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Navy Men's Lacrosse News |
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March 7 , 2009 |
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Navy Lacrosse Fends Off Pesky Lafayette |
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Sophomore attackman Andy Warner (Corning, N.Y.) scored a
career-high three goals while rookie keeper RJ Wickham (Penn Yan, N.Y.) made a
career-high 14 saves to lead the 16th-ranked Navy lacrosse team to a 14-9 victory
over Patriot League foe Lafayette Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial
Stadium. Warner and fellow attackman Tim Paul (Parkton, Md.) (two goals) were the
only multi-goal scorers for the Mids, as 11 different players accounted for Navy’s
season-high 14 goals.
The 14 goals were the most by the Mids since putting 16 on the board in last year’s
win over Holy Cross in Dallas. Meanwhile, the nine goals scored by Lafayette were
the most scored by the Leopards against Navy in the 10-game history.
“This was probably the worst defensive game I’ve seen us play in the last four
years,” said an agitated Richie Meade, who has directed the Mids to a 29-4 Patriot
League record, including a 14-0 regular-season mark against conference foes at home.
“I have to give Lafayette credit because Terry Mangan has done an outstanding job
of recruiting some good young talent. But for us to give up nine goals is
unacceptable against any opponent. We need to get some things fixed. Offensively
we are improving, but today we definitely took a step backwards on the defense.”
After exchanging goals over the first five minutes of the contest, Navy put together
a 6-1 run that spanned just over 11 minutes and gave the Mids a comfortable 8-3 lead
with 6:58 remaining in the opening half.
Included in the run by Navy were a pair of goals off of faceoff wins. At 13:36 in
the second, junior long stick defensive midfielder Zack Schroeder (Deer Park, N.Y.)
picked up the ground ball and headed for the goal where he tossed in his second
score of the year. At 10:53, junior faceoff specialist Frankie Coppola (Bethesda,
Md.) won the draw and fed Paul for the first of his two goals.
Lafayette responded just over four minutes later when junior midfielder Kevin
Dunbar, who came into the contest having scored just once in three games, scored the
second of a career-high four goals to cut into the Navy lead. Dunbar trimmed Navy’s
lead to three, 8-5, when he put the ball into play with under 30 seconds to go
before the half and blew past a handful of Navy players only to fire in a goal just
before the horn.
Navy’s achilles heel this season has been giving up goals in the late stages of
quarters. Including today’s goal scored by Lafayette with one second left in the
first half, the Mids have surrendered six goals with less than 40 seconds remaining
in the period, including four with under three seconds to go. The only game Navy
has not succumbed to a late goal was in its one-goal loss to nationally-ranked North
Carolina.
The Mids opened the third period with a Brendan Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.) goal at
8:56, however, Lafayette answered just 50 seconds later when John Galassi found 2008
Patriot League Rookie of the Year Tom Perini in the middle of the box. Perini
stopped his momentum and quickly turned and fired a shot that Wickham had no chance
of stopping.
The Leopards got to within two at 9-7 when Dunbar rolled his way through three
players on a miscue by Thomas Zimmerman (Owings Mills, Md.) and Basil Daratsos
(Niskayuna, N.Y.), who were attempting to switch players. Dunbar smartly attacked
Daratsos who was running at him, but muscled his way through another two defenders
to thread his shot past Wickham with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter.
It took just four seconds for Navy to respond, however, as Coppola won the draw and
fed Paul for the score. After the first nine Navy goals were scored by nine
different players, the Paul became the first multiple goal scorer for the Mids in
the game with 6:10 remaining in the third period.
Lafayette, though, got the final say of the quarter as Matt Mersky fed Stefan Bauer
for a highlight-reel goal. Bauer set up seven yards off the crease and scored off a
behind-the-back shot to narrow Navy’s lead to 10-8.
Navy went on to seal the victory with a strong offensive effort in the fourth
quarter. The Mids outscored the Leopards 4-1 in the final period, including
back-to-back goals by Warner from Paul, to take the 14-9 victory.
Among the 11 goal scorers for the Mids were seniors Michael Beggins (Smithtown,
N.Y.) and Bobby Lennon (Westminster, Md.) who each scored their first goals of the
year. For Beggins, it was his fifth collegiate goal, while Lennon, a short stick
defensive midfielder, pumped in his second goal in four seasons. Meanwhile, Coppola
put up the first points of his career with a pair of assists.
While the defense overall might not have been a bright spot for the Midshipmen,
Wickham was impressive in goal. Earning just his third career start, he stepped in
and cut off scoring opportunities by Lafayette time and again and ended the contest
with 14 saves. It was the most saves by a Navy keeper since Colin Finnegan warded
off 14 shots on goal against Georgetown in a one-goal loss in 2007.
“I felt like after fall ball RJ was our best goalkeeper, but I was hesitant to start
a freshman at the beginning of the season,” said Meade. “After the first couple of
games, I thought we could get more out of that position and decided to make the
change. He made some pretty impressive saves today and was put in a tough position
to make some stops. He hasn’t gotten a whole lot of help from the defense over the
last few games.”
“Honestly, it’s a lot of pressure,” Wickham said in regards to starting as a
freshman. “But I’m enjoying it and Matt (Coughlin) and Tommy (Phelan) have been
behind me. They have been nothing short of supportive, as I would be for each of
them when they are starting.”
Navy will be back in action this week with a pair of Patriot League road games. The
Mids face Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. on Tuesday beginning at 7:00 pm, followed by a
Saturday matinee against Holy Cross starting at 3:00 pm. Saturday’s trip to
Worcester, Mass., marks only the second time Navy and Holy Cross have met in
Worcester, Mass., and the first since 2005.
Source: USNA Athletic Communications
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