No. 5 UVA cruises to victory over Towson in season opener, 20-11

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers (1-0) used a seven-goal second quarter to distance themselves from the Towson Tigers (0-1) on Saturday afternoon, 20-11, at Klöckner Stadium.

Connor Shellenberger scored seven points on four goals and three assists in his collegiate debut. Payton Cormier added a career-high six goals and one assist, while graduate transfer Charlie Bertrand notched four goals and two assists in his UVA debut.

UVA scored 52 seconds into the game to take an early 1-0 lead on an unassisted Shellenberger score. Towson rebounded with a 4-1 spurt to take a 4-2 lead with 6:26 left in the first frame. Cormier broke through with his first goal at 3:50 in the first quarter to jumpstart a 7-0 Cavalier run, pushing the Cavaliers ahead for good. Cormer scored four times during the run and capped it on a Shellenberger helper with 9:37 left in the second quarter, giving UVA an 9-4 lead.

Leading at the half, 11-5, UVA opened the third quarter scoring on a 7-2 streak to put the game out of reach. A dropdown shot by Peter Garno on another Shellenberger assist closed the third quarter scoring as UVA led 18-7 heading into the fourth quarter.