JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Senior Mickey Hofmeister finished his afternoon with four points, but it was not enough as the Virginia Military Institute men's lacrosse team suffered a 14-5 loss at Jacksonville University on Saturday. Hofmeister finished with two goals and two assists in the Atlantic Sun Conference game.
Hofmeister scored four points in a game for the third time this season to lead VMI (1-10, 0-3 A-Sun). The Keydets got another two points from Mike DeBlasio on one goal and one assist as the junior made his first appearance since Feb. 22, missing the last six games with a lower body injury. Brad Biondello and Gage Snowbarger accounted for VMI's other two goals while Ben Huger posted an assist.
Jacksonville (2-7, 1-1 A-Sun) saw two players score hat tricks as Dakota Rohlin led the game with four goals and Ari Waffle notched three. Quint Miller also had four points on one goal and three helpers. Tom Moore and Rob Moore had one goal and two assists each while David Goldman potted two markers. Rob Wertz registered one goal for the Dolphins.
It was an uncharacteristic day in goal for junior Evan Windisch, who finished with four saves. It was just the second time this season Windisch did not make double-digit saves, a mark he hit in the previous seven games. Opposite Windisch, Pete DeLuca made 11 saves against 33 total shots from the Keydets.
VMI controlled the groundballs in the game, grabbing 30 while holding the Dolphins to 23. The Keydets' grounder effort was paced by freshman Mitch Wilson, who collected six while winning 13 of his 23 faceoffs. Two Dolphins faced off against Wilson, with Sam Rosengarden going six-of-16 and Jet Harding winning four of his seven chances.
The Keydets had a solid showing in transition as they gained the offensive zone on 13 of their 15 chances. The Dolphins cleared on all 19 of their chances.
Neither team was called for a penalty during the entire game at D.B. Milne Field, but VMI was called for three faceoff violations, including two in the first half. Jacksonville was called for two violations on the draw, one in each half.
VMI's pressure defense tallied seven caused turnovers, including a pair from junior Tyler Prasnicki, who is ranked in the top 20 nationally in caused turnovers per game. The Dolphins finished with 11 turnovers while VMI had 14 errors.
Shots were close in the game as VMI took 33 attempts while Jacksonville managed 32. Hofmeister accounted for nearly a third of VMI's shots, ripping off 10.
The Dolphins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Rohlin scored his first of the day just over a minute into the game. But the Keydets tied the contest with 9:02 to play in the first quarter as Snowbarger beat DeLuca to the far post. Hofmeister had the assist, extending his point scoring streak to 11 games.
Jacksonville reeled off another three goals to end the first quarter from three different sources. Rob Moore, Wertz and Rohlin each netted a goal while Miller has the assist on Wertz's goal.
It was much the same to begin the second quarter as the Dolphins struck four times to open the period, including one from Rohlin to get the hat trick. Waffle scored back-to-back goals while Goldman rounded out the run with his marker. VMI ended its scoreless drought as Biondello caught a skip pass over the top from Hofmeister for the Keydets' second of the day. Rohlin netted the final goal of the half to put Jacksonville up 9-2 through 30 minutes.
VMI out-scored Jacksonville 3-2 in the third quarter. After Miller scored the first goal of the fresh half, VMI got back-to-back goals from Hofmeister and DeBlasio, cutting Jacksonville's lead 10-4. Goldman notched his second with 8:41 to play in the third, followed by Hofmeister's second of the quarter with 2:55 to go.
The fourth quarter belonged to Jacksonville as the Dolphins struck three times, once from Tom Moore, Miller and Waffle to give the Dolphins their first Atlantic Sun win of the season.
VMI returns home to Drill Field #2 next Saturday when it hosts A-Sun foe Furman University. Game time for the April 12 contest is set for noon in Lexington.
