Navy's co-most valuable players from last year had distinctly different roles in a 9-7 victory over Delaware in an NCAA lacrosse tournament first-round game before 3,548 yesterday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Junior goalkeeper Matt Russell had a season-high 13 saves for the Midshipmen (12-3). He saved four point-blank shots and helped limit the Blue Hens (11-6) to three goals in six-on-six offense.
Junior midfielder Steve Looney, however, is out indefinitely after he injured his right leg in practice Thursday. He watched the game with a boot and a cast on his right leg.
Navy Coach Richie Meade said Looney will be reevaluated this week. Looney leads the team with 60 ground balls and also has 23 goals; he plays at least five positions.
"We have to see how that goes," Meade said. "It was a freak thing that happened in practice. He was going warp speed, and jumped for a ball and was injured when he landed."
Delaware threatened late yesterday. It closed to 9-7 following a goal by senior Joe Trentzsch with 1 minute 26 seconds to play. Blue Hens sophomore Alex Smith won the next faceoff and found leading scorer Cam Howard in the best possible position -- he was topside a few yards from the goal, the one spot Navy does not like to give opponents.
Howard beat senior Mitch Hendler and scored an apparent goal with 1:16 left.
A second before the shot, however, referees blew their whistles. Delaware Coach Bob Shillinglaw had called timeout.
"Cam had just started to dodge when I called it," Shillinglaw said. "No sooner had my hand touched the tops of my fingers than I said, 'This is one I'm going to regret.' I was hoping he [the referee] didn't hear me."
Delaware turned over the ball following the timeout, and Navy was on to the quarterfinals next weekend in Baltimore. It will play Virginia. A close finish didn't appear to be in the cards after Navy took an 8-2 lead following a goal by senior captain Seth DiNola with 9:11 left in the third quarter. For the rest of the game, however, the Midshipmen shot 1 for 16 and had seven turnovers.
"We have to do a better job of game management and decision-making at the end of the game," Meade said.
Freshman Drew Turner (Severn) had two goals and Smith won 11 of 20 faceoffs for Delaware.
Navy freshman attackman Nick Mirabito had three goals and senior defender Mike Felber had a team-high five ground balls.
But Navy used three different players as a wing on faceoffs, a role Looney normally fills on his own.
After an injury-riddled regular season, however, Russell is nearing the form he showed as a first-team all-American last year.
Meade said it took Russell about a month to recover from a rigorous Navy SEAL training he did in mid-January. Russell then was slowed by a severely sprained left ankle after he stepped into a pothole on Navy's campus two days before a win over Maryland on April 8.
"When Matt Russell . . . is playing at the top of his game, we become a very, very dangerous team," Meade said.
Said Russell: "I've never won a game by myself. That's why it's called a team. . . . One of our advantages is that every guy here wants to play so badly. When they get their chance, they are ready."
