As the Virginia men's lacrosse team defeated Towson University 13-9 Saturday afternoon, junior attackman Ben Rubeor scored a career-high seven goals and the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to six games, the longest in the nation.
"I am just glad we were able to get the win," Rubeor said. "This was a very quality team today and I am really not concerned about my points as long as we end up with more points than the other team at the end of the game."
Rubeor was named the ACC men's lacrosse player of the week last week after he notched the game-winning goal in the final minute of play against Princeton. Saturday, before taking a single shot, he took the field against Towson (2-2) with a nation-leading 19 goals.
Rubeor put Virginia (6-1) on the board first with a goal in the opening minute of play. Then, when Virginia fell behind 3-2 in the second quarter, Rubeor shot and scooped up his own rebound to tally his second goal of the afternoon.
"I'd have to say this is the best I have seen Ben play," sophomore attackman Garrett Billings said. "Today he really took it upon himself to not let us get behind against Towson."
Even with a career-high 15 saves, Towson junior goalkeeper Matt Antol could not thwart former high school teammate Rubeor's scoring-run. Indeed, as a Towson native, Rubeor not only saw several familiar faces on the field but also faced a program that he grew up following.
"I always followed Towson and enjoyed watching them play," Rubeor said. "It was an honor to play against them today."
Despite the efforts of Rubeor, Billings and sophomore Danny Gladding, Towson managed to stay in the game. In the first half, Virginia's defense was consistently penetrated by the Towson offense. The Tigers were able to get inside and shoot at close range from the edge of the crease -- the kind of shots Cavalier senior goalkeeper Kip Turner cannot be faulted for not saving.
"They pulled us out and threw the ball inside," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "Towson's smart and clever, and early on we were ball watching. This was the kind of game where we needed to be alert and attentive on defense. We needed to be on our toes and I thought we got better as the game wore on."
At the half, Virginia entered the locker-room with only a narrow 7-6 lead. When the team retook the field, however, both Rubeor and junior Jack Riley scored quickly and increased the Cavalier lead to three.
"We definitely let them get some easy ones on us in the first half," Billings said. "But the second half Rubeor really stepped up to lead the game, and I knew we would come out hard in the third quarter. We got that early lesson against Drexel and no one wants to let that happen again."
Though Towson never went away, the Cavaliers' sharper play in the second half allowed Virginia to successfully defend its lead until the end. As Rubeor continued to send the ball into the back of the net, senior Adam Fassnacht won a career-high 14 of 21 face-offs and helped the Cavaliers maintain possession of the ball. For his part, Turner had six saves and remains undefeated at Klöckner Stadium (18-0).
"Ben made a big play whenever we needed it," Starsia said. "Since the beginning he has been our leader at the offensive end and we need him to play like that. To have any right to expect those numbers from him in any game is probably a little extraordinary, but that's who he is for us right now"
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