Box Score VIRGINIA BEACH (VA) –Junior defender
Danny Smith set Delaware Valley University single-game records with 13 ground balls and eight caused turnovers while the Aggies scored five of the game's final six goals for a 12-8, non-conference triumph over host Virginia Wesleyan College.
The victory improved DelVal to 2-2 on the young season while the Marlins suffered their fourth loss in five contests.
Smith, the reigning Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Defensive Player of the Year, broke the ground ball mark of 12 set by teammate and faceoff specialist
Matt Tordone last season. Smith also surpassed his own record of seven caused turnovers that he set on two separate occasions. To top off the evening, he even scored a goal and went 1-for-1 in faceoff opportunities.
Smith's tally came with 9:48 remaining in the first quarter and was sandwiched in-between a pair of
Chris Coyle goals as the Aggies jumped out to a 3-0 lead, an advantage they held going into the second. Virginia Wesleyan fought back and scored five times in a three-minute span, including two from Jordan Metzger. DelVal got one back with 35 seconds left in the opening half on a bullet by
Matt Brady and the team trailed by one at the break,
The Aggies tied it up at 5-5 five-plus minutes into the second half as freshman
Matthew Laurence notched his first collegiate goal. Eddie Desiderio answered for the Marlins, but Brady found the net twice in an 83-second span for a 7-6 DelVal lead. Desiderio then connected again with 4:34 left in the third quarter to even the contest up.
However, the 15 minutes belonged to the Aggies as they scored five straight goals to put the game away. Coyle began the spurt off a feed from Brady with 2:07 remaining in the third.
Jordan Smith opened the fourth a tally and
Matthew Laurence followed for a 9-7 lead. Coyle got his fourth of the evening with 5:14 to go off another assist from Brady and Laurence completed his hat trick off a
PJ Rafferty helped with 4:03 left on the clock for a 12-7 lead. Virginia Wesleyan's Joe Couture ended the run and the game's scoring with his goal with 2:01 remaining.
DelVal got off 53 shots in the game, compared to just 30 by the Marlins, and it set a team record with 50 ground balls (31 by Virginia Wesleyan). The Aggies were also 21-for-24 on clear attempts. Coyle finished with four goals and four ground balls while Brady had three goals and two assists for a five-point performance. Laurence had his three tallies while Rafferty assisted on two goals and had two caused turnovers.
Dylan Brasch scooped up six ground balls while freshman
Gavin Yingling made seven saves, en route to his first win.
Couture, Desiderio and Metzger had two goals apiece to pace the Marlins. Duncan Haight won 15 of 24 faceoffs and had nine ground balls. Chris McTague was credited with 18 saves in the loss.
DelVal will next travel to Centenary College for a non-conference match-up on Wednesday, March 8 (3 p.m.).
