“Coach, just before you end,” Marek said. “Will you give me a chance to be the starter?”Tiffany was taken aback. That, he thought, that was a little forward.
“Our coaching staff is thrilled with the energy, effort, and performance of our men tonight,” Coach Tiffany said. “We love challenges, and certainly playing two games in three days presents such a challenge.”
“I liked our physicality,” Tiffany said. “We like it when it's aggressive … We like our man-down defense, so [we] want to play a physical game.”
An 11 a.m. matchup Saturday against Utah in Scott Stadium will see Will Inderlied land in unexpected territory — his first time playing in the venue his father once did.
“It was really a surprise to tell you the truth,” Tiffany said. “As I was running out of LaValle Stadium, somebody from the Stony Brook administration said something … that was a special moment.”
“I told the team, ‘Fellas, it's so much easier to point towards a win when we turn the season around, but we're going to remember this through the pain and hurt of this losing locker room right now — this is when we turned the season around,” Tiffany said. “We took a huge step today.”
In order to avoid a season similar to last year’s 6-8 final record — the first losing season of Lars Tiffany’s 10-year tenure at Virginia — the Cavaliers must find a way to win this afternoon in College Park, Md.
“It’s always hard to say, did we not shoot well, or did the goalie have a great day?” Tiffany said. “Probably both — it’s the easy, cop-out answer, but it's probably the truth.”
The Cavaliers were up 2-0. They were up 5-1. They were up 8-3. They were up 11-4. They were up 12-8. Games are not won on the basis of the score during or at the end of the first, second, or third quarter, though.
This year figures to be another heavyweight clash, as Virginia boasts a high-powered offense averaging just under 17 goals a contest, while Johns Hopkins has shown to have the stingier defense.
It is evident that the roster is deep with talent for scoring the ball, and having two distributors in both Millon brothers is paying dividends for setting up scoring opportunities on a silver platter.
“The season is a race — a race to improve,” Coach Lars Tiffany said. “It's obvious after today that we have a whole lot of racing to do, because there’s a great deal of improving that has to occur.”
The Cavaliers, who hope to play their final game at Scott Stadium, opened the season Sunday in a spectator-free George Welsh Indoor Football Practice Facility. Safe from the icy and frigid conditions, Virginia put on an offensive clinic, matching its highest goal total since hanging 19 on the Raiders to start the 2025 season.
The road to redemption is set for the Cavaliers.
Beneath the eerie glow of the Scott Stadium lights and within the hallowed walls of John Paul Jones arena, some nights were better left forgotten.
