No. 3 UVA drops ACC opener at No. 10 Syracuse

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 10 Syracuse Orange (1-1, 1-0 ACC) outscored UVA in the second half, 11-3, to hand the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 0-1 ACC) their first defeat of the year on Saturday night, 20-10, inside the Carrier Dome.

After UVA trailed early, 2-0, the Cavaliers went on a 5-1 run to stake themselves to a 5-3 lead in the first quarter. The Orange put a goal in right before the end of the first frame, starting a 7-2 Syracuse run that started the game’s separation.

Trailing 2-0 with 10:51 left in the first quarter, Ian Laviano scored the first of his three goals on a helper from Matt Moore to start the UVA scoring. Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Charlie Bertrand all scored goals as part of a 4-0 Cavalier run that gave UVA a 4-2 lead with 7:19 left in the first frame.

Syracuse bounced right back with a 2-1 run to close the period on goals by Lucas Quinn and Brendan Curry. The latter coming with 16 seconds left in the first quarter, cutting UVA’s lead to one goal, 5-4.

Curry’s goal started a 7-2 Orange run, giving Syracuse a 10-7 lead 13 seconds into the third quarter. UVA’s only goals during that span came from Cormier and Laviano. The Laviano goal with 5:28 left in the first half came off a saved shot by Jared Conners. Laviano picked up the ball and quickly took the garbage out for his second goal of the night.

Back-to-back goals by Laviano, his third, and Scott Bower in the third quarter brought the score to 13-10, Syracuse, with 6:22 left in the third quarter. Syracuse didn’t let UVA score again, finishing the game on a 7-0 run, including shutting out the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter.