A clutch goal in the final 30 seconds and nearly unbreakable defense for the final 41 minutes propelled the Virginia lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory against Princeton on Saturday at Klockner Stadium. The 4,143 in attendance watched the Cavaliers battle back from two-goal deficits on three different occasions to win their fourth straight game.

"I think we're improving each week," junior Ben Rubeor said. "I think we're learning from each game. I think we've played some different style teams and we've been able to take that and kind of change our style to adapt to what we're facing."

The Hoos (4-1) trailed 2-0, 4-2, and 5-3 before scoring four of the game's final five goals, none more dramatic than the game-winner in the final 30 seconds. After gaining possession with another Kip Turner save - he had 10 in all - the Cavaliers decided to run the clock down for a final shot at breaking a 6-6 tie. That led to two timeouts with approximately 1:20 and :30 to play, the last of which set up the final play.

"Similar actually to the 2005 [NCAA] Semifinal, we were going to take some time off the clock and try to work it down to the last shot essentially," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said.

UVa went to a 2-2-2 set (2 players high, 2 players at the mid level, and 2 players behind the cage) and put the ball in Rubeor's hands. He worked from left to right (if you were facing the end line) behind the cage, running hard toward a Danny Glading pick a few feet away from the crease. The screen created an amazing amount of separation, particularly considering how well Princeton (1-2) defended similar behind-the-cage screen plays throughout the day.

From there, Rubeor curled around the crease to in front of the goal where he had essentially a one-on-one look against Princeton goalkeeper Alex Hewit. He bounced in the shot with 25.4 seconds to play, giving the Cavs the win when they held off a last-ditch effort from the Tigers.

"I was shocked that he was that open frankly. Again, I felt a little bit like the 2005 Semifinal because I thought he scored too early and we left to much time on the clock," Starsia said with a chuckle. "Obviously, we'll take it. It was exactly what we drew up, but it worked a little bit better than anyone would have imagined."

Rubeor, who said he was prepared to move the ball because he expected the first option to be taken away, saw plenty of daylight from Glading's pick.

"We actually had it set up [where] it was kind of supposed to be a dummy dodge for me, just to get the defense moving and then swing the ball," Rubeor said. "But Danny set a great pick and saw an opening, got my hands free, and decided I might as well take the shot. I saw Danny get him with his shoulder and it just slowed him down enough. I was on a dead sprint and was able to get a shot."

The late offensive heroics would have meant little if Turner and the defense - led by outstanding efforts from Ricky Smith and Mike Timms - hadn't played so well in the final 41 minutes. After Princeton's Peter Trombino gave the visitors a 5-3 lead at the 11:09 mark of the second quarter, UVa threw up a virtual force field around the cage.

No shots made it to the netting for approximately 33 minutes before the Tigers finally scored their only goal in more than 2.5 quarters. It was Trombino again, but he ended up with a point blank shot when several players from both teams crashed to the turf in front of the goal. That left Turner facing a one-on-one shot and Trombino finally stopped the drought.

After that goal, it was back to more suffocating Cavalier defense. Turner turned away at least one more point blank shot in the final minutes and then made a relatively routine save in the final 2 minutes to give his team the possession it needed. Rubeor took care of the rest with the game-winner.

"Princeton did a good job of keeping the pace a little bit slower today, but our defense stepped up," Rubeor said. "We knew it was going to be a challenge, but the defense and especially Kip played fantastic today."

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