Briggs, Rhamel Bratton 0-1, Mikey Thompson 0-1 SB: Kevin Crowley 2-1, Robbie Campbell 1-2, Kyle Belton 2-0, Timmy Trenkle 1-1, Tom Compitello 1-0, Steven Waldeck 1-0, Jared LaVerne 1-0, Jordan McBride 0-1
Goalie Summary – V: Adam Ghitelman 60 mins., 13 saves, 9 goals allowed SB: Charlie Paar 60 mins., 10 saves, 10 goals allowed
Shots: V-29, SB-36
Ground Balls: V-28, SB-32
Clearing: V-18×20, SB-12×15
Faceoffs: V-5, SB-18
Penalties: V-2-1:30, SB-2-1:30
EMO: V-0x2, SB-0x2