ANNAPOLIS, Md. (4/29/2007)—Navy outscored Colgate University 6-1 in the fourth quarter to capture its fourth consecutive Patriot League Tournament title with a 15-9 win over the Raiders at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Nick Mirabito led the No.10 Mids with a game high five points from three goals and two assists, while junior Matt Lalli (Princeton Junction, N.J.) led 19th-ranked Colgate with three goals.

 

Navy captured the regular season crown and tournament title and will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Colgate heads into the final week of the season at 10-5, while Navy improves to 11-3 overall.

 

Senior Chris Eck (Fairfield, Conn.), sophomore Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.), and Lalli were selected to the Patriot League all-Tournament Team.

 

Colgate sophomore Nick Monastero (Bohemia, N.Y.) added a goal and two assists, while senior Brendan Hurley (West Islip, N.Y.) had one goal and one assist. Four other players tallied one goal for the Raiders.

 

Colgate got the scoring started at the 10:49 mark when Lalli attacked the goal down the middle and beat Navy goalie Colin Finnegan from his knees. Longstick middie E.J. Atamian (Worcester, Mass.) made it 2-0 Raiders, checking the ball from a Navy stick and picking up the groundball straight to the goal with 8:16 remaining.

 

Navy got on the board three minutes later as Tim Paul found Terence Higgins right on the doorstep to make it a 2-1 game with five minutes left to play. Colgate responded right away with a score from freshman Ian Murphy (Constantia, N.Y.).

 

The two teams traded goals down the stretch of the first frame with Colgate taking a 4-3 lead into the first break. Mirabito’s goal with just five ticks left in the first session jumpstarted the Navy offense that scored five of the next six goals.

 

Ian Dingman opened the second quarter as he backed his defender down and found the right corner of the net. Three minutes later Navy’s Basil Daratsos fired an underhanded shot from 18-yards out to give the Mids’ their first lead of the game at 5-4 with 10:12 on the clock. Colgate junior Josh Back (Guilderland, N.Y.) tied the score just over a minute later as he took a pass from sophomore Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.) and snuck a low shot past Finnegan. 

 

The Midshipmen continued to control the pace of the game adding three more goals, including a man-up score from Tommy Wallin with 32 seconds left in the half for an 8-5 lead at halftime.

 

The scoring slowed down a little in the third quarter with Lalli and Colleluori registering the first two goals to make it 8-7 at the 10:31 mark. Rob Lenseth got loose again with just over minute left to put Navy in front 9-7, but it was Lalli finding the back of the net with one tick in the quarter to send the Raiders into the fourth frame trailing by just one, 9-8.

Navy’s efficiency on offense was at its best in the fourth quarter. The Mids scored two goals in the opening four minutes to go in front 11-8 and added another at 7:50 for a 12-8 advantage.

 

Monastero tallied his first goal of the game 41 seconds later to make it 12-9, but the Colgate defense could not stop the Navy attack as it registered three more goals in the final 4:21 for the 15-9 championship win. Navy scored on six of its seven shot attempts in the fourth quarter.

 

Colgate had a narrow 34-33 advantage on shots and won the faceoff battle 15-11. Navy picked up 36 groundballs to Colgate’s 33. In goal, freshman Tim Harrington (Lutherville, Md.) made seven saves, while Navy’s Colin Finnegan had 10 stops.

 

The Raiders close out the season on May 5 at cross-town rival Syracuse. That game is set for 1 p.m., at the Carrier Dome and will be broadcast live by Time Warner Sports 26 in Central New York.