March 3, 2008

Saturday, March 1

No. 2 Blue Devils Handle No. 3 Maryland, 15-7

Zack Greer, Max Quinzani and Brad Ross scored three goals apiece and Sam Payton won 14-of-19 face-offs to lead second-ranked Duke to a 15-7 victory over third-ranked Maryland in front of 4,238 fans at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday night.

The Blue Devils improve to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in ACC play while the Terrapins fall to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the league. The eight-goal margin is the largest for Duke in a win over Maryland, eclipsing the previous high of seven set in both 1997 (17-10 in ACC Tournament semifinals in Charlottesville, Va.) and 2007 (14-7 in College Park).

Ross gave Duke a 1-0 lead just over one minute into the contest with an unassisted goal, and the Terrapins countered when Travis Reed scored off a pass from Ryan Young with 11:27 left in the opening quarter. Fueled by Payton's success at the X, the Blue Devils then reeled off five consecutive goals, with Mike Manley's first career tally giving Duke a 6-1 advantage with 3:40 left in the first period.

Maryland's Jeremy Sieverts ended the Duke run with an unassisted goal with just under two minutes remaining in the first period, but Duke countered with goals from Ned Crotty, Quinzani and Greer to push the lead to 9-2 at the 3:38 mark of the second quarter. Reed's second goal of the day sent the teams into intermission with Duke ahead, 9-3.

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Wahoos Down Syracuse in OT Thriller

Sophomore midfielder Brian Carroll's second goal of the game with 1:29 remaining in overtime lifted No. 3 Virginia to a 14-13 win over Syracuse in the first game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic Saturday afternoon at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.

The Cavaliers improve to 4-0 overall this season, while the eighth-ranked Orange falls to 2-1.

The win Virginia's fifth in a row over the Orange in a series that has been remarkably even in virtually all respects throughout the years. It stood to reason today's game would be so close. In the previous 19 meetings dating back to the 1994 national semifinals the teams averaged 14 goals apiece, so perhaps overtime should not have been surprising.

The game featured nine ties and five leads changes, including four ties and a pair of lead changes in the fourth quarter alone as the teams traded goals throughout.

Sunday, March 2

Zimmerman Lifts No. 7 North Carolina Past No. 5 Cornell, 13-8

• Webcast on ACC Select

Junior goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman made 15 saves and attackmen Michael B. Burns and Billy Bitter each scored three goals as No. 7 North Carolina defeated No. 5 Cornell 13-8 Sunday afternoon before a sun-drenched crowd of 3,866 fans at Fetzer Field. UNC improved to 3-0 on the season while the Big Red fell to 1-1 on the campaign. The loss was only the third in the last 23 games for the Big Red.

The Tar Heels jumped out to a 6-1 lead, withstood a Cornell rally and then gradually pulled away in the second half to post the victory. Burns and Bitter had three goals apiece while attackman Bart Wagner and midfielder Rob Driscoll added two tallies each. Carolina's other goals were scored by midfielder Ben Hunt, attackman Gavin Petracca and midfielder Cryder DiPietro. Attackmen Kevin Federico and Bart Wagner and midfielder Nick Tintle each recorded two assists for UNC. For Cornell, John Glynn had two goals and two assists while Chris Finn and Ryan Hurley each tallied two goals.

Cornell outshot the Tar Heels 51-34 in the game, including 47-21 in the final three quarters of the match but Zimmerman's steady play in the net kept the Big Red at bay. The redshirt junior from Cockeysville, Md., finished with 15 saves in 60 minutes, including 13 in the final three quarters. The game was fairly even statistically in all other areas except for the shots and the saves. While being outshot 51-34, the Heels had a 15-7 edge in saves. UNC placed 20 of his 34 shots on goal while the Big Red missed the frame with 28 of its 51 shots.