Men’s Lacrosse: #1 Maryland blasts #2 Virginia, 23-12

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

In a rematch of the 2021 national championship, Virginia’s 10-game win streak came to an end Saturday afternoon as top-ranked Maryland (7-0) defeated the Cavaliers (6-1), 23-12, in the inaugural Capitol Classic Lacrosse Tournament at Audi Field Saturday afternoon.

Maryland cruised to its seventh victory of the season after out-shooting the Cavaliers 53-34 and won 25 faceoffs in contrast to UVA’s 14.

Virginia was led by attackmen Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger, who posted three goals and two assists each.

First-year goalie Matthew Nunes (6-1) started for the Cavaliers and suffered his first loss of the season. Maryland’s starting netminder Logan McNaney (7-0) remains unbeaten on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Maryland led 5-3 at the end of the first quarter after the Terrapins won seven of the period’s nine faceoffs. Nunes made five saves of his 14 total saves in the opening period to help keep UVA within striking distance. Moore put the Cavaliers on the board after registering his 12th goal of the season at the 5:24 mark. The Terrapins eventually pushed out to a 5-2 lead deep into the first quarter, but Moore found the back of the net a second time with six seconds remaining to cut UMD’s lead to 5-3.

Both teams traded the first four scores of the second quarter before Maryland went on a 4-0 run. Xander Dickson’s second goal of the period broke up the UMD run with 2:31 remaining. Maryland scored once more before leading 12-6 at the break.

Griffin Schutz netted the first goal of the second half, but the Terrapins quickly responded with three scores of their own take a commanding 15-7 lead midway through the third. Payton Cormier and Moore rang up the final two goals of the third as Virginia found itself down 15-9 heading into the fourth.

Cormier and Shellenberger found the back of the net within the first four minutes of period No. 4, which cut the Terrapins’ lead to 15-11, but Maryland piled on eight of the last nine goals of the contest to win it handedly.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM 

Lars Tiffany on learning from losses… 

“There is no question who the number one team in the country is right now. John Tillman, his staff, his team proved it from the opening whistle throughout the four quarters. They got us early. Matt Nunes made some big saves for us early … We just couldn’t match them shot for shot, ground ball for ground ball. And so, tremendous effort by the Terrapins. And they certainly exposed a lot of things we need to work on. We talk about often – as a team ­– it’s easier to learn from losses than wins. But we’ve been trying to learn from the victories, and we have improved, but John Tillman and his crew did a fantastic job preparing their men and then they made incredible plays over, and over, and over again. And so, we have a lot to learn.” 

NOTES 

• Virginia’s 6-0 start to the season was its best since 2014.
• Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany is now 6-2 all-time against Maryland head coach John Tillman.
• With the win, the Terrapins improved to 48-46 in the all-time series. The Cavaliers are 10-5 against Maryland all-time at neutral sites.
• Saturday’s meeting marked the first regular-season meeting between the two teams since 2014. The two teams met twice (2019 & 2021) since then in NCAA Tournament play.
• Saturday’s game between UVA and the Terrapins marked the first Division-I lacrosse game held at Audi Field.
• Saturday’s contest was the first time in 2022 that UVA competed at a neutral site and faced a lower-ranked opponent in the No. 1 Terrapins.
• With five points on three goals and two assists, Matt Moore is now tied for second all-time with Doug Knight in career points (249). His three goals on the day pushed him to 131 career goals, tying him for seventh on UVA’s all-time goals list with Michael Kraus.
• Moore also extended his point streak to 55 games, which dates back to March 31, 2018.
• With three goals and two assists, Connor Shellenberger has now registered at least one point in all 25 games for his career. Shellenberger has also tallied at least five points in his last 11 games.
• Defenseman Quentin Matsui collected a career-high five ground balls, which also led the team.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers return to Klockner Stadium to host Notre Dame (2-3, 0-0 ACC) on Saturday, March 26. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. on ACC Network.