Spring Break
No. 3 Cavaliers get revenge against Drexel
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: Sports
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Last year the Dragons upset the then No. 1 seeded Cavaliers in dramatic fashion, scoring two goals in the final 10 seconds en route to an improbable 11-10 victory in Charlottesville.
This season however, Virginia made sure history wouldn't repeat itself.
Garrett Billings scored three goals and handed out four assists as the Cavaliers (1-0) scored four straight goals, two on the man advantage, in the second half to break a 6-6 deadlock and defeated No. 18 Drexel (0-1) 11-7 Feb. 17 in front of a sellout, standing room only crowd of 2,500 at Vidas Field.
"I'm proud of the way we played," Drexel head coach Chris Bates said. "Virginia is one of the better teams in the country. I thought we went toe to toe. We made some mistakes that they made us pay for, but at the end of the day I think we come out of here with our heads held high realizing that we can play with anybody."
Brian Carroll added three goals and an assist, while Peter Lamade and Jack Riley each had a pair of goals for Virginia, who improved to 7-1 lifetime against Drexel.
Andrew Chapman had two goals while Colin Ambler added a goal and two assists in a losing effort for the Dragons.
Ambler's goal, an overhead shot that shorthopped past Adam Ghitelman (nine saves) knotted the game at six with 13:14 remaining in the third quarter, but Billings set up consecutive man advantage goals by Gavin Gill and Carroll to give the Cavaliers an 8-6 lead entering the final quarter.
Virginia tallied two more goals at even strength just 22 seconds apart, the second by Billings at 13:49 and never looked back.
"At the end of the game where we got in trouble is where we didn't have a lot of poise and I thought that hurt us," Bates said.
Drexel got off to a fast start jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
Chapman got the Dragons on the board at 8:09 spinning his defender and firing an underhand shot past Ghitelman and Ambler fed a cutting Chris O'Connor from behind net at 6:06, giving Drexel some early insurance.
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