ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS 2011 GAME-BY-GAME RECAPS GAME 2 FEBRUARY 19 #12/13 ARMY 12, VMI 6 LEXINGTON, Va. - Sophomore midfielder Alex Van Krevel scored three goals on seven shots, while senior attackman Jeremy Boltus led all players with six points on two goals and four assists as #12/13 Army posted its first win of 2011 by virtue of a commanding 12-6 decision at VMI on Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights improved to 3-0 all-time against the Keydets with their first road game of the series. Army (1-1) dominated nearly every statistical category, including a 45-25 advantage in shots. “The team played hard from the opening whistle,” said head coach Joe Alberici. “Derek Sipperly did a great job on the face off and really setting the tone for us early. We pressured a lot offensively, especially early on. Our defensive effort extended to the perimeter, which enabled us to get the ball on the ground several times. We just kept playing the next play and won the game in the middle of the field.” Sipperly won his first six face offs, the majority of which came against VMI junior captain Stephen Robarge, who finished 2010 ranked fourth nationally in face offs won. Army led 2-1 after the first quarter and outshot the Keydets 16-4 in the opening 15 minutes. Sophomore attackman Garrett Thul opened the scoring after reeling in a pass from sophomore midfielder Pat Brennan on Army’s first man-up opportunity at the 9:26 mark. Van Krevel followed with his first score of the game just 29 seconds later, giving the Black Knights a 2-0 lead. VMI’s Keith Long got the Keydets on the board with 1:16 left in the first. A VMI goal 1:22 into the second quarter leveled the score at 2-2. That would be the Keydets’ last goal of the half, as a stifling Army defense keyed a 6-2 halftime lead. Van Krevel scored his second goal before the break, while Hayes, Boluts and junior midfielder Matt Hurley all found the back of the net once. Van Krevel wasted no time scoring completing his hat trick, as he beat VMI goalie Kelly McMinn 46 seconds into the third quarter. The Black Knights continued to roll, scoring four more goals in the third, including freshman midfielder Tyler Kamides’ first collegiate goal with five seconds remaining in the third. Neither team scored over the opening nine minutes of the fourth quarter until junior attackman Conor Hayes’ goal gave Army its largest lead of the afternoon (12-4) with 5:47 remaining. VMI would score twice more in the final five minutes, but time ran out on the Keydets. VMI’s McMinn finished with 18 saves in goal, while All-American goalie Tom Palesky of Army collected six saves on 12 shots on goal.
BOX SCORE SCORE BY PERIOD ARMY (1-1) VMI (1-2)
1 2 1
2 4 1
3 5 2
4 1 2
Total 12 6
SCORING ARMY: Boltus 2-4, Van Krevel 3-0, Thul 2-0, Hayes, 2-0, Hurley 1-0, Kamide 1-0, Boyd, 1-0, Brennan 0-3, Lynch 0-1 VMI: Long 2-1, East 2-0, Boersig 1-1, Drew 1-0 GOALIES Army: Palesky - 55:09, 6 GA, 7 saves, Palmieri - 4:51, 2 GA, 1 save VMI: Kelly McMinn - 60:00, 12 GA, 18 saves
Shots Saves Face-Offs Groundballs Clears Ex. Man Opp. Penalties Att: 707
ARMY 16-13-9-9=47 2-3-2-1=8 9/22 8-14-8-2=32 15-18 3-7 4/3:30
VMI 4-7-10-6=25 7-6-1-4=18 13/22 4-5-7-5=21 11-16 2-4 7/6:00
56 | 2012 ARMY LACROSSE GUIDE
Rob McCallion ’11 tallied three points on two goals and one assist at Syracuse.
GAME 3 FEBRUARY 27 #2/1 SYRACUSE 11, #18/17 ARMY 9 SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The #18/17 Army lacrosse team erased a 7-1 first-quarter deficit and scored eight of the last 12 goals of the contest, but time ran out on the Black Knights upset hopes in an 11-9 setback at No. 2/1 Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome. Sophomore attackman Garrett Thul paced Army with his first hat trick of the season. Senior midfielder Rob McCallion scored twice in the fourth quarter and assisted on Army’s (1-2) final goal of the game for a season-high three points. Senior attackman Jeremy Boltus, playing in front of a hometown crowd, tallied three points in a goal and two assists. Senior goalkeeper Tom Palesky made nine saves, including six in the second quarter as Army began to stage its comeback. Syracuse (2-0) out-shot Army by a 25-8 margin in the first half, but the Black Knights rebounded to hold a 20-9 edge over the final 30 minutes. Syracuse won 14 of 23 face-offs and held a 2822 advantage in ground balls. Both teams finished 1-of-4 on extra-man opportunities. Syracuse scored on seven of its first nine shots and led Army 7-0 before Thul got the Black Knights on the board with his first of his three goals in a man-up situation. Syracuse senior goalie John Galloway appeared to stop Thul’s shot from 12 yards out, but the ball snuck in the goal with 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Syracuse matched its largest advantage of the game with the first goal of the second quarter, extending its lead to 8-1 before Army dug in defensively and began to find its rhythm in the offensive zone. Both teams netted two goals in the second quarter, leaving Army staring at a 9-3 deficit heading into halftime. Army opened the second half scoring when senior midfielder Brandon Butler took advantage of an Orange miscue, ran the ball coast-to-coast for his first goal of the season to make it 9-4 Orange with 9:18 to play in the third quarter. The Black Knights went on to hold Syracuse scoreless over the remainder of the quarter and did so for a span of nearly 26 minutes stretching the final 2:33 of the first half and 9:09 into the fourth quarter. The Black Knights continued to chip away at the deficit in the meantime, using a four-goal barrage during a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Pat Brennan got the rally going as he found the top corner of the cage for
his first career goal with 10:35 on the clock. Just over two minutes later, rookie midfielder Tyler Kamide laced his second goal in as many games, hauling in a pass from Boltus and pulling Army within three goals (9-6) at the 8:23 mark. The Black Knights continued to take advantage of every possession midway through the fourth quarter. Palesky stopped a JoJo Marasco shot on the next Orange possession and Army capitalized as McCallion tallied his first point of the year. Dodging from the right side, McCallion’s score with 6:35 remaining inched Army within two (9-7). Syracuse won the next two face-offs and it resulted in junior attackman Tim Desko completing his first career hat trick to give the Orange a threegoal cushion (10-7) with 5:51. Syracuse went on to kill an Army man-up chance a minute later, but the Black Knights’ rally continued on the next possession when McCallion struck again with an unassisted goal at the 4:35 mark. Thul brought the Army crowd to its feed and the Black Knights within one goal (10-9) when he ripped a shot from 20 yards into the top left corner of the goal. That would end Army’s scoring, while Syracuse’s Jeremy Thompson’s second goal of the day gave the Orange some insurance with 1:06 to play. Desko and JoJo Marasco paced Syracuse with three goals apiece. Galloway made nine saves, seven of which came in the second half.
BOX SCORE SCORE BY PERIOD ARMY (1-2) SYRACUSE (2-0)
1 1 7
2 2 2
3 1 0
4 5 2
Total 9 11
SCORING ARMY: Thul 3-0, McCallion 2-1, Boltus 1-2, Kamide 1-0, Brennan 1-0, Butler 1-0, Lynch 0-1. SYRACUSE: Marasco 3-2, Desko 3-0, Miller 2-0, Thompson 2-0, Keogh 1-0, Amidon 0-2. GOALIES Army: Palesky - 59:36, 11 GA, 9 saves, Palmieri - 0:24, 0 GA, 0 saves Syracuse: Galloway - 60:00, 9 GA, 9 saves ARMY SYRACUSE Shots 1-7-8-12=28 9-16-5-4=34 Saves 1-6-1-1=9 0-2-4-3=9 Face-Offs 9/23 14/23 Groundballs 5-4-6-7=22 8-9-4-7=28 Clears 18-22 21-22 Ex. Man Opp. 1-4 1-4 Penalties 4/2:30 4/2:30 Att: 4,443