March 9, 2008

Second Half Run Propels Wahoos Past Princeton 12-10

Virginia scored four goals in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half to break open a tight contest and defeat Princeton 12-10 in the rain at Princeton Stadium.

The game was an historic occasion for lacrosse as the first regular-season game televised on ESPN.

The win is the sixth in a row without a defeat for the third-ranked Cavaliers, while Princeton lost for the second week in a row to fall to 1-2 overall.

Brian Carroll paced the Cavalier offense with three goals and an assist to become the first UVa midfielder with at least six multi-goal games since David Curry had seven in in 1997. Ben Rubeor, coming off a knee injury in only his third game, also scored three times. Danny Glading continued his fine work directing the Virginia attack with two goals and two assists.

Shamel Bratton opened the third quarter scoring a minute-and-a-half in with a nice dodge move to beat goalie Alex Hewit to give the Cavaliers a 7-5 lead. Carroll scored in front 22 seconds later and was followed by Glading's wraparound at the 12:39 mark as Virginia extended the lead to 9-5.

No. 6 Maryland Men's Lacrosse Runs Past No. 18 Towson, 12-7

• Webcast on ACC Select

Dan Groot scored three times and Ryan Young dished out four assists to lead the No. 6 Maryland men's lacrosse team to a 12-7 win over No. 18 Towson Saturday afternoon at a soggy Ludwig Field.

The Terrapins dominated the game in the trenches, winning 16-of-23 face-offs and taking the groundball battle, 53-31. Sophomore Bryn Holmes, nine wins, and senior Will Dalton, seven wins, were the catalysts for the Terps and combined for nine groundballs. Nine different Terps had at least four groundballs, led by senior defender Ryne Adolph, who picked up a career-best six off the turf.

The Terrapin offense was solid, but sloppy field conditions limited quality scoring opportunities in the first half. After junior midfielder Jeremy Sieverts gave the Terps a 1-0 lead with an unassisted runner down the left alley, Groot and Young hooked up for Maryland's second goal at the 11:06 mark. Towson then got on the board with an unassisted goal by Matt Hanzsche.

Sophomore long pole Brian Farrell scored his first of two goals on the day off an assist by redshirt freshman Dan Burns to give Maryland another two-goal lead. That play was made possible by a terrific hustle play that doesn't show up in the boxscore. Redshirt junior goalie Jason Carter beat a Tiger attackman to be nearest to the ball following a shot to give Maryland possession and start the Terps' transition attack that led to the Farrell score. Towson's Blake Best, playing in his first game of the season, scored for the Tigers with a little more than a minute left in the first quarter to trim the lead back to one.

Danowski, Greer & Quinzani Pace No. 2 Duke Past No. 13 Loyola, 21-8

Matt Danowski became the ACC's all-time leading scorer, Zack Greer posted four goals and four assists and Max Quinzani tossed in a career-high five goals as second-ranked Duke defeated 13th-ranked Loyola, 21-8, on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,544 fans at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field in Baltimore, Md.

The Blue Devils improve to 5-0 on the year while the Greyhounds fall to 2-2. With the victory -- Duke's ninth in its past 10 road games since 2005 -- and Hofstra's overtime triumph over top-ranked Johns Hopkins, the Blue Devils are expected to move into the number one slot in the national polls for just the second time in program history.

With two goals and four assists against the Greyhounds, Danowski pushed his career point total to 283 to surpass the 28-year old league record of 280 points held by N.C. State's Stan Cockerton. The 283 points also push Danowski into ninth place on the NCAA's all-time scoring chart.

As Duke improved to 31-0 when Greer scores three or more goals, the left-handed senior attackman moved into a tie for first place on Duke's all-time goals chart and 15th place on the NCAA's career goals scored list with 156.

Duke opened up the game's scoring when Danowski found Greer in front of the net for a goal at the 9:14 mark of the first quarter. Less than four minutes later, Steve Schoeffel created an opening from the left wing and beat Loyola goalkeeper Jake Hagelin to put the Blue Devils up 2-0. On the ensuing face-off, Loyola's Paul Richards scooped up the ground ball and found the back of the net to pull the Greyhounds to within 2-1 with 5:26 left in the period.

Zimmerman's Goaltending, Hunt's Goal Scoring Spark UNC Past Irish

Junior goalkeeper Grant Zimmerman had career highs in saves and ground balls and junior midfielder Ben Hunt scored a career-high five goals as fourth-ranked North Carolina defeated fifth-ranked Notre Dame 8-6 Saturday afternoon in men's lacrosse action before 1,312 fans at chilly Fetzer Field. The win boosts the Tar Heels to 4-0, while Notre Dame falls for the first time this season and is now 4-1.

This marks Carolina's first 4-0 start since the Tar Heels opened the 2002 season with a 6-0 mark. In the last six days, the Heels have beaten a pair of teams ranked No. 5 in the USILA coaches poll as the Tar Heels dispatched Cornell 13-8 last Sunday at Fetzer Field prior to their Saturday decision versus the Irish.

UNC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game before holding off a furious second half rally by the Fighting Irish. Zimmerman's goalkeeping was superb and his play helped the Tar Heels overcome some statistical disadvantages in other aspects of the game. But the Heels played relentless defense and benefitted from good shot selection on the offensive end.

Zimmerman finished with 18 saves while allowing only six goals. His previous career high save total was 15 in 2007 against both Johns Hopkins and Virginia. His eight ground balls equaled the eight he had against the Blue Jays last year. Hunt's five goals exceeded his previous personal best totals of three set last year against Dartmouth, Navy and Fairfield. Hunt also had an assist for a six-point day while junior midfielder Sean Delaney had a pair of third-quarter unassisted goals that were key in stemming the tide of Notre Dame's second-half rally.