Entering last night's contest, the Virginia men's lacrosse team had faced Mount St. Mary's just once before, a 19-8 Cavalier drubbing two years ago in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Despite a shaky offensive performance in the first half of last night's game, Virginia was able to jumpstart in the final 30 minutes to earn its second career victory against the Mount, 11-4.
Mount St. Mary's struck first on an unassisted goal from midfielder Andy Petcoff, who weaved through four Virginia defenders to place a shot just above the shoulders of goalie Kip Turner.
Cavalier senior attackman John Christmas would not sit back for long, however, tallying two assists in less than a minute on goals from teammates Hunter Kass and Drew Garrison.
"Johnny got us going in the beginning with two good passes," Virginia attackman Matt Ward said. "John is quick, and he's going to make plays almost every game. He got us going in the beginning."
At the 9:11 mark of the first quarter, Virginia held a 2-1 lead.
Each team scored had once in the second quarter until the 1:57 mark, when Ward sidearmed a low rider into the net to extend the lead for the home team. The Cavaliers retained a 4-2 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.
During the entire first half, the story for the Mount was goalkeeper Dan Whitehurst, who had nine saves at the break. Virginia amassed 29 shot attempts, including 13 on goal, in the initial 30 minutes but was never able to extend a lead beyond two goals.
"Our effort in the beginning of the game wasn't what it needed to be," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "They understood that we needed to pick up the pace, because we were in a dangerous place at halftime."
The Cavalier offensive attack flew into a rage in the second half.
Just 14 seconds after the break, Virginia midfielder J.J. Morrissey scored on an assist from teammate Brendan Gill to prop the Cavaliers up with a three-goal advantage.
Successive scores in the next nine minutes from Jared Little, Ward, and Michael Culver launched Virginia to an 8-2 lead.
The Cavalier scoring barrage continued with three more goals from midway through the third quarter to the buzzer.
Christmas ended the contest with one goal and two assists, complemented by two scores from Ward. Twelve Cavaliers would earn one goal or assist during the game.
Virginia midfielder Jack deVilliers converted on the contest's first faceoff and never looked back, winning over 12 of 18 total faceoffs.
"The great thing about lacrosse is that you can go on a run by scoring goals and getting the ball right back," Ward said. "And Jack did that tonight."
The Cavaliers also tallied 21 of 25 clears, won the groundball battle by four and had 26 shots on goal.
With the win, Virginia was able to maintain their unbeaten record at night in Klöckner Stadium, continuing a string of 14 consecutive victories under those circumstances since 1993.
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