Rhamel Bratton and Steele Stanwick scored four goals apiece and Chris Bocklet added three scores to pace the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers (7-1) to a 14-11 triumph over the No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-3), Saturday afternoon, inside Klöckner Stadium. The victory is the 100th all-time in UVa’s home venue, which opened in 1993. The Cavaliers are now 100-16 (.862) all-time inside the confines of Klöckner Stadium.
With the victory, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia owns 323 career wins, needing four more to pass Jack Emmer (326) for the most triumphs while coaching at a NCAA Division I school.
UVa goalie Adam Ghitelman registered his 44th career win between the pipes, tying UMBC’s Jeremy Blevins (2006-09) for No. 6 all-time in NCAA Division I history. Ghitelman made 13 saves on the afternoon, giving the senior 480 for his career and passing Cam MacLachlan (1975-78) for seventh-most in UVa history.
Ohio State jumped out first, staking the Buckeyes to a 2-0 lead 7:31 into the game after goals by Michael Italiano and Keenan Ochwat.
“We do not usually feel threatened like that around the perimeter,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “We had to get up to speed in terms of pace of play on the offensive end, and frankly I think it was our best offensive performance of the season. We started off pretty slow, but we ended up being pretty efficient offensively.”
Virginia finally registered a goal with 4:48 left in the first quarter on a Rhamel Bratton goal, via a John Haldy pass. Steele Stanwick scored with seven seconds left in the first quarter on a Shamel Bratton helper, then the junior scored again 49 seconds into the second quarter, giving UVa its first lead of the game, 3-2.
Logan Schuss evened Ohio State, 3-3, when he scored on a Jeff Tundo pass with 9:27 before the intermission. Rhamel Bratton quickly answered for UVa with his second goal of the afternoon, giving the Cavaliers a 4-3 advantage.
Tyler Frederick answered back for Ohio State, scoring with 8:14 left in the first half, tying the game at 4-4. Virginia then ripped off an 8-1 run, storming out to a 12-5 lead.
Chris Bocklet started things with a man-up goal on a Stanwick pass. Colin Briggs followed with an unassisted goal, before Stanwick registered the first half hat trick with another a man-up goal on a Shamel Bratton pass with 4:56 left in the second quarter.
Ohio State managed to break up the scoring a bit with Tundo’s second goal with 2:17 before the break, but Bocklet scored again on a Briggs pass, sending UVa into the intermission with an 8-5 lead.
Matt White started the second half scoring for UVa with an unassisted score, 1:46 into the third quarter. Stanwick scored his fourth goal of the game at the 12:19 mark, followed by a Rhamel Bratton goal with 6:06 left in the third stanza. Shamel Bratton finished the 8-1 run with a goal assisted by Matt Kugler with 5:30 left in the period, staking UVa to the 12-5 advantage.
The Buckeyes bounced right back, scoring three straight scores, cutting the OSU deficit to four goals, 12-8. Tundo started the streak with an unassisted score, followed by two goals by Logan Schuss, the second assisted by Dominique with 1:58 remaining in the third period.
Bocklet scored again on a Shamel Bratton pass with 9:42 left in the game, halting the Ohio State streak and advancing the UVa advantage to five goals, 13-8. Schuss scored again for the Buckeyes with 6:18 left to play, cutting UVa’s lead to 13-9.
Virginia finished its scoring for the game with Rhamel Bratton’s fourth goal of the game with 1:32 left to play, giving UVa the 14-9 lead. Ohio State made it interesting with back-to-back goals by Italiano and Schuss, but it wasn’t enough as UVa was able to secure the game’s final faceoff and run out the clock, holding onto the 14-11 win.
The Cavaliers were led by Stanwick’s five points, coming off a Cornell game last week where for only the second time in his career he was held to zero points.
“I thought he was a little frustrated early, but he stepped up today and really played well,” said Starsia. “When he is playing well, it certainly helps our offense work.”
UVa won the ground ball battle (40-31), saves (13-9) and faceoffs (17-12), while Ohio State outshot the Cavaliers 39-35. Coming into the game Ohio State and UVa were tied for No. 1 in the nation for best extra-man defense, while UVa led the nation in extra-man offense. UVa won the battle, going 2-of-5 on EMO, while OSU was 0-for-4.
Ohio State was led by Schuss’ five goals, while Italiano and Tundo added two goals apiece.
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