Second-Half Cavalanche Propels Virginia to 17-10 Win at No. 8 Brown in NCAA First Round
For the first 40 minutes of the game, the Bears and Cavaliers went punch-for-punch and their first round matchup seemed destined to go down to the wire to determine who would move on and whose season was over. With just over five minutes left in the third quarter, the score was knotted at 9-9, the product of 40 minutes of physical, back-and-forth lacrosse in front of a packed crowd at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
Then, the Cavaliers showed why they are the two-time defending national champions. Virginia went on an 8-0 run over the next 15 minutes of game time and took total control, cruising to a 17-10 victory over No. 8 Brown in the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday night in Providence.
Lars Tiffany, a Brown alum who spent ten years coaching his alma mater before moving on to UVA, prepared his team for the hostile environment they would face at Stevenson-Pincince Field. The team even invited a group of 40 UVA students to practice this week and instructed them to heckle the team as they practiced to simulate the atmosphere at Brown.
The crowd lived up to the hype, as did the game itself (for the first three quarters), which was billed as one of the most entertaining matchups in the first round.
Connor Shellenberger, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 NCAA Tournament and newly-minted Tewaaraton finalist, started off the game strong and stayed hot, proving that he saves his best lacrosse for the month of May. The redshirt sophomore and Charlottesville native scored the game's first two goals within the first three minutes of the game. Shellenberger finished with eight points, which tied a career-high, on four goals and four assists.
Brown answered Shellenberger's fast start with a 3-0 run, with each goal coming from a different goal-scorer. Petey LaSalla won the ensuring faceoff and took it the distance for a goal. LaSalla helped the Cavaliers take a hefty possession advantage, winning 20 of the 31 faceoffs.
Brian Antonelli scored to give Brown a 4-3 lead at the end of the opening quarter, but the Cavaliers responded with a 3-0 run of their own to start the second quarter. The run sparked by an impressive crease dive goal from Shellenberger and capped off by a highlight pole goal by defenseman Scott Bower, his first goal of the season.
The Bears once again had an answer for the Virginia run, scoring the next three goals to take a 7-6 lead. Jeff Conner found Payton Cormier on the inside late in the half to send the game into halftime with the score tied at seven goals apiece. Cormier had a few turnovers early, but found his stride in the second half and ended up leading the Cavaliers in scoring with five goals on nine shots.
Shellenberger scored his fourth goal of the game to open the second half and Ben Wayer followed that up with another pole goal just nine seconds later.
Brown had one more response in the tank, as Adrian Enchill and Nolen Rockefeller found the back of the net to tie the game up at 9-9. The Bears had no answer for what happened next.
Behind an efficient and opportunistic effort from the UVA offense and a smothering defensive performance from goalie Matthew Nunes and the Virginia defense, the Cavaliers outscored the Bears 8-1 over the final 23 minutes of regulation.
Nunes was a brick wall in between the pipes for the Wahoos, making five saves in the third quarter and finishing with 16 saves for the game, tying a career-high. The Virginia defense caused eight Brown turnovers and the Cavaliers displayed their nation-leading prowess at collecting ground balls, winning the ground ball battle 32-20. UVA also won the final eight faceoffs of the game.
After being held without a point in the first half, UVA's all-time leader in points Matt Moore joined the fray late in the third quarter. Moore scored a goal and assisted on two more as part of a four-goal UVA burst to end the period with Virginia leading 13-9.
The run continued to start the fourth, with Shellenberger connecting with Cormier on back-to-back goals before Moore scored again on an impressive shot that painted the top corner from a low angle.
Shellenberger fed Xander Dickson for the final goal of the run, giving Shellenberger his eighth point of the game and extending UVA's lead to 17-9 with just over six minutes remaining.
Lars Tiffany was content to play keep away after that and put the Hoos on cruise control as Virginia rolled to the 17-10 road victory. Tiffany is now 9-1 in the NCAA Tournament as head coach of the Cavaliers, who have won each of their last nine NCAA Tournament games.
Virginia advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third-straight season and keeps the quest for a three-peat alive. UVA will face the winner of Vermont and No. 1 seed Maryland next Sunday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
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