Texas Natives Lead the Way for UVA Lacrosse in Win Over Towson in Houston

Aidan Baller | Mar 8, 2025

Virginia Athletic

Amongst a day of upsets in college lacrosse, with the likes of No. 2 Notre Dame falling to No. 15 Ohio State and No. 3 Cornell losing to No. 8 Penn State, No. 20 Virginia (3-3) went on an 8-0 run in the second half to defeat the Towson Tigers (1-5) on Saturday in Houston, Texas, by a score of 11-6. 

The Cavaliers came firing out of the gates, bringing similar energy to the final minutes in their loss to Johns Hopkins, with Anthony Ghobriel winning the opening faceoff and Truitt Sunderland finding a cutting McCabe Millon to give Virginia the lead less than a minute into the game. 

Despite the strong start, Towson refused to back down with two quick goals before Millon fired back using his left hand to draw the game level. Feeling the rhythm, Millon found Truitt Sunderland to give Virginia a 3-2 lead with 4:30 left in the first quarter. 

A defensive battle on both ends of the field ensued, with no goals being scored until the 6:30 mark in the second quarter, with freshman Ronan Fitzpatrick finding nylon for the Tigers, followed by Mikey Weisshaar finding paydirt less than a minute later to give Towson a 5-4 lead. 

When it was time to respond, the Virginia offense, anchored by its attack, fell cold, unable to score a goal the entire second quarter. In relief, the Virginia defense, led by Matthew Nunes, who earned the start for the first time this season, in his hometown of Houston, Texas, stepped up to the challenge. 

Nunes picked up four saves in front of a defense that was 1/3 on man-down defense in the first half to keep the Tigers at bay as the Cavaliers trailed 5-4.

To start the second half, Nunes continued to stand tall, picking up an early save that sparked a goal from fellow Texas native Thomas Mencke on the ensuing possession, but Nunes wasn't satisfied. 

Nunes then picked up two straight saves on the next Towson possession before Mencke delivered on the man-up on a feed from Truitt Sunderland.

Mencke, from Dallas, Texas, provided the offensive spark as the Virginia attack unit of Millon, Sunderland, and Ryan Colsey could not find a rhythm. 

"I do have to highlight our two Texans, who came home to the Lone Star State and did so much to lead us to victory," said UVA head coach Lars Tiffany.

The poor offensive performance saw Coach Lars Tiffany at one point sub out his attack unit in favor of Mikie Harmeyer, Tucker Mullen, and Caulley Deringer, hoping to create an offensive spark and fire up his starting unit. 

The plan succeeded with the backup unit scoring. Deringer forced a turnover on the ride before Mullen looked up and found Harmeyer, who buried the ball with a twister to give Virginia a 6-4 lead. 

The assist from Mullen was his first point since having open heart surgery in November of 2023 as his story continues to grow, inspiring us all in the process. 

For more on his story, watch the video feature I did on him here: 

After the goal, Coach Tiffany opted for his starting unit. Still, Mencke continued to provide the goals, scoring his third of the quarter to give Virginia a 7-4 lead headed into the fourth, with the Virginia defense standing tall, allowing zero goals. 

The Cavlanche continued to ensue in the fourth quarter, with Griffin Schutz and Colsey scoring their first goals before Mencke found Sunderland with a crossfield pass for his fourth point. Colsey then scored again to cap off an eight-goal run for the Cavaliers. 

On the defensive end, Nunes remained poised throughout the run, saving everything that came his way. The Tigers would score two garbage goals to end the game, but Nunes finished with 15 saves and a 71.4 save percentage to give Virginia an 11-6 victory over Towson. In addition, Nunes posted an 84.6 save percentage in the second half. Nunes also looked poised out of the net on the Virginia clear, helping command a team that has struggled in that area this season. 

“Starting with [Matthew] Nunes in the goal – boy, was that reminiscent of what he did so often the first three years here as a Virginia Cavalier," Tiffany said of Nunes. "The confidence he gives the entire defense, not only in making saves, which he did a whole lot of today, but in terms of the riding and clearing. What a wonderful moment for Matt Nunes to be able to come home and lead us to victory."

Truitt Sunderland led the way on offense with two goals and three assists, while Thomas Mencke added three goals and an assist. Ryan Colsey finished with two goals. 

“And then give Thomas Mencke credit. Thomas exploded today – [his] three goals were huge for us," said Tiffany. "Those two Texans – when we needed it most – they stepped up today.” 

On the defensive side, Ben Wayer led the way with an impressive three caused turnovers and six ground balls, while George Fulton added two caused turnovers of his own as the UVA defense had a season-best six goals allowed. 

After a win propelled by a dominant second half, the Cavaliers will turn their attention to hosting No. 1 Maryland on Saturday, March 15th, at Klöckner Stadium. 

More Virginia Lacrosse News

Five Takeaways From Virginia Lacrosse's 11-6 Win Over Towson

Hitting the Keys: Reflecting on UVA Lacrosse's Loss at Johns Hopkins

Five Takeaways From Virginia Lacrosse's 12-13 Loss to No. 6 Johns Hopkins

UVA Lacrosse: What Went Wrong in Virginia's Blowout Loss at Ohio State

Ryan Colsey Leads Virginia Lacrosse to 17-8 Win Over High Point