WEST POINT, N.Y. – Competing in the second game of its season-opening road trip, the VMI lacrosse team fell to host Army West Point by a 22-3 score Sunday afternoon in West Point, New York.
The Black Knights outshot the Keydets by a 48-31 margin and won 20 of 27 faceoffs to win the possession battle en route to the win. Army West Point also took advantage of extra-man opportunities by scoring on three of four attempts and cleared the ball on 22 of 25 attempts.
“The fight from our guys was strong but the margin for error at this level is too small and Army made us pay for every mistake,” said VMI head coach Jon Birsner. “We struggled again today at the Faceoff X and that puts you at a big disadvantage for total possessions and possession time. I was proud of our three guys who took draws because they competed and got better as the game went on. Improving in this area will be a big focus for us this week.”
Army jumped to a 4-0 lead after one quarter and increased the advantage to 10-0 moments before the intermission. VMI's Dan Bull put the Keydets on the scoreboard with 30 seconds remaining in the half by scoring an unassisted goal.
The Black Knights rattled off eight goals in the third period to head into the fourth with an 18-1 advantage. Midway through the final quarter, VMI junior Dale Mattice tallied another unassisted goal for the Keydets for his second goal in as many games. In the final moments, VMI's Cody Sheetz added a goal off an assist from freshman John O'Donnell for the game's final score.
Sheetz and Mattice led the Keydets with six shot attempts during the match while Eric Shaver logged five. Freshman Kyle Walsh showed hustle by leading the team with four groundballs while Brad Nardella won four faceoffs. Walsh and Andrew Stockmal each caused two turnovers to give possession back to VMI.
“I thought we had a couple of good chances in the first half to end their runs but we didn't finish the ball well,” Birsner added. “Their goalies had eight first-half saves and 15 total, which kept the game out of reach. I need to do a better job at getting us to capitalize more and create more opportunities. We have a great challenge this week to learn and address our mistakes.”
Army's Nate Jones, Cole Johnson and Connor Cook each tallied four goals to lead the Black Knight attack. Despite 12 saves, VMI keeper Joe Riccadonna was pegged with the loss while Army's AJ Barretto earned the win with nine saves in 30 minutes of play.
VMI returns to action next Saturday with a road game at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, which will be played at nearby Drew University due to unplayable conditions at NJIT's field. Faceoff is slated for a noon start in Madison, New Jersey.
