CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Virginia Military Institute men's lacrosse team fell victim to a quick start from the eighth-ranked University of Virginia Cavaliers, who scored nine goals in the first quarter en route to a 21-3 non-conference win Monday night at Klöckner Stadium.
VMI (1-9) got a pair of goals from senior attackman Mickey Hofmeister, who now has a career-high 23 points this season on 16 goals and seven assists. The Keydets got their third goal from sophomore defenseman Ian Marinacci, who played up on the wing for a faceoff and forced a Cavalier turnover on the Virginia crease and deposited the ball in the cage.
Virginia, which was ranked eighth in both the USILA Coaches' Poll and the Inside Lacrosse/Warrior Media Poll, got nine points on four goals and five assist from Ryan Lukacovic. Joe French finished with six points on four goals and two helpers while James Pannell and Zach Wood scored three times each.
Owen Van Arsdale and Pat Harbeson also finished with three points, the former with one goal and two helpers and the latter with a trio of assists.AJ Fish had two goals as Zed Williams had two assists. Mark Cockerton had three goals in the game while Jeff Kraftky and Tyler German had one goal and one assist, respectively.
In goal for the Keydets, junior Evan Windisch made 11 saves, the ninth time this season the starter has made double-digit saves. Virginia played three goalkeepers, with Matt Barrett playing the first 19:50 and collecting the win with one save. Rhody Heller played 25 minutes and made three saves while allowing two goals as Matt Robertson played the final 15 minutes and also made three saves, but allowed one goal.
The Cavaliers (8-2) ripped off 47 shots on the night, putting 68 percent of their shots on frame. AJ Fish and Joe French led the game with seven shots each. VMI's shooting effort was paced by Hofmeister, who took six chances. Freshman midfielder Dale Mattice took five shots.
VMI struggled in clears, gaining the zone on just 14 of its 25 chances. Conversely, Virginia cleared 20 times in 23 attempts. Turnovers were a factor as well, with VMI charged with 30 errors, with 20 caused by Virginia players. The Cavaliers turned the ball over 16 times for four forced by Keydets, including two from Marinacci.
Mitch Wilson took each faceoff for the Keydets, winning 12 of his 28 attempts. But despite the disparity in total numbers, a majority of the game's faceoffs were won following a tough battle for the groundball. Virginia's faceoff chances were led by Mick Parks, who won eight of his 11 draws. Kraftky went five off 11 while Nate Menninger was two-for-five. James Dahlheimer won his only chance at the X.
The Cavaliers won the groundball battle, picking up 48 in the 20th meeting all-time between the programs, while VMI collected 29. The Keydets were led by nine grounders from Windisch. Dahlheimer and Chris LaPierre were the top groundball getters for the Cavaliers with four each.
Virginia jumped out to a 12-0 lead through the first quarter and a half, including nine in the first 15 minutes. Hofmeister broke a scoreless streak for VMI that stretched back to the 12:41 mark of the third quarter in VMI's game against Wagner. The captain would pot his second of the game just four minutes later, making it a 13-2 advantage for Virginia at the break.
VMI scored just once in the second as a loose ball from a faceoff made it deep in the Cavalier zone. A unsuspecting Virginia player picked the ball up before Marinacci planted the Cavalier, scooped up the ball and scored on an empty net. However, Virginia out-scored VMI 8-1 in the second half, but each team scored once in the fourth quarter.
The Keydets have a long spell to work out the kinks before getting back into Atlantic Sun Conference action April 5 when VMI heads for Jacksonville University. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at the Dolphins' D.B Milne Field.
