Bratton's Five Goals Pace No. 2 UVa to Victory Over Vermont

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Shamel Bratton tied a career high with five goals and added an assist for a career-best six points, leading the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers (5-1) to a 14-6 triumph over the Vermont Catamounts (3-2), Tuesday night, inside Klöckner Stadium. Colin Briggs also had a career night with three goals and four total points in the triumph.

Virginia goalie Adam Ghitelman added to his career win total, pushing him into a tie for the all-time ACC mark of 42 victories. The current ACC mark is held by Duke’s Dan Loftus, who accomplished the feat over five seasons from 2004-08. Ghitelman and Loftus now share the No. 7 all-time mark among NCAA Division I goalies.

“I wasn’t pleased with how we played in the first half,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “I thought we started very slow, very sloppy in the beginning of the game. Our kids dug down a little in the second and we played much better after halftime. We defended them almost the whole way and started to hit a few shots. In the end it’s a good “W” for us.”

Shamel Bratton wasted no time putting UVa ahead, 1-0, with an unassisted goal 2:09 into the game. Goals by Vermont’s Drew Phillie and Ahmad Zachary put Vermont ahead, 2-1. Shamel Bratton pulled UVa even with another unassisted score with 6:33 left in the first period, but Vermont quickly answered with a Kyle Sminkey goal, giving the Catamounts the 3-2 advantage. That was the last time UVa trailed.

Mark Cockerton and Steele Stanwick scored goals, giving UVa a 4-3 lead entering the second stanza. Vermont scored on a Connor McNamara goal, starting the second quarter scoring and tying the game at 4-4. Vermont didn’t get any closer as UVa went on a 10-2 run to close the game, including scoring five-straight goals.

“Its good to get the win,” said Starsia. “We are going to have our hands full with a very good Cornell team on Saturday but I thought in the second half we made some progress – we just want to get better and I think we made some steps in the right direction today.”

Shamel Bratton led UVa with five goals, matching a career best that was set against Johns Hopkins in the 2009 NCAA quarterfinal round. Chris Bocklet, Rhamel Bratton and Chris LaPierre added solo goals to the cause. Cockerton was third on the team with two goals.

McNamara led Vermont with two goals, while Philie added a goal and an assist in the losing effort.

Virginia returns to action on Saturday in Inside Lacrosse’s Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. UVa faces No. 14 Cornell at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The contest will be televised live in HD on ESPNU and faceoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.

Vermont 3-1-1-1-6
Virginia 4-2-4-4-14
Att-1407

Scoring (G-A) – Vermont: Connor McNamara 2-0, Drew Philie 1-1, Kyle Sminkey 1-0, Ahmad Zachary 1-0, Andrew Muscara 1-0. Virginia: Shamel Bratton 5-1, Colin Briggs 3-1, Mark Cockerton 2-0, Chris Bocklet 1-1, Rhamel Bratton 1-0, Steele Stanwick 1-0, Chris LaPierre 1-0, John Haldy 0-1, Matt White 0-1.

Goalie Summary – Vermont: David Barton 60:00 mins., 6 saves, 14 goals allowed. Virginia: Adam Ghitelman 57:08 mins., 10 saves, 5 goals allowed, Rob Fortunato 2:52 mins., 3 saves, 1 goals allowed.

Shots: Vermont-37, Virginia-44
Ground Balls: Vermont-30, Virginia-49

Clearing: Vermont-18×25, Virginia-25×28

Faceoffs: Vermont-13, Virginia-10

Penalties: Vermont-3-2:30, Virginia-4-4:00

EMO: Vermont-0x4, Virginia-0x1