Men’s Lacrosse: #2 Virginia blasts #14 Johns Hopkins, 19-8

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Led by Payton Cormier (6 goals), Connor Shellenberger (3 goals, 5 assists) and Cole Kastner (5 caused turnovers), No. 2 Virginia (5-0) tied for its largest victory in series history with its 19-8 win over No. 14/15 Johns Hopkins (3-3) at Klöckner Stadium Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Cavaliers retained possession of the Doyle Smith Cup and improved to 9-6 in such contests, dating back to the inaugural matchup in 2006.

First-year goalie Matthew Nunes (5-0) tallied his fifth straight win for UVA, while Hopkins’ Josh Kirson (3-3) suffered the loss in net for the Blue Jays.

Virginia led 4-0 at the end of the first and ultimately registered the first six goals of the game from six different scorers. The Blue Jays got on the board at the 8:12 mark of the second quarter, but the Cavaliers’ offense responded with four straight goals to close out the half, including a pair from Shellenberger. Virginia dominated the faceoff game in the first half by winning 11 out of 13 draws – including the first eight of the contest – in the first 30 minutes of play.

The Cavaliers continued to pile on in the third, scoring seven goals in period No. 3. UVA grasped its largest lead of the contest, 17-4, when faceoff specialist Gable Braun won the draw, collected the ground ball and scored as time expired in the third. The Cavaliers showcased their depth in the fourth period as 35 players, including backup goalie David Roselle, touched the Klöckner grass before the end of regulation.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM: VIRGINIA COACH LARS TIFFANY

“In a tradition-rich game such as the Johns Hopkins-Virginia rivalry, there’s never a question of the intensity of the game, and we saw that. Both teams came out aggressive, physical, and we were allowed to play a physical transition-paced game today. I couldn’t have a more rewarding feeling having witnessed our men compete at both ends of the field at such a high level. Starting with the faceoffs, Petey LaSalla and Gable Braun giving us those extra possessions. Getting the transition game going. It was really fun to watch Payton Cormier, Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger distribute and share the ball so well against an aggressive sliding defensive that Johns Hopkins threw at us today. And that’s the key – is recognizing what’s the defense trying to take away from you, and what are they going to give you. Recent teams have been a little less hesitant to slide. We’ve had to win matchups. Today we had to move the ball. Our offense proved that they can find open people both inside and outside and make those shots.”

NOTES 

• Virginia improved to 33-61-1 in the all-time series and is now on a two-game winning streak against the Blue Jays. Virginia won the previous matchup 16-11 at Homewood Field on March 23, 2019.
• The Cavaliers’ 19-8 win tied for the largest margin of victory of the series. UVA also defeated Hopkins 19-8 in 2009 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which was held at Navy.
• Virginia held the Blue Jays scoreless for the first 21:48 of game time and jumped out to a 6-0 lead before JHU scored its first goal of the game with 8:12 remaining in the second quarter.
• With six goals on the day, Payton Cormier tied his career high. Cormier scored six times against Towson (Feb. 26, 2021) last season.
• Matt Moore (1 goal, 3 assists) is now tied for ninth all-time – alongside Garrett Billings and Mark Cockerton – with 125 career goals.
• Moore also extended his point streak to 54 consecutive games, which dates back to March 31, 2018.
• For the third time this season, Connor Shellenberger dished out five assists, tying his career high. Shellenberger led the nation in assists per game (4.25) on the season entering Saturday’s contest.
• Cole Kastner caused a game-high five JHU turnovers, a career best. Kastner was second in the nation in caused turnovers (3.50/game) this season entering Saturday’s game. Kastner also notched his first career goal after forcing a JHU turnover, collected a ground ball and went end to end before shooting and scoring.
• Faceoff specialist Gable Braun scored his first career goal after winning a faceoff with eight seconds remaining in the third period. Braun collected the loose ball and fired a shot that found the back of the net as time expired to give the Cavaliers their largest lead of the contest (17-3).

UP NEXT 

Virginia travels to North Carolina for its first ACC road contest of the season on Thursday, March 10. Opening faceoff from Dorrance Field is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network.