Navy coach Richie Meade made an intriguing comparison when he asked to put his team?s 8-7 upset victory at fourth-seeded North Carolina in the first round of theNCAA Tournament into perspective.
“As far as being underdogs [on Saturday night], we were underdogs at Midway, too. That?s really the way we have to look at it,” he said referring to the pivotal, World War II battle in 1942 in which Americans killed more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers. “You are looking at young men who will defend our country in a few years. The only way we win this game is if you put all the intangibles they learn at the Naval Academy and apply them to lacrosse.”
And that?s exactly what the Midshipmen did. Sophomore attacker Tim Paul scored a career-high four goals, junior goalie Tommy Phelan made 12 saves ? many from close range ? and senior attacker Nick Mirabito scored a spectacular, game-winning goal as Navy won its first postseason game since 2005.
“Looking into the seniors? eyes after losing to Colgate [in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament] and seeing how disappointed they were, there was no way I could let them go out that way,” Phelan told reporters after the game. “I did everythingI could do to get back home and play again. It wasn?t for me, it was for them (the seniors).”
The Midshipmen (10-5) took a 4-1 lead midway through the second quarter and did just enough offensively and even more defensively to leave Fetzer Field and advance to the quarterfinals, where they will host fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins (9-5) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
“The game went the way it needed to go for us to win,” Meade told reporters after the game. “Our defense played outstanding, specifically our goalie Tommy Phelan. I felt like our offense was opportunistic and disciplined.”
The Midshipmen hadn?t defeated a team seeded higher than fourth in the NCAA Tournament since a 16-8 victory over third-seeded Army in 1981.
Navy led 7-4 in the second half before the Tar Heels cut the lead to 7-6 on a goal by former St. Paul?s standout Bart Wagner with 7:32 remaining. Navy won the ensuing faceoff, but turned the ball over near the North Carolina goal when Thomas Zimmerman?s pass was intercepted by North Carolina?s Jack Ryan. But when Ryan tried to throw a pass to goalie Grant Zimmerman behind the goal, Mirabito leaped and snared the pass and promptly shot the ball into an open net from just a few feet away for what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 5:14 remaining.
North Carolina (8-6) trimmed the lead to 8-7 on a goal by former Severna Park star Ben Hunt with 44 seconds remaining, but didn?t come close to getting the equalizer past Phelan.
“This may have been the best game of Tommy?s career,” Meade told reporters after the game. “He played against a very skilled offensive team and he was crucial in us winning.”
