Men’s Lacrosse: No. 3 UVA guts out tough road win at No. 11 Loyola, 15-12

Matt Moore scored five goals and Connor Shellenberger notched five points as as #3 UVA overcame a slow start to pick up a key road win against No. 11 Loyola on Saturday, 15-12.

Loyola (1-1) led 4-1 after the first quarter thanks to a 3-0 run by the Greyhounds to close the first period. Kevin Lindley scored twice for Loyola during the streak.

The Cavaliers (3-0) responded with a 5-0 spurt to start the second quarter and never looked back, taking a 6-4 lead with 6:31 left before the intermission.

Charlie Bertrand started the scoring for the Cavaliers in the second period after dodging from X at 12:06 in the frame. Bertrand’s goal started a 5-0 UVA run that gave UVA the lead for the first time. Moore scored his first on a Shellenberger helper at 9:55, while Dox Aitken scored at 8:52 in the period off a dodge to tie the game at 4-4.

Petey LaSalla won the ensuing faceoff and deposited his only goal of the game seven seconds later to give UVA the lead for the first time, 5-4. Ian Laviano capped the run on Shellenberger’s second assist of the game with 3:37 left in the first half. UVA took a 7-6 lead into the half after the Greyhounds finished the quarter with a 2-1 run.

Loyola scored 35 seconds into the third quarter, tying the game at 7-7. Moore responded at 13:42 in the third quarter to give UVA the lead for good, 8-7, on an unassisted score. UVA outscored Loyola 5-3 in the third frame, spelling the difference.

The Greyhounds cut the lead to 13-12 on a Peter Swindell unassisted goal with 7:38, but the Loyola wasn’t able to even the game on offense and saw Moore shoot from a ridiculous angle coming off of X to put the game out of reach, 14-11, with 5:21 left.

Payton Cormier pushed his third through to cap the win with 4:34 left to play.

“I am very grateful for the way Petey LaSalla played today and then Gavin Tygh, who came in and got some big wins at the faceoff X,” UVA coach Lars Tiffany said. “Possessions against this Loyola team are so critical. I want to give Loyola credit. They are a team that we know is a very good team and they get the ball up quickly and go.

“Riding is a strength of ours most games. We just couldn’t quite get those extra turnovers in the middle of field. Give Loyola credit there. That is what exaggerates the faceoff because if we can’t get the extra possessions on the ride, then we’re have to get those extra positions in the faceoff game. Beating [Bailey] Savio, Loyola’s elite faceoff man, and getting the edge at the faceoff X was so critical for earning a win today.”