Michael Santos vs MSM
Randall K. Wolf/VMI
15
Winner VMI VMI 1-2
6
Hampton HAMP 0-2
Winner
VMI VMI
1-2
15
Final
6
Hampton HAMP
0-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
VMI VMI 2 3 4 6 15
Hampton HAMP 2 1 2 1 6

Game Recap: Lacrosse |

VMI Tops Hampton for First Win of Season

Box Score

HAMPTON, Va. - Ahead 5-3 at the half, the VMI lacrosse team rallied for 10 second-half goals to earn a 15-6 road victory over Hampton University Monday evening at Armstrong Stadium in Hampton, Virginia.

The win brings VMI to 1-2 on the season and marks the second victory for VMI head coach James Purpura at the helm. The Pirates fall to 0-2 for the season. The Keydets outshot the Pirates by a 66-26 count, cleared the ball on 25 of 26 attempts and went a perfect 3-3 on man-up opportunities throughout the game.

Hampton jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening period before VMI responded with five unanswered goals over the course of the first half. Scout Ripley and Michael Santos evened the score at 2-2 going into the second quarter before Hartley Jordan, Josh Bass and Luke Rusterucci put the Keydets up, 5-2, with 10 minutes before the half. Hampton would score one more time before the break to make the score 5-3 at the half.

"Winning isn't easy in Division I lacrosse and you need to appreciate it when you earn that result," Purpura said. "We didn't play our cleanest game today and have got to find a way to finish our opportunities on offense. Credit to Hampton, they played hard and came out of the gate with a lot of energy. I'm proud of oue team for continuing to fight through adversity and get the win on the road. Freshman Damian Levin got his first win in his first career start in goal, freshman James Boynewicz continues to be an anchor in the defense and had 3 caused turnovers in the ride and freshman Luke Rusterucci had a career day with 3 goals and 7 points to lead our offense.

"There's a lot of lessons you learn through the course of the season that you try and use and apply later in the year and I think we've done that to this point and certainly we need to continue to do that. The game tonight was tough and they're going to continue to be tough. We need to continue to grow and continue to learn and apply those lessons every week."

VMI scored four times in the third period to Hampton's two to increase the lead to 9-5 with one quarter to play. Rusterucci scored two more times to earn a hat trick for the game while Jordan and Bass also scored again during the quarter.

Scout Ripley opened the fourth quarter with a goal before Hampton responded with one of its own to make the score 10-6 with 12:51 left in the game. VMI finished the game scoring five unanswered goals as the defense clamped down to not allow another Pirate score the remainder of the contest. Santos, Thomas Williamson, Aidan Riley, and freshman Luke Mryncza (twice) notched the final goals for the Keydets.

Rusterucci led VMI with three goals while Santos, Ripley, Bass, Jordan and Mryncza each had two. Ripley led the team in shots with 16, Bass took 12 and Jordan 10, Rusterucci and Tim Lindenbaum helped VMI win the groundball battle with four apiece. Freshman James Boynewicz led the team with three caused turnovers for the day, and freshman goalie Damian Levin earned his first career win with eight saves during the game.

VMI returns to action Saturday with a non-conference matchup with St. Bonaventure at noon at Drill Field No. 2.
 





 
Print Friendly Version