CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Cornell men's lacrosse team took a 7-6 lead into halftime, but No. 1 Virginia outscored the Big Red, 8-3, over the final 30 minutes to earn the 14-10 victory at Klockner Stadium this afternoon. The loss is the first of the season for the Big Red, who fall to 2-1, while the Cavaliers remain undefeated with a record of 7-0.
Freshman
Rob Pannell matched the Cornell freshman assist record with four helpers to go along with two goals for a team-high six points, while
Ryan Hurley led the Big Red with four goals.
Rocco Romero added one goal and one assist and junior defensive midfielder
Austin Boykin earned the first points of his career with two assists.
Kyle Doctor,
Chris Finn and
Max Seibald rounded out the scoring for Cornell with one goal apiece.
Defensively, the Big Red received an outstanding effort from senior All-American
Matt Moyer, who held Virginia's first-team All-American attackman Danny Glading to just one assist and forced Glading into two turnovers. Moyer also picked up five ground balls. In goal,
Kyle Harer made four saves to pick up his first loss of the season.
For Virginia, Steve Giannone and Shamel Bratton scored three goals each, while Steele Stanwich had two goals and two assists. Chad Gaudet was solid in the face-off circle, winning 16-of-24 restarts and Adam Ghitelman made 10 saves.
Virginia held the slight edge in shots (41-39) and ground balls (39-35), but won 17-of-28 face-offs, including a mark of 11-for-13 in the second half to help its decisive scoring run.
Virginia got out to a quick 2-0 start before the Big Red managed to get on the board. The Cavaliers first goal came just 15 seconds into the game as Giannone scored off the opening face-off. Brian Carroll made it a two-goal advantage at the 8:56 mark, but Cornell answered just 40 seconds later when Hurley took a pass from Pannell and threaded a shot inside the near post.
After Stanwich returned a two-goal lead to the Cavaliers with 6:42 to play in the opening quarter with, the Big Red got a brilliant individual effort by Hurley to pull Cornell back within one, as he rounded the right side of the goal, separated from his defender and scored on the doorstep to make it 3-2 with just under three minutes to play in the half.
Virginia won the ensuing face-off and drew a Big Red penalty, but could not capitalize as a 30-second penalty on Glading evened the field at five-on-five for 30 seconds. It didn't take long for Cornell to take advantage as Pannell took the ball behind the net, rolled around to the front of the goal, dove just outside the mouth of the crease and beat Ghitelman down low to knot the game at 3-3 at the 1:39 mark.
Shamel Bratton answered with a worm-burner from 15 yards out to make it a 4-3 game in the closing seconds of the opening quarter. Cornell won the restart and had a chance to tie it up as time expired, but a solid Cavalier check ended the threat.
The Big Red tied the game once again early in the second quarter when Hurley took a pass from Boykin and scored from five-yards out as he bounced a shot past Ghitelman. The deadlock lasted just over a minute before Giannone tallied his second of the day as he sprinted past his defender and scored on the run to make it 5-4 at the 12:10 mark.
A man-up goal by Hurley tied the game, 5-5 with 9:56 to go in the half. The goal came as Pannell sent a pass to Hurley on the doorstep and the junior attackman faked high and beat Ghitelman low.
Virginia responded as John Haldy scored off a brilliant pass from Garrett Billings. as Haldy cut toward the right side of the goal, caught the ball in stride and scored from point-blank range to return the one-goal lead to the Cavaliers.
The action came fast and furious on the next several possessions as both teams had several fast break opportunities, resulting in each team hitting a post and Cornell getting a solid save by Harer, before
Rocco Romero came off a pick, received a pass from Pannell on the left side of the goal and beat
Ghitelman down low to make it a 6-6 game with just over five minutes to go in the half.
The Big Red took its first lead of the game with just over one minute to go in the second quarter when Finn took a pass on the left side of the crease from Pannell and beat Ghitelman up high. The play was set up thanks to a brilliant defensive effort by Moyer, who picked off a Virginia pass in the Cavaliers offensive zone and streaked across the field for the clear.
Cornell won the ensuing face-off and managed to get two shots off in the closing moments of the half, but neither went on cage and the Big Red took the slim 7-6 lead into halftime.
The Cavaliers wasted little time in the third quarter as it opened up a decisive 3-0 run, scoring just 51 seconds in, as Giannone tied the game, 7-7. Cornell's next four possessions ended in turnovers, but Virginia wasn't able to capitalize until a Big Red slashing penalty resulted in a man-up goal by Carroll to return the 8-7 lead to the home team at the 7:53 mark.
Both teams struggled with turnovers on their next several possessions before a man-up opportunity for Cornell generated several Big Red opportunities, the last of which resulted in a shot by Pannell that hit the pipe as the penalty expired. Virginia managed to take advantage with a transition goal as Shamel Bratton blew past his defender and scored on the run to give Virginia its first two-goal lead since midway through the first quarter.
A great defensive play gave Cornell its lone goal of the third quarter as the Big Red forced a turnover and Peirce Derkac picked up the loose ball. Derkac streaked into the offensive end and found Boykin, who quickly sent the ball ahead to Pannell, who scored on the doorstep to make it a 9-8 game with 1:41 to play in the third.
A late goal in the closing moments of the third quarter by George Huguely and two goals by Billings and Stanwick in the opening moments of the final stanza gave the Cavaliers all they would need as they took a 12-8 lead with 10:37 to play.
Virginia won the restart and held the ball for two minutes before a shot by Gavin Gill hit Harer's foot and bounced into the net. The Cavaliers then pushed their lead to 14-8 when Shamel Bratton scored at the 7:38 mark.
The Big Red drought ended when Doctor took a pass from Romero and scored from point-blank range to make it a 14-9 game with just over four minutes to play. Cornell had a chance to take advantage of a one-minute man-up opportunity on its next possession but Ghitelman made a brilliant save to end the threat and return the ball to the Cavaliers.
Another solid defensive effort gave the Big Red some offense as a Virginia turnover resulted in a loose ball that was picked up by Seibald in the defensive end. Just 10 seconds later, Seibald ripped a blistering left-handed shot past Ghitelman to preserve his 37-game point-scoring streak and make it a 14-10 game with 2:05 left to play.
Cornell had several more opportunities to cut into the Virginia lead, as the Big Red earned two more man-up chances in the closing minutes, but couldn't capitalize as the Cavaliers held on for the victory.
The Big Red is back in action on Tuesday, March 10, as it opens the home portion of its schedule against Canisius at Schoellkopf Field at 4 p.m.
