TOWSON, Md. – Junior attackman Garrett Billings (R.E. Mountain Secondary/Langley, British Columbia, Canada) scored two goals and tied a career high with four assists as second-ranked University of Virginia (8-0) extended its winning streak to eight straight games with an 18-13 victory over Towson University (1-3) in a non-conference game at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The nation's leading scorer, Billings upped his season total to 37 points with the six-point effort. He has scored 19 goals with 18 assists in seven games.

The Cavaliers took a quick 2-0 lead in the opening three minutes on goals by junior attackman Danny Glading (Georgetown Prep/Bethesda, Md.) and senior midfielder Jack Riley (Ridgewood H.S./Ridgewood, N.J.) before the Tigers answered with a pair of goals less than a minute apart, tying the score at 2-2.

The teams traded goals before Virginia regained the two-goal edge on a pair of markers from Billings and senior attackman Ben Rubeor (Loyola H.S./Towson, Md.) with 7:11 left in the period. Senior attackman Jonathan Engelke (Farmingdale H.S./Massapequa, N.Y.) and junior attackman Bill McCutcheon (Chatham H.S./Chatham, N.J.) tallied back-to-back goals to tie the score at 5-5 with 4:13 left in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers led by 7-5 midway through the second quarter on consecutive goals from sophomore midfielder Brian Carroll (Gilman School/Towson, Md.) and junior midfielder Gavin Gill (St. Paul's School/Lutherville, Md.) before the Tigers answered with goals from McCutcheon and Engelke to even the score at 7-7 at the intermission.

Led by a goal and two assists from Gill, the Cavaliers opened the second half by scoring five straight goals in a six-minute span, giving Virginia a 12-7 lead. McCutcheon ended the run by scoring off a feed from junior midfielder Randall Cooper (Friends School/Phoenix, Md.) with 7:36 left in the third quarter. Sophomore midfielder Eric Boyle (Annapolis H.S./Annapolis, Md.) followed with his fourth goal of the season, an unassisted marker past freshman goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman (Cold Spring Harbor H.S./Syosset, N.Y.) to narrow the margin to 12-9.

Billings and junior midfielder Steve Giannone (Milbrook School/Wilton, Conn.) gave Virginia a five-goal lead to end the third quarter with consecutive goals in the final three minutes.

Cooper and freshman Tim Stratton (Manheim Township H.S./Lititz, Pa.) narrowed the Tiger deficit to 14-11 with a pair of goals in the opening 90 seconds of the fourth quarter. After a goal by senior midfielder Drew Garrison (New Canaan H.S./New Canaan, Conn.) upped the Virginia lead to 15-11, senior midfielder Adam Hagelin (Boys' Latin School/Havre de Grace, Md.) and Boyle scored back-to-back goals to cut the Cavalier edge to 15-13. However, the Cavaliers scored three times in the final six minutes to secure their eighth straight victory over the Tigers.

"We scrapped and played hard," Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. "We shot the ball better than we have all season. We just can't get it rolling when we need to."

While Billings led the Cavaliers with six points, Rubeor tallied five points by scoring three goals with two assists. Meanwhile, Gill matched a career high by scoring two goals with three assists. Ghitelman made 14 saves, including 10 in the second half, as the Cavaliers limited the Tigers to just 36 shots, including 13 in the first half.

Boyle led the Tigers in the loss with a career-high five-point effort, scoring two goals and setting a career high with three assists. Engelke added three goals and an assist while McCutcheon recorded his second "hat trick" of the season with three goals. Senior goalkeeper Billy Sadtler (Albemarle H.S./Charlottesville, Va.) made a career-high 11 saves in the loss in 47 minutes while Antol posted two saves in 13 minutes of action.

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2008-03-15