May 15, 2005|By Gary Lambrecht | Gary Lambrecht,SUN STAFF
Navy spent the first 40 minutes of yesterday's first-round NCAA men's lacrosse tournament game staging a clinic against visiting Delaware, which then stopped a developing rout and made the Midshipmen sweat.
But after taking the unseeded Blue Hens' best shots down the stretch, fifth-seeded Navy, behind junior goalie Matt Russell and an offense that kept finding holes in Delaware's zone defense, overcame the loss of one of its top players and held on for a 9-7 victory before 3,548 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The victory sends Navy (12-3) into next week's quarterfinals at Johns Hopkins, where the Mids will face Virginia, which hammered Albany, 23-9, last night.
And the Mids, who lost in last year's NCAA title game, may have to make the rest of their postseason run without junior midfielder Steve Looney, their second-leading goal scorer and leader in ground balls. Looney injured his right leg after landing awkwardly in practice Thursday and watched yesterday's game on crutches.
Navy, which got a game-high three goals from freshman attackman Nick Mirabito and bolted to an 8-2 lead with 9:11 left in the third quarter, was not about to be denied its second straight trip to the tournament's second weekend.
"I was very pleased with the way the game unfolded in the first half. Obviously, we're going to have to do a better job of game management and decision-making toward the end of the game," Navy coach Richie Meade said. "I'm disappointed that we let the game get away from us a little bit."
In the first half, when Delaware's Alex Smith, the top faceoff man in the country, controlled eight of 11 draws, the Mids countered with nine of Russell's season-high 13 saves and outstanding ball movement and high-percentage shot selection against the Delaware zone.
In the second half, when the Blue Hens scored three goals in the last five minutes of the third quarter to cut the lead to 8-5, then nearly got to within 9-8 with 1:16 left - before a Delaware timeout negated sophomore attackman Cam Howard's goal - Navy did enough to close the deal.
Navy won despite getting no goals from junior attackman Jon Birsner and senior midfielder Graham Gill. Birnser, Gill and sophomore Billy Looney shot a combined 1-for-21. The Mids overcame a 12-save effort by Delaware senior goalie Chris Collins by getting goals from defensive midfielders Seth DiNola and Clipper Lennon and one goal and two assists from second-line middie William Wallace.
"We knew how they played [the zone] and what their tendencies were. I think our scout [defense] gave us a better look [in practice] than Delaware did," said Mirabito, who scored three of Navy's first seven goals, all from in close. "It came down to patience."
The Blue Hens (11-6), who made their first tournament appearance since 1999, never lost their poise. After Lennon gave the Mids a 9-5 lead with 8:30 left, Delaware came back to score twice in a span of 1:02, cutting the deficit to 9-7 with 1:26 left.
Then, after Delaware won the ensuing faceoff, Howard beat Navy defenseman Mitch Hendler on the right wing and scored with 1:16 to go. Almost.
"I don't question making the timeout. I made it before [Howard] made his dodge," said Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw, who wanted to get two defensive middies off the field. "No sooner than the top of my hand touched my fingers, [I thought] this is one I'm going to regret. It's one of those things."
After the timeout, Navy forced two turnovers and ran out the clock.
Delaware 1 1 3 2 - 7
Navy 2 4 2 1 - 9
Goals: D-Turner 2, Howard, Trentzsch, Hechtkopf, Hall, Hipple; N-Mirabito 3, Wallace, Horn, DiNola, Lennon, Looney, Shea. Assists: D-Hechtkopf 2, Hall, Hipple; N-Wallace 2, Horn, Gill, Pieczonka, Wallin. Saves: D-Collins 12; N-Russell 13.
