Tuesday, May 30, 2006
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Virginia completed an undefeated season with its fourth NCAA men's lacrosse title Monday, beating unseeded Massachusetts 15-7 behind five goals each from Matt Poskay and Matt Ward.
Virginia is the second consecutive undefeated champion and the 12th to post a perfect season. Johns Hopkins went 16-0 last year.
"It's a little overwhelming to hear all the statistics about our team," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "The whole undefeated thing snuck up on us, but to come in here as expected and do this is a very special moment for our program. I'm very proud of our guys."
Before a record crowd of 47,062, Massachusetts (13-5) made a game of it for the first half but ultimately could not contain the top-seeded Cavaliers. Virginia spent much of the first half watching its shots sail high and wide.
"I think we were uncharacteristically tight late in the second quarter," Starsia said. "It was just a question of tightening things down a little bit."
But with the Cavaliers holding a 7-6 lead, UMass defenseman Jack Reid was called for a costly slashing penalty on a faceoff. Poskay capitalized on the man advantage with his third goal of the day. That proved to be a turning point as Virginia reeled off five more goals to take control.
"I'm sure it hurt us," Reid said. "If I could take it back, I would."
UMass rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game early in the third quarter, but the Minutemen just couldn't keep pace with Virginia's overwhelming offensive attack.
"They get an extra guy out there and they can really sling the ball around," UMass coach Greg Cannella said.
UMass tied it 5-5 early in the third quarter and pulled to 7-6 when the Cavaliers scored six straight goals to lead 13-6 with 9:37 left.
"It's tough to stay with them for that long a stretch," Reid said
Sean Morris, who entered the game as UMass' leading scorer with 33 goals, was held without one. UMass freshman Doc Schneider played well in goal but stood little chance against a Cavaliers offense that featured four players with more than 30 goals this year.
The Cavaliers dominated the first quarter, pinning UMass in its defensive end for several minutes at a time. Poskay scored twice and Ward made it 4-1 on an empty-net goal after goalie Doc Schneider came out to help defensively.
"It's hard for any goalie to keep pace when you're getting shots like that," said Ward, who earned Most Outstanding Player honors and finished the tournament with an NCAA-record 16 goals in four games.
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