#1 Virginia Stops Orange, 14-10

Sunday, March 4

Charlottesville, VA

4:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

#1 Virginia

Ricky Buhr attempts one of his 12 faceoffs Sunday at Virginia.

Photo by: Matt Riley/UVA Media Relations

3/4/2012 7:05:19 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Score By Period	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Syracuse	1	5	2	2	10
Virginia	2	2	6	4	14
Box Score \| Highlights \| Interviews March 4, 2012 \| Klöckner Stadium / Charlottesville, Va. \| Attendance: 5,855

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 3 Syracuse (2-1) gave top-ranked Virginia all it could handle, but ultimately lost to the Cavaliers, 14-10, at Klöckner Stadium. The Orange led 6-4 at the half and never trailed by more than three against the defending national champions until Rob Emery's goal with 1:29 left produced the final score.

"More than half the group had never been on this field before, so just to be here and experience the road against a good group like UVa is going to help us," SU head coach John Desko said. "We'll watch film and learn more about ourselves. I think we are getting better. We just lost to a very good lacrosse team today."

Sophomore attackman Derek Maltz recorded a career-high five points on three goals and two assists to lead the Syracuse offense. Maltz factored in all four of the team's second-half goals, scoring three and assisting on one by redshirt senior Tim Desko in the fourth quarter. Desko finished with four points in the contest, including tying Maltz for team-high scoring honors with three goals.

For Virginia (5-0), starting midfielders Colin Briggs, Emery and Matt White combined for seven goals and eight total points. Briggs led the Cavaliers with three goals and one assist. Emery and White contributed two goals apiece.

The Cavaliers held a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. The Virginia margin could have been more if not for the play of SU starting goalie Matthew Lerman, who made four of his career-high nine saves in the opening period. Lerman's stop on 2011 Tewaaraton Award winner Steele Stanwick in transition late in the period helped keep it a one-goal game.

After a Briggs goal pushed the Virginia lead to 3-1 in the first minute of the second quarter, the Orange scored five unanswered goals, including four in the span of 3:08, to charge in front, 6-3. Desko scored twice in the run, including a between-the-legs finish with his back to the cage, to ignite the scoring spree.

Briggs snapped the Virginia drought, finishing a Stanwick pass with 48 seconds left in the half, to trim the Orange advantage to 6-4 at the break. The late tally gave the Cavaliers a spark as they stormed out of the locker room and scored the first four goals of the second half to reclaim an 8-6 advantage.

Maltz's first goal of the game stopped the Virginia run and closed the gap to 8-7 with 3:19 left in the third quarter. However, the Cavaliers kept the pressure on as Mark Cockerton and Chris LaPierre scored 22 seconds apart to extend the Virginia lead to three, 10-7.

Following Cockerton and LaPierre's goals, every ensuing Orange challenge was answered by the Cavaliers. Maltz had two goals and Desko had one in the game's last 17 minutes, but the Orange couldn't get over the hump and Virginia added two late goals with the SU defense pressing to regain possession.

Overall, 11 of Virginia's 14 goals were scored by their offensive midfielders as the Syracuse close defense held UVas high-powered attack unit to two goals – one by Chris Bocklet and one by Stanwick. Long-stick defensive midfielder Chris Clements also had one.

In addition to Virginia's midfield scoring, faceoffs and ground balls were crucial factors in the outcome. The Cavaliers' advantage in both categories resulted in additional possessions and kept the ball away from the Orange. Virginia doubled up Syracuse in ground balls (42-21), and UVa faceoff specialist Ryan Benincasa won 20-of-28 faceoffs, including 11-of-16 in the second half.

"This (Virginia) group is great at picking the ball up off the ground and going,” John Desko said. “We couldn't get the ball to our offense as much as we wanted in the second half.”

Syracuse continues its three-game road trip Saturday, March 10 when it opens BIG EAST play at St. John's. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at DaSilva Memorial Field.

Game Notes: Tim Desko has 11 goals in four career games against the Cavaliers … Redshirt freshman Henry Schoonmaker and junior Matt Pratt both scored their first goals for Syracuse in the second quarter ... Sophomore faceoff specialist Ricky Buhr registered the first point of his college career with a fourth-quarter assist … Syracuse is 62-9 since the start of the 2008 season … Four of the team's nine losses during that time are to Virginia.