By Christian Swezey
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Navy received a scare in its 10-6 victory over Lehigh in a Patriot League tournament semifinal yesterday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, but it wasn't because of a very tight game.
Navy leading scorer Jon Birsner left late in the first quarter with a concussion. He is probable to play in the title game, against Army tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Black Knights advanced with a 9-8 overtime win over Bucknell in the second semifinal.
A Lehigh defender appeared to hit Birsner in the back of the head after Birsner scored a goal that gave Navy a 3-0 lead with 7 minutes 40 seconds left in the first quarter. Birsner left the game, returned briefly -- he got an assist on a goal by senior Ben Horn with 2:06 left in the quarter -- before leaving for good soon after.
"He got hit, and the doctors didn't think he should continue to play," Navy Coach Richie Meade said. "After he got hit, we thought it was best to rest him."
A strong defensive effort made certain Birsner wasn't missed too much by the Midshipmen (10-3). They held Lehigh to 18 shots, the seventh time an opponent has taken fewer than 22 shots. Navy is 7-0 in those games.
Lehigh trailed 5-2 when it had its best chance to get back in the game. Navy senior Graham Gill was called for two one-minute penalties -- including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, for arguing with a referee -- late in the first half.
At halftime, Lehigh worked on a play to take advantage of its extra-man chance. The focal point had to be senior Andrew Lucas. He had two extra-man goals in the first half and had a team-high 34 goals this year.
But goalie Matt Russell instead saved a shot by freshman Robert Shrader, and sophomore Billy Looney scored a short-handed goal for a 6-2 lead 1:13 into the second half.
"We knew that was a great opportunity," Lehigh Coach Chris Wakely said. "We're disappointed it didn't result in a goal, or even in the look we wanted."
Steve and Billy Looney and Gill each had two goals for Navy. Lucas had three goals for Lehigh (9-5).
Second-seeded Army (11-3) advanced after freshman Matt Scheel scored the winner in sudden-death overtime over the Bison (8-5).
The Black Knights have lost eight in a row to Navy dating from 1997, including a 12-9 loss on April 16. Birsner has 10 goals and 26 assists this year; he also has 5 goals and 7 assists in three games against Army.
He likely will be matched up against senior Matt Luyster tomorrow. Luyster was the Patriot League defensive player of the year.
Maryland Wins in OTFreshman Maxwell Ritz scored the winning goal with 1:20 left in sudden-death overtime as Maryland defeated Virginia, 8-7, in an ACC tournament semifinal before a record crowd of 5,000 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Ritz one-timed a rebound after a shot by Bill McGlone had been saved by goalkeeper Kip Turner.
Maryland (7-5) will play top-seeded Duke in the title game tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Duke defeated North Carolina, 13-11, in the first semifinal. The Blue Devils (14-1) also defeated Maryland, 10-8, earlier this season.
Last night, McGlone tied the game at 7 with a goal with 2:20 left in regulation. Virginia (9-3) appeared to have won after a goal by senior J.J. Morrissey 19 seconds into overtime; but timeout had been called before the ball left Morrissey's stick.
Sophomore goalkeeper Harry Alford then saved two point-blank shots to set up Ritz's heroics.
Ritz finished with two goals, giving him six this season. Leading scorer Joe Walters was held to one assist and went 0-for-6 shooting.
Senior John Christmas had one goal and three assists for Virginia.
In the first semifinal, freshman Zach Greer had four goals and senior goalkeeper Aaron Fenton had 20 saves for Duke (14-1).
North Carolina (5-8) is ineligible for the NCAA tournament because it cannot finish above .500.
In the women's tournament, Cary Chasney had five goals and an assist as Virginia defeated Maryland, 15-11, in a semifinal. The Cavaliers led 8-4 at halftime and held on against Maryland (10-5).
Senior Amy Appelt added three goals for Virginia (13-3). Freshman Kelly Kasper had three goals and an assist for Maryland.
Virginia will play top-seeded Duke (13-3) in the title game tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils advanced with an 11-9 win over North Carolina in the second semifinal.