Men’s Lacrosse: #1 Virginia explodes after quiet first quarter to blow past Towson, 18-9

After trailing 4-1 at the end of the first quarter, No. 1 Virginia (3-0) outscored Towson (1-2) 17-5 the rest of the way as the Cavaliers defeated the Tigers 18-9 Saturday afternoon at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Nine different UVA players found the back of the net, including Jack Simmons and Payton Cormier, who scored a game-high four goals apiece. Simmons’ four goals is a career best and marks the first hat trick of his career.

First-year goalie Matthew Nunes (3-0) played for 53:36 and earned his third career win in as many tries.

“We had a big challenge today, and we didn’t do well early on winning those one-on-one matchups,” UVA coach Lars Tiffany said. “We often see teams slide and double to us. That was tough-going early on because you start looking to not your top players to necessarily win the matchups, but who has the short-stick [defensive] middie. Jack Simmons stepped up for us, because now it’s a day where they’re not supporting the man being dodged as much as some other teams do. We’ve got to win some matchups and give Jack Simmons credit. He stepped up today when those opportunities arose for him”

Towson led 4-1 at the end of the first quarter, despite the Cavaliers leading in shots, 14-7. Virginia responded by tallying five straight goals from five different Cavaliers in the first 5:00 of play in the second. The Tigers halted UVA’s run at the 8:18 mark in the second quarter, but still trailed 6-5. Both teams would score once more before the end of the half at which point the Cavaliers led 7-6. Simmons and Connor Shellenberger (2 goals, 3 assists) led UVA at the break with two goals each. Settling in towards the end of the first period, the Cavaliers’ defense forced 12 Towson turnovers – six in both periods.

Virginia continued its offensive spree into the third quarter and scored the final six goals of the period, three of which were scored by Cormier. Connell Kumar and Patrick McIntosh both notched their first goals of the season in the second half. The Cavaliers fired 17 of their 33 total shots on goal in the second half, while holding Towson to just seven shots on goal in the final 30 minutes of play.