May 29, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- Virginia completed an undefeated season with its fourth NCAA men's lacrosse title Monday, beating unseeded Massachusetts 15-7 behind five goals each from Matt Poskay and Matt Ward.

The Cavaliers finished 17-0, the second straight year the NCAA champion was unbeaten. Johns Hopkins went 16-0 last year.

Before a record crowd of 47,062, Massachusetts (13-5) made a game of it for the first half but ultimately could not contain the top-seeded Cavaliers. Virginia spent much of the first half watching its shots sail high and wide.

UMass tied it 5-5 early in the third quarter and pulled to 7-6 when the Cavaliers went on a tear with six straight goals to lead 13-6 with 9:37 left.

Sean Morris, who entered the game as UMass' leading scorer with 33 goals, was held without a goal. UMass freshman Doc Schneider played well in goal but stood little chance against a Cavaliers offense that featured four players with more than 30 goals this year.

The Cavaliers dominated the first quarter 4-1, pinning UMass in its defensive end for several minutes at a time. Poskay scored twice and Ward made it 4-1 on an empty-net goal after UMass goalie Doc Schneider came out to help defensively.

But the Minutemen rallied to cut the deficit to 5-4 at the half, sparked by a goal from Rory Pedrick with 9:39 left and another 10 seconds later when Jake Deane won the faceoff and hustled to beat Virginia's Kip Turner.