March 15, 2006
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (www.lafayette.edu) - No. 4-ranked Navy used a pair of two-goal bursts to build a 7-1 halftime lead and defeated Lafayette 11-6 in the Leopards' Patriot League men's lacrosse opener on Wednesday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Nick Mirabito opened the scoring 1:19 into the match, and Jon Birsner and Ian Dingman scored nine seconds apart, at 9:53 and 9:44, to give Navy (5-0, 2-0 PL) an early 3-0 lead.
Mike Scolaro found the net on an assist from Andrew Horton to put the Leopards (1-4, 0-1) on the board at 8:29 before Birsner assisted on a goal by Dingman just under a minute later. Dingman returned the favor on a goal by Birsner with 11 seconds left in the first quarter to give Navy a 5-1 lead.
Billy Looney and Mirabito scored second-quarter goals six seconds apart, at 11:40 and 11:34, to put the Midshipmen ahead 7-1. Neither side would score for the next 24:01, until Taylor Harris converted with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter.
Sean Burek and Horton netted unassisted goals late in the third for Lafayette before Harris struck again with just three seconds left in the period to give Navy a 9-3 lead. Burek, Brian Cronise and John Galassi accounted for the Leopards final three goals, with Galassi scoring his 10th of the season with eight seconds remaining in regulation.
Navy held advantages in every statistical category, including shots (33-19), ground balls (39-28), face-off wins (12-8) and clears (Navy 17-23, Lafayette 14-24).
Jeff Canfield made 12 saves in goal for Lafayette. Matt Russell, a preseason first team All-America selection, made just two saves while allowing four goals. The Leopards also got to Colin Finnegan twice in the closing minutes, and their six goals were the most allowed by the Mids in five games this season. Navy had given up 13 goals in their first four outings, which included match-ups with nationally-ranked Ohio State and North Carolina.
The Leopards also held the tandem of senior Steve and junior Billy Looney, preseason third-team All-America choices, to a goal and an assist, both by the younger Looney.
Navy had defeated Lafayette 14-1 in both meetings since the Mids, the national runners-up in 2004, joined the Patriot League.
Lafayette will host Army in a Patriot League battle on Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Rappolt Field.
