Rob Pannell found Steve Mock on the crease with 13 seconds left to lift the No. 3 Cornell Big Red (5-0) over the No. 8 UVa. Cavaliers (5-2) on Saturday evening inside Klöckner Stadium, 12-11. Cornell scored five goals in the fourth quarter to outlast the Cavaliers.
The turning point late in the game came at the faceoff X as Cornell was 6-of-7 in the fourth quarter, which helped lead to a 5-2 run to close out the game for the Big Red.
“It certainly was an issue in the game,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia in reference to the faceoffs. “They did a good job at the faceoff X and their wings are very good and we just seemed like we couldn’t get a ball. I thought we had good offensive possessions, especially after the first quarter and as the game went on. But we just seemed like we didn’t have the ball late in the game. I feel like we could have gotten something done of our own if we got the ball back down on offense.”
The seesaw battle commenced with a 2-0 UVa run to start the game. Rob Emery scored on a pass from Nick O’Reilly to start things at 12:18. O’Reilly than scored on a Ryan Tucker helper. The extra-man score registered at 7:39.
Cornell quickly tied it to end the first quarter. Connor English scored unassisted, followed by a Mock goal at 3:32, evening the game at 2-2. Mark Cockerton ripped the nylon at 12:49 in the second quarter to push UVa ahead, 3-2, on an Owen Van Arsdale pass.
Cornell took its first lead of the game with 3:15 left in the first half, after back-to-back goals by Connor Buczek and Dan Lintner, giving the Big Red a 4-3 lead. Virginia retorted on an unassisted goal by James Pannell with 2:41 left before the intermission. O’Reilly scored again at 1:48 to return the lead to UVa, 5-4.
Rob Pannell scored his first goal of the game at 1:22 to even the score at 5-5. Doug Tesoriero won the ensuing faceoff for Cornell, but Mock tried a skip pass and UVa goalie Dan Marino intercepted the pass and started the transition clear. Matt White grabbed the ball and took it coast-to-coast and deposited the unassisted goal with six seconds remaining, sending UVa into the break with a one-goal lead, 6-5.
The Cavaliers jumped out in the third quarter on a 3-0 run, extending their lead to four goals, 9-5. O’Reilly tallied a goal to start the run, and then Scott McWilliams intercepted a Cornell clear attempt, which led quickly to a Greg Danseglio transition goal. Cockerton capped the run at 6:43 in the third quarter on a pass from Van Arsdale.
Cornell went on a 6-1 run to grab the 11-10 lead. Rob Pannell capped the run with a goal at 2:12. Cornell won the ensuing faceoff and tried to milk the clock. Danseglio during a 30-second clock warning was able to strip the ball from Cornell’s Mike O’Neil with 44 seconds left. Danseglio picked up the ground ball and found a streaking Emery, who then went the distance to tie the game with 39 seconds remaining, 11-11.
Tesoriero won the ensuing faceoff to set up the game-winner by Mock.
It was a game of turnovers as both teams combined for 41 turnovers, 24 of which were credited to Cornell. A combination of McWilliams and Tanner Scales did a tremendous job on All-American Rob Pannell, forcing the nation’s leading scorer into eight turnovers. Both McWilliams and Scales finished with three caused turnovers on the evening.
Virginia won the shots battle, 34-33, and Cornell became the first team in 2013 to beat UVa on ground balls, 36-34. Cornell handily won the faceoffs, 16-9, including 6-of-7 in the crucial fourth quarter.
O’Reilly led UVa with three goals and one assist. Rob Pannell led Cornell with two goals and four assists.
Virginia returns to action on Saturday when the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes comes to Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is at 3 p.m. and part of a doubleheader with the UVa women’s lacrosse team. The women’s lacrosse team hosts Princeton at noon.
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