In between a pair of pivotal home ACC matchups to conclude the regular season, the Virginia men's lacrosse team traveled up to Pennsylvania to take on Lafayette on Tuesday. It might have taken a quarter for the Cavaliers to get their legs underneath them, but once they found their rhythm, the Hoos never looked back.
11 different Cavaliers scored and Matthew Nunes was solid in between the pipes as No. 3 Virginia took care of business in a 20-11 victory over Lafayette on Tuesday night atFisher Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Virginia got off to a hot start with a pair of goals in the first three and a half minutes of the game. Connor Shellenberger found a cutting Xander Dickson to open the scoring and then Shellenberger intercepted a pass on the 10-man ride, leading to an easy dunk for Payton Cormier to quickly make it 2-0.
Then came a lengthy scoring drought as the Cavaliers went more than 11 minutes without finding the back of the net. Turnovers played a big part in that drought, with UVA coughing up the ball five times in the opening period. Fortunately for the Wahoos, their goalie stood on his head early in the game to keep Lafayette off the board. Matthew Nunes made seven saves in the first quarter alone, including a few doorstep denials on what looked to be surefire goals for the Leopards.
“Grateful for Matt Nunes and the way he played in the first quarter and the first half, especially when Lafayette's offense was moving well and finding a lot of openings. Matt closed the door," said Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany.
With 30 seconds left in the first quarter, Dickson put an end to the scoreless streak with a filthy backhanded shovel shot from the left wing for his 50th goal of the season.
Virginia won the ensuing faceoff but immediately turned it over, allowing the Leopards to take it the other way and score their first goal of the game on a transition shot from Riley Sullivan to get on the board with just one second remaining.
The second quarter saw Lafayette win five of the seven faceoff draws, but the UVA defense tightened up and allowed only three shots on goal, two of which were saved by Nunes. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers rediscovered their rhythm offensively and strung together five-consecutive goals.
Griffin Schutz started the run with a high-to-low shot from the top as Lafayette gave him too much room and then Schutz assisted on Dickson's third goal of the game. Dickson scored again in transition off of a Lafayette turnover and then he found a cutting Thomas McConvey for a goal. Schutz bookended the run with a nice dodge from behind the cage and scored with his left hand to make it 8-1.
Lafayette ended the run with a goal from Kalman Kraham with five minutes left and neither team scored for the remainder of the second quarter, so UVA took an 8-2 lead into halftime.
Petey LaSalla enforced his will on the game in the third quarter, dominating the faceoff x to give the Cavaliers a healthy possession advantage. Virginia won 10 of the 16 faceoffs in the period. With the UVA offense constantly having opportunities, there was little the Lafayette defense could do.
Virginia rattled off 11 goals in the quarter, three of which came from Connor Shellenberger, a great sign for the Cavaliers after their star attackman had recorded only one goal over his last three games as he dealt with a lower-body injury. Shellenberger finished with three goals and two assists in the game.
Petey LaSalla also scored in the third, his 10th goal of the season. LaSalla went 12/22 from the faceoff x in the game and broke the NCAA all-time record for most-career faceoffs taken.
“To earn the most faceoff [attempts] in Division-I history is mostly a testament to Petey LaSalla’s training, his resilience, and his ability to block out pain and play through injury," Tiffany said.
With the lead at 19-6 entering the final frame, the Cavaliers emptied their bench and took their foot off the gas for the remainder of the game. That allowed Lafayette to win the fourth quarter 5-1, but Virginia still cruised easily to the 20-11 win.
Xander Dickson followed up his seven goal, two-assist game against Syracuse on Saturday with another impressive outing, posting a game-high eight points on four goals and four assists. Griffin Schutz, Evan Zinn, and Truitt Sunderland each tallied two goals and an assist.
Defensively, Cade Saustad had two caused turnovers and two ground balls and Noah Chizmar had five ground balls. Matthew Nunes had 13 saves and allowed 10 goals for a .565 save percentage.
The win improves Virginia to 10-3 on the season. UVA will concude the regular season with a showdown against No. 1 Notre Dame on Sunday at 2pm at Klockner Stadium.
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