Virginia defeats Princeton 7-6
Drew Thompson scores winning goal
Drew Thompson
Virginia remains undefeated at 6-0, while Princeton suffers its first loss to fall to 2-1 this season.
"It was a big win early in the season, versus a quality team, on the road and in the rain," said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. " I thought we started out very slowly and played with a lack of poise, but we started to get better with about 10 minutes to go before halftime. We were taking better shots and even though we were down 4-2 at halftime I was happy with how we were playing. The play of their goalie (Alex Hewit) was the story of the first half."
If the Princeton men's lacrosse team was looking to serve notice that it is back as a factor on the national scene, then that was accomplished in Sunday afternoon's game against Virginia. If the Tigers were looking for a win, well, then they came up just short of that goal. Literally.
Despite 20 saves by sophomore goalie Alex Hewit for fifth-ranked Princeton, No. 2 Virginia was able to hold on for a 7-6 win in front of 5,412 on a rainy afternoon at Princeton Stadium. The win improved UVa to 6-0 on the season, while Princeton fell to 2-1 after opening with wins over Canisius and Johns Hopkins.
"It was a good-news, bad-news thing," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "Yes, we may have let one get away, but Virginia is a great team and there are encouraging things to take from this."
Hewit recorded 12 saves in the first half to keep the high-powered Virginia offense in check. The Tigers scored on three of their first four shots to build a 3-1 lead after 11 minutes. Pete Striebel scored his first goal of the season seven minutes and five seconds into the second quarter as the Tigers' lead grew to 4-1. Following that goal the Cavaliers held Princeton scoreless for nearly 26 minutes.
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"I have conflicting feelings, In one regard, sure, we
could have won this game. Then again, if you look at it, if
it wasn't for our goalie, it could have been a lot worse.
There were times they dominated us." ----Coach Bill Tierney |
Matt Ward flicked a loose ball past Hewit just over six minutes
before halftime to cut UVa's deficit to 4-2. Neither team was able to
find the back of the net the rest of the way as Princeton's 4-2 lead
held up at the break.
"I told our team at halftime that when you run into a hot goalie you've
got to keep shooting," said Starsia.
The Cavaliers heeded the head coach's advice and outscored Princeton 3-0 in the third quarter to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. Thompson scored the first of his two goals and was followed by Kyle Dixon and a man-down goal from Ward in the quarter. Goalie Kip Turner preserved UVa's lead by stuffing Tripp Shriner in front with 14 seconds left in the quarter.
Zach Goldberg tied the score early in the fourth quarter with a low bouncer from the right side that got past Turner to end Princeton's scoring drought after 25:42.
Rubeor broke the tie at the 7:31 mark with a nifty change of direction shot that beat Hewit. "I try not to make up my mind before my dodge," he said, "and I tried to use him (Princeton defenseman) a little bit as a screen. We knew we had to keep taking the right shots and eventually they'd fall."
Thompson added his second of the game 45 seconds later by beating Hewit stickside high with a hard rip.
Sophomore Rob Schneider made things interesting with his first goal of the season with 2:27 remaining on the clock to cut Virginia's lead to 7-6.
Princeton had an excellent chance to tie the game when Virginia was penalized for having too many men on the field with 1:27 to play. The Tigers were unable to capitalize, however, and lost possession 20 seconds later when Shriner dropped a pass out of bounds.
Virginia called two timeouts, and Thompson, Danny Glading and Ward were able to play keepaway and run out the clock.
Charlie Glazer won eight of 12 faceoffs, including all three in the third quarter, to consistently give Virginia possession. He also finished with a game-high seven ground balls.
The Cavaliers owned decided advantages in ground balls (42-31) and shots (44-30).
Thompson led the way with two goals and an assist, while Ward tallied twice for his fourth multigoal game of the season.
Virginia snapped a 5-5 tie with a goal from Ben Rubeor. Forty-five seconds later Drew Thompson scored UVA's seventh, and as it turned out, deciding goal.
The Tigers saw one goal slip away when Whitney Hayes hit both pipes before the ball squirted away, and then were unable to take advantage of a 30-second man-up situation after Bob Schneider had scored for the Tigers and UVa was called for too many men on the field.
Princeton turned the ball over on the man-advantage with just over a minute to go, and UVa was able to run out the rest of the clock.
Virginia took control of the game during the third quarter, outscoring Princeton 3-0 while outshooting the Tigers 14-4 and dominating possession. Thompson, Kyle Dixon and Matt Ward scored during the quarter as UVa turned around a 4-2 Princeton halftime lead.
For the third straight game, Princeton scored early on, as Peter Trombino beat Kip Turner 1:37 into the first quarter. The Tigers added goals by Mark Kovler and Alex Haynie sandwiched around a Matt Poskay goal for the Cavaliers to build a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. It was 4-2 at intermission after Pete Striebel scored for Princeton and Ward answered for Virginia.Hewit had made 12 of his saves by intermission.
"[Hewitt] was the story of the game," said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. "Especially in the first half. I didn't think we were shooting that smartly early on. I'd say in the last 10 minutes of the second quarter we finally started getting it going. He was still stopping our shots. I wasn't angry with my guys. I just thought we started playing much better in the second quarter."
"We had a chance to beat a great team, but we just couldn't close it out," said Hewit. "We'll learn from this and then get ready for next week's game against Hofstra. They're another very tough team."
Virginia would outshoot Princeton 44-30 for the game. Turner made 10 saves for the Cavaliers.
"He has a chance to be a great one," Tierney said of his sophomore goalie. "I can't remember too many games when a goalie's had to make 20 saves. I remember one against Hopkins in a game we lost 9-0, but that was back in 1988."
Princeton and Virginia have combined to make 18 Final Four appearances in the last 14 years. The Tigers are trying to rebound from missing the NCAA tournament a year ago, much the same way Virginia did in 2005, reaching the Final Four after not playing in the 2004 tournament.
"We have a young team," Tierney said. "I think they thought we were pretty good after we beat Hopkins, and hopefully they'll learn from this."
"For us, this was a quality road win," Starsia said. "To win here, 7-6, in the rain and on the road, that's really big."
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#2 Virginia 1-1-3-2--7 record: 6-0 #5 Princeton 3-1-0-2--6 record: 2-1 attendance--5412
Scoring (G-A)--V: Drew Thompson 2-1, Matt Ward 2-0, Kyle Dixon 1-1, Matt Poskay 1-1, Ben Rubeor 1-0. P: Peter Trombino 1-2, Zach Goldberg 1-0, Alex Haynie 1-0, Mark Kovler 1-0, Bob Schneider 1-0, Pete Striebel 1-0, Trip Cowin 0-1, Whitney Hayes 0-1, Jim O'Brien 0-1.
Goalie Summary--V: Kip Turner 60:00 mins., 10 saves, 6 goals allowed. P: Alex Hewit 59:43 mins., 20 saves, 7 goals allowed; Dave Law 0:17 mins, 0 svs, 0 ga.
Shots: V--44, P--30
Ground Balls: V--42, P--31
Clearing: V--23x27, P--20x23
Faceoffs: V--11, P--6
Penalties: V--3-2:00, P--4-3:00
EMO: V--0x4, P--0x3
- Box Score
- "Princeton falls to #2 Virginia" - Daily Princetonian 3/13/06