Klöckner Stadium witnessed the extension of Virginia’s win streak against Robert Morris Tuesday, as the No. 6 Cavaliers (4-1, 0-0 ACC) improved their record in the fledgling series against the Colonials (1-4, 0-0 ASUN) to 5-0. An explosive opening quarter put the Cavaliers ahead 6-1, and they did not look back the rest of the game.
The Cavaliers scooped up 51 ground balls, their highest tally since last year’s game against Richmond, helping to dominate possession. Additionally, Virginia fought hard over the game’s 26 faceoffs, winning 16. Graduate faceoff specialist Thomas Colucci went 9-13, and graduate faceoff specialist Matthew DeSouza went 7-13.
Continuing to prove why he will be one of Virginia’s best, freshman attackman McCabe Millon opened the first quarter with two solo goals and then added a third with the help of sophomore attackman Ryan Colsey. It took him just over two minutes to score the flurry of goals, quickly establishing Virginia’s dominant lead. Despite a response from Robert Morris, Millon, graduate attackman Payton Cormier and graduate midfielder Jack Boyden all scored, continuing the lead and ending the quarter 6-1.
Mirroring the first quarter, Virginia scored three goals in a row at the beginning of the second quarter. Colsey, graduate attackman Connor Shellenberger and junior midfielder Griffin Schutz all scored their first goals of the game. The Colonials punched back, scoring two, but the unshaken Cavaliers scored another two, Cormier getting his second and sophomore attackman Truitt Sunderland getting his first. Robert Morris managed to score one more goal before the half ended with Virginia ahead 11-4.
In the third quarter, Cormier came back hot, scoring three goals within the first two minutes. He added to his incredible stat list, earning his 33rd career hat trick with five total goals. Sophomore goalie Kyle Morris also stepped in at halftime. Like in the second quarter, the Colonials rallied and scored two goals, but Virginia scored one more to end the quarter at 15-6.
The game slowed down near the end — after three fast-paced quarters, the fourth quarter saw only two more goals, one per team. Freshman midfielder Chase Band scored his first and the game’s last goal with just over five minutes remaining. Freshman goalie Colin Hook ended the game in goal as the Cavaliers won in a statement 16-7 showing.
Saturday’s loss to No. 4 Johns Hopkins challenged different aspects of the team, which is good for an early game to do, as lacrosse is all about conference games and earning a ticket to the NCAA Tournament in May. Faceoffs, ground balls and the offense were all weaker points.
Coach Lars Tiffany and his team certainly improved in those aspects — 51 ground balls, a 62 percent faceoff win percentage and 16 goals certainly counts as improvement. However, this can be expected when a top-10 team goes against an unranked opponent.
Virginia will next face Towson away Saturday at noon. The game will air on Lacrosse TV. The competition against the Tigers will be a good way to measure how far the Cavaliers have improved before they travel to face No. 7 Maryland the following week.
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