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April 27, 2007

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 10th-ranked Navy lacrosse team dominated Army from the opening face-off, as the Midshipmen defeated fourth-seeded Army, 12-1, in the first of two Patriot League Tournament semifinal games Friday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The 11-goal victory ties the series record for largest margin of victory which it has accomplished five times in the 85-game history. Meanwhile, the one-goal output by Army marks the fewest goals it has scored against Navy since 1989 when the Mids defeated the Black Knights, 12-1.

"I was impressed with the way we played today," said Navy head coach Richie Meade who has led the Midshipmen to 13-consecutive wins over Army. "This has been a really tough week at both service academies. Army fought hard, but I felt like fatigue got to them today."

Eight different players put goals on the scoreboard for the Midshipmen, including four who each tucked in a pair. Seniors Tommy Wallin (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and Billy Looney (Silver Spring, Md.), along with Tim Paul (Parkton, Md.) and Nick Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y.) each scored two goals and added an assist, while senior Ian Dingman (Deferiet, N.Y.) punched in a goal and dealt out a pair of assists.

Navy scored just 45 seconds into the contest as Wallin fed Paul as he was cutting to the middle of the field, just two yards outside of the crease. Wallin poked in his first goal of the game at the 8:41 mark, triggering five goals over the next five minutes by five different Midshipmen. One of the highlights of the opening quarter was when Dingman fed First-Team All-Patriot League long stick defensive midfielder Victor Barger (Clifton Park, N.Y.) for his fourth goal this spring off four shots. After a lengthy scrum ensued off a face-off, Navy picked up the loose ball with Dingman finding Barger on the doorstep.

Mirabito scored the last goal of the first quarter and the first marker in the second quarter to push Navy's lead to 7-0 with just over seven minutes to play in the opening half. Paul fed Mirabito at the top of the crease when Mirabito was met by an Army defender who sent him airborne. Mirabito, though, stuck the goal.

Army finally got on the scoreboard with 6:19 to go in the second quarter when starting middie Kevin LoRusso rippled the back of the net off a shot from nearly 10 yards out.

Navy then scored back-to-back goals by Looney and Paul to head into the locker room with a comfortable 9-1 advantage.

The Mids went on to score three in the final quarter, including the first-collegiate goal by sophomore Sean Standen (South Hadley, Mass.).

Navy's defense, led by All-Patriot League players Jordan DiNola (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), Andrew Dow (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Brendan Teague (Annapolis, Md.) held Army scoreless for the first 23 and final 21 minutes of the contest.

The Mids more than doubled-up Army's shot production as they scored 12 goals on 33 shots against Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Adam Fullerton, while the Black Knights put up just one goal on 14 shots. The one area Army clearly held the advantage in was the face-off game where the Black Knights won 11 of the 17 draws.

Navy will play the winner of the second semifinal, featuring second-seeded Colgate against the No. 3 seed Bucknell, on Sunday in the Patriot League Championship Game. Face-off is set for 12:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and will be televised live by CSTV.

### Go Navy ###