Twelve different players scored for the No. 1 Virginia (4-0) on Monday night, as the Cavaliers easily defeated the visiting VMI Keydets (1-3), inside Klöckner Stadium. Steele Stanwick and Chris Bocklet led the way with seven points apiece to help UVa head coach Dom Starsia win his 320th career game, seven away from breaking Jack Emmer’s mark (326) for most wins by a head coaching while coaching at the NCAA Division I level.
Another milestone was passed on Monday night as UVa goalie Adam Ghitelman won his 41st career game in between the pipes, passing Kip Turner for most goalie wins in program history. Ghitelman became the 17th player all-time at the NCAA Division I level to reach the 40-win plateau with the win on Saturday at No. 5 Stony Brook.
Virginia is now 18-0 all-time against VMI in a series that dates back to 1949. After Keith Long scored unassisted at 9:41 in the first quarter for VMI, tying the score at 1-1, UVa went on a 14-0 run that ran deep into the third quarter. Virginia limited VMI from taking a shot in the second quarter, as the Cavaliers went into the intermission with a 12-1 advantage.
Bocklet and Mark Cockerton amassed four goals and three goals respectively in the first half, while Stanwick added two goals and two assists. Ghitelman gave way after two quarters to Rob Fortunato, allowing only one goal and saving three shots.
Starsia played a lot of different Cavaliers in the second half, as Pat Harbeson and Jacob Ghitelman tallied their first career goals. John Haldy and Brian McLinden also scored their first goals of the season against the Keydets.
“Everybody pays the price to be a part of this, and so everybody wants to be out there playing under the lights for a real game,” said Starsia. “It is great to get everybody off the bench and give them a chance to play.”
VMI’s offense was led by Long, who scored two goals. Drew Leonard, Lowell Patterson, Bobby Davis and Tyler Griffith all added goals in the setback.
Virginia’s only lost category was in saves (5-15), but outshot (65-20) the Keydets, picked up more ground balls (63-49) and won the faceoff battle (17-13).
Virginia returns to action on Friday as they travel to face the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse shares the top spot in the USILA coaches poll this week with UVa, creating a unique No. 1 vs. No. 1 matchup that can be heard live on WINA 1070 AM and VirginiaSports.com. The game will also be televised live on ESPNU. Faceoff is slated for 6 p.m.
“The fun of our sport comes out of games like this [Syracuse],” said Starsia. “The one that we just came out of, at Stony Brook, was also one of those kinds of games. We head up to the “Dome” on Friday and anticipated a big crowd up there. These games are always wild in the beginning of the season. They are something we are always looking forward to.”
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