Needing to catch a plane ride to Texas just a few hours after Tuesday?s non-conference game against Canisius, the Navy lacrosse team could have easily looked ahead of its opponent and become the latest ranked team to suffer an upset this season.
Instead, Navy rallied from an early, one-goal deficit and outscored Canisius, 7-1, in thethird quarter en route to a 13-5 win at a rare 10 a.m. weekday game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. No. 5 Navy improved to 5-0 on the season while Canisius fell to 0-3.
Senior midfielder Bill Looney had three goals and two assists, junior attack Nick Mirabito had two goals and two assists, and senior attackmen Ian Dingman and sophomore Bruce Nechanicky had three goals each for Navy. The Midshipmen (2-0 Patriot League) next play on Saturday when they face league rival Holy Cross (1-4, 0-3) at Southern Methodist in Dallas.
“The 10 a.m. start wasn?t as bad as the 6 a.m. wake-up for breakfast,” Looney said. “It was a little different at first, but you forget about that once the game gets going.”
Navy started the game against Canisius playing like it just got out of bed. The Golden Griffins jumped out to a 2-1 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter after a goal by senior midfielder Brad Favero, one of five different players to score for Canisius. The visitors would have led, 3-1, but junior attack Michael Blocho had a goal negated after officials ruled he used an illegal stick.
Canisius also did a great job of controlling the ball in the first half, winning 7 of 9 face-offs. But Navy found an answer in the final 30 minutes by winning 8 of 13 second-half face-offs.
“The first quarter, in particular, was a possession game, Navy coach Richie Meade said. “I think we were pretty sloppy in the early stages of the game. We had our chances to score, but didn?t.”
Navy senior goalie Colin Finnegan, who finished with 10 saves, said picking up the non-conference win was important for the Midshipmen as they look to solidify their position for the NCAA tournament.
“It?s important to keep this momentum going and try to be undefeated when we get to the part of the schedule that includes teams like Maryland, Georgetown, Army and Johns Hopkins,” he said.
NAVY NOTES
» Navy senior attack Ian Dingman recorded his third hat trick of the season Tuesday and is now in sole possession of sixth place on the Mids? career scoring list with 157 points.
» Navy sophomore attack Bruce Nechanicky?s three-goal performance Tuesday was his career high.
» The Midshipmen are 5-0 for a second straight year and for only the second time in the last 18 seasons.
