Michael Sowers has been the nation’s best player in the month of February. On Saturday, his Princeton squad proved it’s much more than a one-man show.

The unranked Tigers (3-0) led most of the way in a 16-12 victory at No. 2 Virginia, snapping the Cavaliers’ 10-game winning streak dating back to last year.

Virginia’s only lead of the game came with 3:58 left in the first half, when faceoff specialist Petey LaSalla scored just eight seconds after a Matt Moore goal to cap a three-goal rally that gave the Cavaliers a 7-6 advantage.

Sowers tied it up with 1:53 left in the half and then, after Virginia shot early instead of holding for the final shot of the first half, Sowers fed Chris Brown for a goal with just 10 seconds left in the quarter to give the Tigers an 8-7 lead.

Michael Sowers' vision. 

He hits Chris Brown for the rip. @TigerLacrosse leads @UVAMensLax 8-7 at the half. pic.twitter.com/riagDmLnNe

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 22, 2020

Princeton stretched the lead to 12-8 late in the third quarter before it looked like Virginia was primed to make one of the patented second-half runs it made on the way to the national championship last year.

Virginia’s Payton Cormier and Dox Aitken scored just 28 seconds apart to make it 12-10 with 2:03 left in the third quarter and had a chance for more. But Matt Moore’s pass to an open cutter sailed high, and Sowers wrapped up the quarter on the other end of the field with a beautiful spin move to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead.

Virginia made another run, with goals by Moore and Ian Laviano in the fourth quarter to get within one. A series of quick passes on the Virginia offensive end gave Chris Merle an open look to try to tie the game, but Princeton goalie Erik Peters made a save on the doorstep and Princeton’s Phillip Robertson converted on the other end. The Tigers closed the game scoring three straight goals.

Peters made six first-quarter saves to frustrate Virginia’s offense early and finished the game with 16, one shy of his career-high.

Sowers, the nation’s leading scorer, was magnificent once again. The senior attackman had four goals and four assists and now has 33 points after just three games this season. Brown and Robertson each had four goals for Princeton as well.

Laviano led Virginia with three goals, Alex Rode made 14 saves and Petey LaSalla won 17 of 27 faceoffs. Virginia forced Princeton into eight failed clears, but was hurt by frequently by its 15 turnovers.

Lulley, Penn Rally Past Duke

No. 10 Penn scored the final four goals of the game, handing No. 8 Duke its second February loss of the season, beating the Blue Devils 14-11 in a game played in Charlotte, N.C.

Duke scored two straight goals to open the fourth quarter, moving in front 11-10 on C.J. Carpenter’s tally with 12:30 remaining.

Penn responded, tying the game with 7:14 left on James Shipley’s goal, and then took the lead on Ben Bedard’s goal with 5:55 to play. Dylan Gergar and Sean Lulley added insurance goals.

Lulley had a monster game with six goals and had the assist on Bedard’s game-winning goal.

UNC’s Gray Gives Hopkins the Blues

Chris Gray continues to be the missing piece for North Carolina. The junior, who scored 111 points at Boston University last season, scored eight goals as the No. 9 Tar Heels (4-0) dominated No. 14 Johns Hopkins 17-10 at Homewood Field.

Gray has 27 points in carrying the Tar Heels to a 4-0 start and the eight goals he scored on Saturday was a career-best.

Leading 5-4 after the first quarter, UNC scored four straight goals to open the second quarter and led by at least four the rest of the way.

Tanner Cooked added a hat trick for the Tar Heels. UNC converted five of seven extra-man chances.

Cleveland State Upsets Air Force

Cleveland State’s first win of the season was a big one. Tristan Hanna scored a school-record seven goals, including the game-winner in overtime as the Vikings beat No. 15 Air Force 12-11 at the Face-Off Classic at the University of Denver.

Hanna, a junior from Leaksdale, Ontario, scored all four of Cleveland State’s fourth-quarter goals, including one with 59 seconds remaining that sent the game to overtime. Hanna then scored the winner just 21 seconds into overtime off a feed from Noah Gleeson.

CSU lost its first three games of the season, including an 11-10 overtime setback to Marquette in its season opener.

Harvard Beats UMass in Gerry Byrne’s Debut

The Gerry Byrne era at Harvard opened with a 10-9 victory over No. 19 Massachusetts in a battle between two of the top programs in New England. The former Notre Dame defensive coordinator, serving in his first game as head coach at Harvard, orchestrated a scheme that limited UMass to just one first half goal, allowing Harvard to jump in front 6-1.

UMass rallied, eventually tying the game 9-9 on Jeff Trainor’s goal with 8:53 to play, but Nick Loring scored the game-winner for the Crimson with 2:18 left in the game.

Harvard goalie Kyle Mullin made 17 save to earn the win and Kyle Anderson had a team-high five points (2g, 3a) for the Crimson.

Notable

• No. 3 Yale held No. 1 Penn State’s vaunted offense to just one goal through the first 26 minutes of action and held off the Nittany Lions in the second half for a 12-10 win. Read more here.

• Rutgers scored back from a 7-3 halftime deficit to take a lead on No. 13 Loyola in the fourth quarter, but the No. 13 Greyhounds scored the final two goals, winning 11-10 on Joey Kamish’s goal with 1:53 to play. Read More Here.

• Villanova followed up Tuesday’s win over No. 4 Maryland with a 10-8 win over No. 17 Hofstra. Will Vitton made 13 saves for the Wildcats and Patrick Daly and Connor Kirst each had hat tricks.

• Dylan Watson had a career-high seven goals as No. 16 Georgetown lit up the scoreboard in a 25-12 win over Fairfield.

• Ohio State’s Jack Myers had a career-high seven goals against Bucknell last year, and this year put up an eight-point effort (4g, 4a) to lead the No. 20 Buckeyes past the Bison 15-11.

• Matt DeLuca made 11 saves while allowing just one goal, as Delaware throttled Monmouth 11-2. Tye Kurtz scored five goals for the Blue Hens (3-1).

• Ron John scored the game-winning goal with 11 seconds left, as Albany beat Drexel 14-13. Tehoka Nanticoke scored four times for the Danes and assisted on the game-winner.

• Charlie Bertrand scored five goals, as Merrimack picked up its first win in its Division I era, beating Michigan 14-12.

• John Herlihy, Eric Holden and Jason Knox each scored five goals as the nation’s No. 1 offense, Hobart, topped 20 goals for the third straight game. The Statesmen beat Colgate 21-13.

• Caleb Pearson’s fourth goal of the game came in overtime, as Stony Brook beat Brown 11-10. It was Stony Brook’s second overtime win this season.

• Freshman Ryan McBeth’s first collegiate goal came in triple overtime to lead Binghamton to an 11-10 win over Lafayette.

• Dartmouth is 2-0 for the first time since 2012 after beating Bryant 11-8. The Big Green scored six straight goals in the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to rally for the win.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20

No. 3 Yale 12, No. 1 Penn State 10
Princeton 16, No. 2 Virginia 12
No. 10 Penn 14, No. 8 Duke 11
No 9 North Carolina 17, No. 14 Johns Hopkins 10
No. 12 Denver 16, St. Bonaventure 3
No. 13 Loyola 11, Rutgers 10
Cleveland State 12, No. 15 Air Force 11
No. 16 Georgetown 25, Fairfield 12
No. 18 Lehigh 17, NJIT 8
Villanova 10, No. 17 Hofstra 8
Harvard 10, No. 19 Massachusetts 9
No. 20 Ohio State 15, Bucknell 11

Navy at No. 4 Maryland, Postponed

Other Scores

Albany 14, Drexel 13
Binghamton 11, Lafayette 10 (3 OT)
Boston University 17, Bellarmine 11
Dartmouth 11, Bryant 8
Delaware 11, Monmouth 2
Hartford 10, Canisius 4
Hobart 21, Colgate 13
Manhattan 16, Wagner 5
Marquette 18, Detroit Mercy 6
Mercer 28, Hampton 6
Merrimack 14, Michigan 12
Saint Joseph’s 10, Providence 8
St. John’s 17, LIU 15
Stony Brook 11, Brown 10 (OT)
UMass-Lowell 16, Siena 15
UMBC 9, Mount St. Mary’s 4
Utah 17, Furman 9
Vermont 16, Quinnipiac 7