Cavaliers Now

Connor Shellenberger Scores Double Overtime Winner to Lift Virginia Over Johns Hopkins

The Cavaliers advance to Championship Weekend for the fourth time in the last five tournaments.

Aidan Baller

Virginia players celebrate a goal
Virginia players celebrate a goal / Virginia Athletics

Connor Shellenberger continues to live up to his nickname, Mr. May.

With the season on the line, Connor Shellenberger buried the double-overtime winner to send the Cavaliers to championship weekend. After a huge defensive stop and a successful clear, Virginia called timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Shellenberger swept across the field down the right alley before rolling back to his left hand and painting the far left pipe, giving Virginia its first lead but, more importantly, the win. 

The goal lifted Virginia (12-5) to an 11-10 double-overtime victory over Johns Hopkins (11-5), allowing for the college careers of Cavalier greats such as Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, and Cole Kastner to continue for another week. 

To start, it was all Johns Hopkins, with the Blue Jays jumping out to a 4-0 lead with Russell Melendez burying two goals early on. 

After the fourth goal, Coach Lars Tiffany turned to the bench, replacing goalie Matthew Nunes with sophomore goalie Kyle Morris. 

“How you practice can push you up or down the depth chart,” said Lars Tiffany. “Kyle Morris had earned it during the week.” 

Coach Tiffany did not provide a pick for who the starter will be on Saturday against Maryland.

Offensively, the Cavaliers looked tentative to start before McCabe Millon found Jack Boyden to open the scoring for the Hoos. 

Virginia would then keep pace with the Blue Jays for the remainder of the first half, only trailing 7-5 at halftime with Morris making five saves, quickly settling into the big stage. Another factor that kept Virginia in the game was the committee of Anthony Ghobriel and Thomas Colucci winning the faceoff battle 9-6 through two quarters. 

Ghobriel missed the first matchup with Johns Hopkins due to injury but made his presence felt today, finishing 12/20 from the spot. 

In the first half, the Cavaliers committed three penalties, two of which Johns Hopkins scored on as the man-down unit for Virginia struggled, allowing three goals on four chances on the day. 

Offensively, the Hoos leaned on Millon, who notched two goals and two assists in the first half, showing incredible poise while playing in the biggest game of his Virginia career. 

To start the second half, Virginia fired home two straight goals, including a jump shot from Connor Shellenberger to tie the game at seven. 

Despite this surge of momentum for the Hoos, Johns Hopkins goalie Chayse Ierlan delivered three straight saves to deny Virginia the lead and propel the Blue Jays into a three-goal scoring run that made it 10-7 headed into the fourth quarter. 

From there on out, it was all Virginia. 

In the fourth quarter, Virginia rifled back with a three-goal scoring run, which included the game-tying goal by McCabe Millon, who swept underneath his defender before tiptoeing around the crease to tie the game at ten with 2:59 left in the game. 

Defensively, in the fourth, Virginia held the Blue Jays to zero goals but, more impressively, zero shots on goal. 

With 48 seconds left, the Cavaliers, then earned a man advantage but failed to capitalize, sending the game to overtime. 

In the first overtime period, the Blue Jays dictated the tempo, firing two shots on goal, but Morris was up to the task, sending the game to a second overtime period, the first NCAA double-overtime game since Virginia defeated Duke in the semifinals en route to a National Championship back in 2019. 

In the second overtime period, Johns Hopkins won the opening faceoff, leaving Shellenberger only able to watch if his defense could keep his career alive. 

In response, Chase Yager checked the ball out of Matt Collison’s stick before Ben Wayer picked up his tenth ground ball. Wayer then cleared the ball, eliciting a timeout by the Cavaliers. 

Out of the timeout, Shellenberger swept down the right alley before rolling back to his left hand and firing the ball into the back of the net to send the Cavaliers to Championship Weekend. 

After the goal, Shellenberger was mobbed by his teammates before laying on his back with his hands in his face and tears rolling down his cheeks. 

“I’ve been watching it [Virginia] since I was 10/11 years old, and to have a moment like this with this team in that venue was unbelievable,” said Shellenberger. 

Shellenberger finished with three goals and one assist, while McCabe Millon led the team with three goals and three assists. Jack Boyden had three goals. 

Payton Cormier, who had eight goals last week against St. Joes, only scored one goal on eleven shots. 

Defensively, Kyle Morris finished with nine saves and was helped out by defensive performances by Ben Wayer and John Schroter, who had ten and six ground balls, respectively. 

Chase Yager, also was a defensive standout, leading the team with three caused turnovers, with the last one setting up the game-winner. 

With the win, Virginia will travel to Philadelphia, PA, to face Maryland on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field at 2:30 pm. 

Published |Modified
Aidan Baller
AIDAN BALLER

Aidan has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since January of 2023 and covers UVA football, basketball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse. He is from New York and is currently in his fourth year at the University of Virginia, enrolled in the M.S. in Accounting program.

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