Trailing 8-7 with a minute to go in last Saturday'sgame against Princeton, Virginia turned up its defensive intensity and forced a Tiger turnover, giving the Cavaliers a final chance to tie the score. Following a timeout, Virginia's Newton Gentry and Matt Poskay both unleashed shots that sailed well wide of the net, but both times a Cavalier attackman was nearest the ball to regain possession.
With 14.5 seconds left on the clock, Virginia turned to sophomore Matt Ward. Ward, the Cavaliers' leading scorer this season, was the team's hot stick Saturday, having already recorded a hat trick. Starting in the right corner, Ward swept behind the goal, riding the hip of his defender. He emerged from behind the net and fired an overhand shot, but Tiger goaltender Dave Law dropped to his knees and easily made his career-high 15th save. Poskay dove after the rebound but was called for a crease violation. The turnover ended the game as an 8-7 loss for Virginia.
"We were just trying to create on the back side," Ward said. "I thought I could get a shot, but I didn't get a lot on it. Fourteen seconds left is more time than you think, and maybe I forced a shot."
Though Ward was unable to produce any last-second heroics, he pointed to the team's disappointing play all game as the reason for the loss.
The shot "didn't go in, but you can't really look at that play to say anything," he said. "We just didn't have a solid game. It's upsetting to see that we're 1-4, but it's a long season, and hopefully we'll turn it around."
With the loss, No. 17 Virginia (1-4) is now in the midst of its first four-game losing streak since 1987. No. 7 Princeton rebounded from a 14-5 drubbing at the hands of No. 1 Johns Hopkins the previous week and is now 2-1.
Virginia and Princeton traded goals early with the Cavaliers benefiting from tallies by Kyle Dixon, Mike Abbott and Ward. But Tiger senior midfielder Drew Casion scored his second goal of the game to give Princeton a 4-3 advantage -- a lead it did not relinquish.
Excessive penalties and losses in both face-offs and ground balls hurt Virginia. Princeton snagged 47 ground balls as compared to Virginia's 27, and the Cavaliers were flagged eight times for six minutes of infractions as opposed to three penalties totaling three minutes for the Tigers. Virginia starting defenseman Mike Culver racked up three of his team's flags. Princeton did not score in any of its extra-man opportunities, but having to play a man down hurt Virginia's offense.
In the face-off circle, Cavalier junior Jack DeVilliers won only seven of his 17 draws, allowing the slow-paced Tiger offense to maintain possession and impede Virginia's fast-paced squad.
Princeton face-off man Ryan Schoenig "was able to use his size and push me out today," deVilliers said. "Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way, but we did a good job controlling the fast break and that's what I was going for today."
The Cavaliers were especially hurt in the third quarter as they won only one of six face-offs, allowing Princeton to control the tempo of the game and hurt Virginia's comeback chances.
"When they took the game over for a little bit in the third quarter, I thought they were winning the face-offs and being able to retain possession," coach Dom Starsia said. "For a team that wants to slow the ball down the way they do, I thought that was important for them."
Junior attackman John Christmas returned to the lineup after missing the previous week's contest against Syracuse with an undisclosed injury. He took nine shots, scoring once in the third quarter.
Virginia received 11 saves from senior Tillman Johnson and held its opponent to fewer than 10 goals for the fourth time this season. Virginia will need that same defensive effortSaturday to tame the high-powered Towson offense and get back on the winning track.
Read More
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 2 minutes agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
Men’s lacrosse fades in second half, falls 18-9 to No. 8 North Carolina
By Sam Chun | 9 hours agoMore struggles pushed last weekend's encouraging performance from memory.
No. 9 women’s lacrosse blows out Louisville en route to a successful Senior Day
By Peter Kratz | 9 hours agoVirginia earned a much-needed win before a tough upcoming slate of games.
