Upset Week in Mens Division I games with Penn State, Maryland, Duke and Virginia all toppled.
The Princeton Tigers (3-0) went into the home of the Defending Champion, Virginia Cavaliers (2-1) and employed their fast paced offense to end the Cavaliers 10 game winning streak.
As usual, Michael Sowers was the main cog and started things off when he set up Chris Brown (4g,1a) 4:06 into the game and Princeton was heating up.
The squads exchanged goals that was started with Ian Laviano sending a pretty pass to Michael Kraus (2g,2a). With the goal, Kraus has now registered a point in every one of the 52 games he has played, and we were tied at 1.
The Tigers answered a minute thirty later with Phillip Robertson (4g) notched an unassisted tally that was answered a minute later by a Laviano (3g,1a) tally.
Princeton doubled down with Connor McCarthy (2g) and Sowers connecting with Robertson to make it a 4-2 Tigers edge.
Dox Aitken (2g) and Peter Garnoanswered to close the first with a 4-4 score.
Princeton came out fast in the second and Chris Brown at 11:17 followed exactly a minute later by Sowers (4g,4a) gave the visitors a brief two goal lead.
Laviano, Matt Moore (2g,2a) and Peter Lasalla (1g) put Virginia in front,7-6.
At that point, the whole make up of the game changed as Princeton would nab the next two goals (Sowers and Brown) that would be a precursor of a 6-1 run.
The Half ended with Virginia trailing by one at 8-7.
Sowers made it three in a row before Kraus stopped the run.
Robertson, Brown and McCarthy made it six goals out of seven for the Tigers and a 12-8 lead.
Virginia didn’t win the Championship for nothing and showed their pride when Payton Cormier (1g,1a) and Dox Aitken scored twenty eight seconds apart to get the crowd into it.
With just six ticks left on the clock, Sowers put a dagger in the mini rally to close the third with Princeton up by three, 13-10.
Undaunted, the Cavs kept working and Kraus set up Matt Moore with a pretty man up pass followed by Laviano with an even strength tally that made it a one goal game with just under nine minutes to go.
That would be as close as Virginia would get as Princeton reeled off a final flurry with Robertson and a pair from Alex Slusher to cap the upset. This game was played really fast. That is the way the game is meant to be played. I love how quickly Princeton moves and plays their transition offense and how quickly they got the ball up off the ground. We certainly have to learn from what happened today and learn from our opponent. The pace I think caught us off guard a little bit and I give credit to their players and the Princeton coaching staff. I think we’re just starting to realize Princeton isn’t just a one-man team. Michael Sowers is an incredible player, the leader in the Tewaaraton [Trophy] hunt right now, but the people around him are going hard to the goal. They are playing aggressive defense, making plays and picking up key ground balls. That’s a heck of an opponent we just faced today.”– Lars Tiffany Virginia Head Coach Dis and Dat: In light of the upsets, Princeton is now ranked #5 in a NCAA polls.
How hot is Michael Sowers? He now has 7 goals and 15 assists… in his LAST 2 GAMES!
Virginia netminder, Alex Rode made 14 saves and garnered 5 loose balls.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
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