March 12, 2002
Charlottesville, Va. – The 19th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker to fourth-ranked Virginia, 7-5, today in rainy conditions at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. Notre Dame falls to 1-3 on the season, while Virginia improves to 3-1 in 2002.
Notre Dame and Virginia were locked in a 5-5 tie before Cavalier junior midfielder Billy Glading scored his second goal of the game with only 1:45 remaining in the contest. Virginia’s Brenndan Mohler scored an insurance goal with 52 seconds left, giving the Cavs a 7-5 victory.
Virginia opened an early two-goal lead on goals by freshmen Joe Yevoll and John Christman in the first quarter. Notre Dame came storming back in the second quarter as freshman attack Brian Giordano recorded his third goal of the season. Sophomore attack Dan Berger knotted the game at 2-2 with his team-high eighth goal of the year. The tie was short-lived though as Virginia’s A.J. Shannon scored only 70 seconds later on a laser shot from the left side that passed Irish junior goalie Nick Antol. Virginia extended the lead to 4-2 seven minutes before halftime on Mohler’s first goal of the afternoon.
Glading then made the lead 5-2 only 32 seconds into the second half. The next 12 minutes were scoreless until Berger recorded his second goal of the game and ninth of the season with 2:23 to play in the third period.
Notre Dame pulled even in the final quarter on goals by junior middie Kyle Frigon and Giordano. Frigon found the back of the net less than five minutes into the period making the score 5-4, before Giordano scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the season with 3:27 to play.
Virginia outshot the Irish 35-22, while also coverting 29 of 32 clears. Cavaliers’ goalie Tillman Johnson allowed five goals, while making 10 saves in 60 minutes. Irish goalie Antol made 17 saves, while allowing seven goals. Notre Dame senior John Flandina had two assists in a losing effort.
Notre Dame returns home to host No. 3 Loyola on Saturday, March 16, in the Loftus Sports Center. Game time is 1:00 p.m.