Princeton University
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No. Virginia Holds Off No. 5 Princeton Despite Big Game From Hewit
March 12, 2006 | Men's Lacrosse
March 12, 2006
Box Score
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."
Virginia snapped a 5-5 tie with goals from Ben Rubeor and Drew Thompson 45 seconds apart midway through the fourth to make it 7-5 and then held on against Princeton. 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.
"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."