Box Score
LEXINGTON,
Va. – The 11 players that make up the
class of 2012 for the VMI lacrosse team got one final victory for the red and
gold as the Keydets used a hot start to upended preseason favorite University
of Detroit Mercy 8-7 on Senior Day.
At a
cold and windy SprinTurf Field, the Keydets tucked away six goals in the first
half, including five in the first quarter. VMI brought its versatility to the
field once again as the team's first six goals were scored by six different
players.
Senior
midfielder Keith Long was the only VMI player to tally multiple goals, putting
away a pair. Freshman Mike DeBlasio tallied one goal and had one assist while
Russell East, Draius Mills, Colin Bosse, Drew Leonard and Stephen Robarge
posted one goal each. Bernie Mowbray and wingman Chris Rossie tallied an assist
each.
Of the
seven different players that scored a goal for VMI, four are members of the
class of 2012, which, in addition to Rossie's assist, accounted for six of
VMI's 11 points. Prior to the game, VMI honored its seniors and their families.
“For it
being their (the seniors) day and for those guys to put together a bulk of the
points today and have some great production from some different people … they
just knocked it out of the park,” said Anken, who guided VMI to its first home
finale win since 2006.
The
game was a slugfest, featuring 11 penalties, six of which went against VMI.
Detroit, the conference's leader in penalties per game, was whistled five
times, but the Keydets could not capitalize on any of the chances. Detroit
scored twice on the extra man and once short-handed during a three-minute stick
penalty.
Two
Titans, Shayne Adams and Alex Maini, tallied two goals each while Scott Harris,
Brad Janer and Tom Masteron had one apiece. Face-off man Tyler Corcoran had one
assist, as did Harris and Janer.
Between
the pipes for VMI, junior Matt Lindemann came to play, making 17 saves, a
season third best. Lindemann earned the third victory of his career, helping
VMI win three of its last four games.
Opposite
Lindemann, Detroit's A.J. Levell made 10 stops in his 60 minutes of play, but
suffered the first loss for Titan against VMI.
VMI
(4-10, 2-4) dominated the groundball game, collecting 39 while holding Detroit
to 25. Robarge had a majority of VMI's total, picking up seven. Adding seven to
his career total of 408, Robarge, who was drafted by the MLL's Denver Outlaws,
finishes his career ranked seventh all-time in NCAA Division I history with
415.
The
Keydets outshot Detroit (6-8, 3-3 MAAC) by a wade 44-35 margin. In the opening
stanza, VMI ripped off 14 shots, followed by another 12 in the third quarter.
The only period the Titans out-shot VMI was the final quarter, holding a narrow
10-9 advantage.
After
failing to clear once in the first quarter, VMI went perfect the rest of the
way and finished the afternoon 18-19. The Keydet riding game was solid as well,
allowing Detroit to gain the offensive zone just 20 times on 25 attempts. Three
of those failed clears came in the final minute of the game as Detroit
attempted to tie things up.
VMI
caused nine turnovers on the day, with four different Keydets registering
multiple errors. Lindemann, Rossie, Taylor Jenkins and Tyler Prasnicki each
tallied two caused turnovers while senior defenseman Kyle Hofstetter had one.
The epitome
of a hot start, VMI logged five of its eight goals in the first six minutes of
the game. VMI jumped out to a 3-0 early after Long, DeBlasio and Leonard all
tallied goals in a one-minute span. Detroit broke up the run with 10:57 on the
clock, but the Keydets strung together another run, putting up another two
goals to end the first and started the second quarter with another marker.
East, Mills and Bosse scored during the second three-goal run, giving VMI six
different goal scorers.
Not to
be outdone, Detroit answered back with four goals in a row, including two on
either side of the halftime break. VMI led after the first two quarters, 6-3.
After the intermission, the Titans came out and stuck another two goals.
VMI
iced the game in the final four minutes of the third quarter as Long tallied
his second of the day. Just seven seconds later, Robarge won logged one of his
10 face-off wins, charged down the middle of the Detroit defense and scored
what proved to be the game-winner. Robarge's game-winner was the first of his
career, which ends on a three-game scoring streak.
The
Titans made a run for it down the stretch, scoring twice in the final period,
but several doorstep saves from Lindemann ensured the win for VMI.
The
Keydets will be holding their annual end of the year banquet Saturday night. A
release of the team's honors and awards will be on VMIKeydets.com on Sunday.
