The Virginia men’s lacrosse team opened ACC play with a 14-6 win over North Carolina on Saturday. From the opening whistle, the Cavaliers had total control of the game and that fast start pleased coach Lars Tiffany on what was a big weekend for the program.
“I was really happy with the way we came out,” Tiffany said. “We got the class of 1999 team here. We’re celebrating the anniversary of the [National] Championship from 25 years ago. We got all these young alums back and it’s just amazing how much people in this town and our alumni love lacrosse. It just lifts us. … That’s what it’s all about at Virginia lacrosse.”
Just how fast was the start? After a North Carolina violation on the opening faceoff, Noah Chizmar picked up the ball on the restart and ran right past his man before finishing at the crease. Only 11 seconds had passed and Virginia already led 1-0. The Tar Heels answered with a fastbreak goal to make it 1-1, but it was all UVA after that for the rest of the first quarter as the hosts scored 5 unanswered goals.
Payton Cormier scored the Hoos’ second goal of the day with a simple step-down shot from the top of the box. The goal was his only point against the Tar Heels, but was the 200th goal of Cormier’s career. With 200 career goals, Cormier now sits alone at sixth on the NCAA’s all-time list. He needs just 6 more goals to tie fellow countryman Zack Greer for most goals scored by a Canadian.
The triggered a run and the first quarter came to an end with Virginia holding onto a 6-1 lead. The Cavaliers had six different goal scorers, including long stick midfielder Mitchell Whalen. Following a save from Matthew Nunes, UVA quickly moved the ball up the field with a series of passes. Whalen got the ball from Griffin Schutz and beat his defender with a face dodge before scoring. Will Cory, Jack Boyden, and Ryan Colsey each had a goal as well.
North Carolina got on the board first in the second quarter off a goal from Logan McGovern, his second of the day. It didn’t seem to build any sizable momentum for the Tar Heels as the Hoos responded with 3 unanswered goals. The first came from Chizmar, his second of the game.
The next 2 goals were both courtesy of Connor Shellenberger as Virginia built a 9-2 lead. He used a pick at X to get his defender hung up before beating the UNC goalie low. The ensuing faceoff led to a big ground ball scrum. McCabe Millon picked up the loose ball and fired a skip pass over the defense to Shellenberger, who again beat the goalie with a low shot. Shellenberger finished with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists).
“I saw the front cover of Lacrosse Magazine the other day and it had the term ‘Mr. May’ on there,” said Tiffany on how Shellenberger elevates his play late in the season. “He has only one more guaranteed game on this field. He’s been asked to step up and he has. This is Connor Shellenberger time for sure.”
The Tar Heels came back with 2 goals of their own to make it a 9-4 game. Despite this small scoring run, Virginia got the last laugh of the first half. Coach Tiffany took a timeout with 1:36 left in the opening half. North Carolina came out of the timeout in a zone defense, hoping the change would cause enough confusion that the Hoos couldn’t generate a good shot in the short time situation. With time winding down, Shellenberger stood at X while his teammates continuously cut in front of the goal. Boyden eventually popped open and Shellenberger quickly fired a pass to him. Boyden’s goal with 5 seconds left in the half gave UVA a 10-4 lead at the break. Boyden finished with 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist).
McGovern completed his UNC hattrick just 52 seconds into the second half. North Carolina found itself in a man-up situation for the third time. After not scoring on the first two attempts, McGovern found the back of the net from right on the crease. Carolina failed to score again in the third quarter, though.
After a couple of assists in the first half, Millon scored his first goal of the game with 11:30 left in the third quarter. The freshman found himself around the top of the box being guarded by a North Carolina short stick. Millon took little time to take advantage of the mismatch, splitting from right to left before firing an on-the-run shot into the back of the net. He finished the game with 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).
The third quarter was a real defensive battle, posting just 3 goals between the two teams. Nunes made 4 saves in the quarter and finished with 11 in the game. In front of him, the defense did a great job of not letting UNC players get good looks.
The short stick defensive midfielders in particular played well. To go along with 2 goals, Chizmar had 2 caused turnovers and 4 ground balls. Chase Yager also had an impressive game, causing 4 turnovers and picking up a ground ball. These two stepped up big in a game that Joey Terenzi was unable to play in due to injury. Terenzi is dealing with an upper body injury and is week-to-week.
“If you’re hesitant in ACC play you’ll get bullied,” said Tiffany on the physicality of ACC games. “You’re either being aggressive or you’re not, let’s put it as simple as that. That’s the message in April. The referees tend to let you play a little more because the dude across from you is not 5’8”, 165 pounds. You’re not putting him at a disadvantage when you give him your best check, so give him your best check. Be the aggressor.”
While scoring didn’t pick up much in the fourth quarter, Virginia held on for a 14-6 win. In a game that didn’t have many storylines or crazy highlights, the UVA defense should receive lots of credit and recognition. North Carolina ranks 13th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 13.7 goals per game. The Heels’ 6 goals mark the lowest total for them all season and the first time in seven games they haven’t scored double-digit goals.
Along with the short-stick defensive midfielders, senior Cole Kastner had a strong game. He finished with 3 caused turnovers and 2 ground balls. Kastner now ranks first in the ACC and 20th in the nation in caused turnovers per game with 1.81.
“Cole Kastner went out there and did amazing in his matchup,” Tiffany said. “The way he defended Owen Duffy didn’t totally stop him and no one’s going to, but I was really, really impressed.”
Faceoffs were a battle all game. UNC had the slight edge, with freshman Brady Wambach winning 13 of 24 faceoffs. Anthony Ghobriel returned to action for Virginia after missing some time due to injury. The transfer from Navy went 6-14 at the X. How he plays the rest of the season will be a big determinant in how far this team can go.
For now, however, Virginia starts ACC play off with a win as it improved to 10-1 overall. A great atmosphere filled up Klockner Stadium for a sunny Saturday game. Lots of former players were in town for the game and Virginia honored the 1999 National Championship team at halftime.
Virginia will go back on the road next week for a tough matchup against Duke. The Cavaliers have lost 18 consecutive regular season games against the Blue Devils. Depending on what happens in the Duke/Notre Dame game, next week could be a 1 vs. 2 matchup in the polls.
“I definitely think it gives us momentum,” said Boyden on picking up an ACC win. “I also think we approach every week as its own game. Obviously it helps to win a bunch of games in a row and we’re happy we won this one, but as soon as we get back in tomorrow we’ll focus on next week.”
