Eighth-ranked Virginia used a 12-1 run to the start the game as they cruised past the Air Force Falcons on Saturday afternoon, 20-4, at Klöckner Stadium.
Connor Shellenberger dished four assists in the first quarter as six different Cavaliers scored goals, including Peter Garno, who notched his first career hat-trick in the opening frame.
The ball was humming around in the first half as UVA (5-1) held a 13-2 advantage at the intermission. Nine of the 13 first-half goals were assisted for the Cavaliers.
Garno started the UVA offense on a Shellenberger helper 2:01 into the game. He also scored unassisted at 5:18 in the first quarter and again with 1:48 left in the opening frame when Shellenberger found him again.
Charlie Bertrand scored four goals in the first half, while Matt Moore dished out four assists. Shellenberger scored his only goal of the game at 5:11 in the third quarter on a Bertrand assist to give UVA a 16-2 lead. As UVA emptied the bench, Patrick McIntosh scored his first two career goals, while Connell Kumar also netted his first collegiate goal in the fourth quarter.
Air Force (1-3) had its chances, but UVA goalie Alex Rode turned away nine of the 11 shots he saw on goal, including six saves in the first half.
“It was really rewarding to see our offense generate a lot of opportunities to score for others,” UVA coach Lars Tiffany said. “We were able to facilitate, starting with Connor Shellenberger and Matt Moore. They were dodging, creating, and finding open teammates. That was really great to see, because we haven’t had a lot of assists in recent games.
“It was really nice to see how Coach [Sean] Kirwan put our team into some dodging angles, and then we just shared the ball more and we moved the ball more, which is important against a goalie like [Braden] Host. That was really critical, to get him moving from pipe to pipe instead of just seeing the ball the entire time.”
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Chris Graham
