May 21, 2006
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Towson, Md. - No.-1 ranked Virginia exploded for nine goals in the third quarter to break open a close game en route to a 20-8 win over Georgetown in an NCAA Tournament men's lacrosse game in front of 7,317 fans at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University Sunday afternoon.
The Hoyas end their season with a 12-3 record after advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fifth-straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years. The team's 12 wins are tied for the second-most in school history with the 2000 and 2002 squads, one behind the school record of 13 wins set by the 1999 team that reached the Final Four.
"That's a very good team that we played today," Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick said. "This was disappointing, but I told our kids that they have nothing to hang their heads about. There are an awful lot of good lacrosse teams at home right now that would have loved to play this weekend. We were one of the ones that played and I'm proud of them for that. These seniors have been to four or five straight NCAA Quarterfinals and that's a tremendous achievement."
Virginia jumped out to an early lead, but Georgetown fought back and trailed by only three, 8-5, at halftime. The teams traded goals in the first three minutes of the second half, with Virginia's Matt Poskay scoring and Georgetown junior Garret Wilson (Ardmore, Pa./Episcopal Academy) scored an unassisted goal to make it 9-6.
The Cavaliers, however, scored three-straight goals over a span of 2:27 to take a 12-6 lead on tallies from Drew Thompson, Danny Glading and Will Barrow. The Hoyas responded with 10:41 left in the third quarter when senior Peter Cannon (Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) fed junior Chase Gahan (Cockeysville, Md./Loyola) for a score, but Virginia scored five times over the final 5:42 of the quarter, with Ben Rubeor scoring two and assisting on one more, to take a commanding 17-7 lead.
Virginia took 47 shots, while limiting Georgetown to a season-low 31, and forced 16 Hoya turnovers. The Hoyas held the advantage in ground balls, taking 43 to UVa's 33. Georgetown had won 9-of-14 face-offs in the first half, but the Cavaliers won 10-of-15 in the second half, including seven in the third quarter.
Similar to the game against Navy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Hoyas fell behind early. This time, Virginia scored the first four goals of the game, including three in the first six-plus minutes. Matt Ward, who finished the game with three goals and a career-high five assists, had one and one in the first quarter. Georgetown graduate student Dave Paolisso (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) got the Hoyas on the board with 2:49 left in the first quarter on a feed from Pete Cannon. Virginia's Matt Poskay scored his second goal of the quarter with under a minute to play to take a 5-1 lead, but senior Sean Denihan (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) scored with eight seconds left to make it 5-2.
Virginia's Ward scored five minutes into the second quarter as the lead grew to 6-2, but Hoya sophomore Andrew Baird (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) took a feed from sophomore Brendan Cannon (Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) to make it 6-3.
After the Cavaliers scored to open a 7-3 lead, the Hoyas came right back, winning the face-off and pulling to within three on a goal from Paolisso. Brendan Cannon threaded a pass through two defenders and Paolisso fired a shot from 15 yards out to beat Turner. A penalty was called on the ensuing possession and a shot from Denihan was saved before the foul was assessed. The Hoya went two-up after another penalty was called, but a shot from junior Trevor Casey (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) was saved. Still a man-up, a shot from Gahan was saved and Virginia's Rubeor came downfield and scored his fourth man-down goal of the season, giving UVa an 8-4 lead.
With less than a minute left in the second quarter, Wilson possessed the ball on the near sideline and threaded a pass to a streaking Paolisso, who rifled a shot from 15 yards out to bring the Hoyas to within 8-5.
Paolisso set a career high with four goals to lead the Hoyas, Wilson added a goal and an assist, while Denihan, Gahan and Baird each added goals. Brendan Cannon finished with two assists, Pete Cannon added a pair and Samperton had one.
