Virginia holds off Princeton

Bocklet

UV

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Colin Briggs and Chris Bocklet scored two goals each, and Virginia opened defense of its men’s lacrosse national championship with a 6-5 victory against Princeton in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“It was a good win for us,” said UVa men’s lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia. “It was a hard fought game and I give a lot of credit to Princeton for playing well. I thought defensively we were on it the entire day as we jumped in and out of different defenses throughout the day. I thought we were very alert on the defensive side of the ball, I thought offensively we created some good opportunities, but what has been indicative for us for weeks and months is the ball hasn’t been jumping in for us. Today I give [Tyler] Fiorito some credit for that, who is probably as good as a goalie as there is out there.”

The Cavaliers (12-3) scored Sunday in the final seconds of the first and second quarters and led 5-2 at halftime. The goal just before the intermission came after Chris LaPierre hit Steele Stanwick with a 60-yard pass. Stanwick scored with 5 seconds left.

Jeff Froccaro scored twice in the third quarter to pull the Tigers (11-5) within a goal.

Bocklet’s 34th goal of the season midway through the final quarter doubled the Cavaliers’ lead, but Tom Schreiber scored with 1:19 remaining for the Tigers.

Virginia goalie Rob Fortunato finished with eight saves on 34 shots.