J. L. Reppert's performance spoke of a player trying to make things right again. So did Mickey Jarboe's.
Breaking unflattering cycles was the theme of 12th-ranked Navy's 8-6 men's lacrosse victory over No. 11 North Carolina yesterday at Rip Miller Field in Annapolis.
One week after a disturbing effort in a 9-3 loss to UMBC, Reppert kick-started the Midshipmen's attack with four goals and an assist and Jarboe reaffirmed his status as one of the nation's top goalkeepers with 25 saves, including 10 in the third period.
"I was upset with the way I played last week," Jarboe said. "We had a tough week of practice and it made us play tough."
Said Reppert: "Mickey really helped us with some great saves. They had a couple of two-on-one chances late in the game that could have broken our backs, but Mickey came up with some huge saves that gave us more momentum."
Jarboe was at his best from the start. He turned back 14 shots, several from close range, in the opening quarter as North Carolina (2-1) was shut out in a period for the first time in three games.
After misfiring on its first four shots, Navy (1-1) broke through with a goal from Reppert in the game's second minute and never trailed. Reppert assisted on Jon Brianas' goal and converted twice in the second period to push Navy's lead to 5-1 at halftime.
"I think this team really needed a spark and I was glad I was in the right place," Reppert said. "We had our confidence broken last week and to know that we could score really picked the whole team up."
The Tar Heels didn't have to look too far to figure out what went wrong: 13 turnovers and 11 penalties, including a three-minute illegal stick violation on Jeremy Carey in the second quarter.
North Carolina also had problems with the basics: passing and catching.
"We didn't catch and throw very well and their goalie had one of his better games," said North Carolina coach Dave Klarmann. "There was no question about our fouls and that's something we're going to have to work on."
Yet the Tar Heels didn't go away easy. Down 6-1 midway through the third period, North Carolina converted on two man-up opportunities to pull within 6-4 entering the final quarter.
But Navy answered with a goal by Brad Gilroy and after a goal by Ryan Beard had the Tar Heels within 7-5, Reppert iced the game for Navy with an uncontested shot in transition.
"We had opportunities but they capitalized better than we did," said Klarmann, whose team failed on nine of 10 extra-man opportunities.
The Midshipmen also got two terrific takeaways from defenders Justin Griffin and Bart Orr in the final five minutes to help run out the clock.
"Our defense really did play well," Jarboe said. "We knew that if we went 0-2 it would be tough to recover from so we knew we needed our best effort to win the game."
Pub Date: 3/06/99
