A balanced attack and a stifling defense led the Navy men's lacrosse team to a 10-2 victory over VMI in its season opener yesterday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Tim Paul and Sean Standen each scored two goals for Navy, and Nick Mirabito added a goal and two assists. Five more players scored goals for the Mids.
"I thought it was a pretty good opening game," said Navy coach Richie Meade, whose team won its seventh straight season opener. "We played of lot of players today ... a lot of inexperienced players, which showed early in the game. We have a lot of guys that are playing significant roles for the first time, so it was a great opportunity to get on the field and work through it."
Navy's defense held the Keydets to just a pair of goals, including one by Kevin Hill, one of the most proficient goal scorers in the country.
"If you hold a team to two goals, that's good defense," Meade said.
Navy opened a 3-0 lead after the first 15 minutes. Paul scored the first goal with 8:27 remaining in quarter.
Navy's next two goals were near mirror images of one another: Sophomore Patrick Moran hit the back of the next from 10 yards out at 7:20, followed by junior midfielder Shane Durkin's first college goal from just outside of 10 yards.
VMI got on the board when Hill made a sensational move, curling around the backside of the goal and shooting the ball as he left his feet.
Navy scored just one in the second quarter, on a goal by sophomore midfielder Joe Lennon, but it was the first of seven consecutive goals for the Midshipmen.
VMI 0 1 0 1 - 2
Navy 3 1 4 2 - 10
Goals: VMI-Hill, Leonard; N-Paul 2, Standen 2, Durkin, B. Lennon, J. Lennon, Mirabito, Moran, Warner. Assists: VMI-Moran; N-Mirabito 2, Guido, Warner. Saves: VMI-McCoy 11; N-Coughlin 7.