No. 1 Virginia Men’s Lacrosse Dominates No. 8 Ohio State 17-6

Payton Cormier led the way with a career-high seven goals as the Cavaliers outplayed the Buckeyes on both ends of the field

In the first-ever meeting between the Cavaliers and Buckeyes on the lacrosse field, No. 1 Virginia dominated on both ends of the field and cruised to a 17-6 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night in Naples, Florida. After leading 7-4 at halftime, the Virginia defense shut down the Buckeyes, limiting them to just two second-half goals and only allowing a mere 14 shots on goal throughout the game. After allowing 21 goals to Harvard in the last game, the UVA defense showed vast improvements, demonstrating its veteran leadership and potential. On the offensive side, the Hoos continued to roll with Payton Cormier scoring a career-high seven goals as he led the way on a scoresheet that included nine different goal scorers.

Virginia jumped out to a strong start with Jeff Conner and Patrick McIntosh opening up the scoring for the Cavaliers before Ed Shean fired back for the Buckeyes to make the score 2-1. On the ensuing faceoff, Petey LaSalla responded with a faceoff win and goal to restore Virginia’s two-goal advantage.

Minutes later, Ohio State’s goalie Skylar Wahlund scored a goal from his restraining line after Virginia’s ten-man ride left the Cavalier net wide open. Petey LaSalla had the answer for UVA on the next faceoff with another goal to make the score 4-2. The goal was LaSalla’s sixth of the season through just three games, as the fifth senior has asserted himself as the top scoring faceoff man in the country. 

To start the second quarter, Payton Cormier scored his first of the night on a man-up opportunity. In response, Ohio State star attackman Jack Myers made his presence known by scoring his first two goals of the game to cut the lead to one. Despite the Ohio State surge, Matthew Nunes picked up six first-half saves to keep the Buckeyes at bay and protect UVA's lead. 

The first half concluded with the score 7-4 after Cormier scored on the doorstep twice with the assists coming from Griffin Schutz and Xander Dickson, respectively. The key for Virginia was LaSalla’s first-half dominance, going 7/11 from the faceoff x and recording two goals. As for Ohio State, Wahlund registered seven first-half saves to keep the Buckeyes in the game. 

The Cavaliers began the second half with a three-goal run which was sparked by a goal from Dickson before Cormier and Schutz added to the scoring to put the Hoos up 10-4. After being held without a point in the first half, Connor Shellenberger began to come alive with two assists early on in the third quarter. Shellenberger finished the game with only two assists, but Ohio State's focus on him behind the cage opened up countless opportunities for the rest of the UVA offense. 

Minutes later, Scott White responded with a goal for the Buckeyes to stop the bleeding, but the Virginia onslaught continued with another goal from Cormier to maintain the six-goal advantage. Peter Garno then found a cutting Dickson to put Virginia up 12-5 as the Cavalier offense began to overwhelm Ohio State. As the third quarter closed, Cormier added two more goals to his total in between a Buckeye goal to give Virginia a 14-6 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers took their foot off the gas scoring only three goals, but maintained their strong defense, shutting out the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter. Ricky Miezan scored the final goal of the game to give Virginia a 17-6 win over Ohio State.

Saturday's win was a dominant performance all around for the Cavaliers. Virginia's offense managed to hang 17 goals on an Ohio State defense that held North Carolina to just five goals last week. Even more importantly, the UVA defense took a significant step forward after a couple of lackluster performances in the first two games of the season. 

Payton Cormier led Virginia with seven goals on 12 shots and Xander Dickson and Petey LaSalla had two goals apiece. Matthew Nunes finished with eight saves versus six goals allowed for a .571 save percentage. 

Now 3-0 on the season, Virginia will return to action on Saturday, March 4th against Richmond at Klöckner Stadium at 6pm. 

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