Ninth-ranked Virginia scored five goals in the third quarter to reverse a halftime deficit in a 12-11 win over sixth-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday.
Dox Aitken scored the game’s first and last goals, his final tally coming with 2:28 left in the game to snap an 11-11 tie.
Aitken’s late goal gave UVA (7-2, 1-2 ACC) its first-ever win at Notre Dame (4-1, 0-1 ACC) in four tries.
His game-winning goal came after Notre Dame tied the contest, 11-11, on back-to-back goals by Eric Dobson and Will Yorke on consecutive Irish possessions. Yorke’s score tied the game with 3:24 left to play.
“At the University of Virginia, a member of the ACC, it’s really critical that we play at a high level against our conference opponents. It’s really how we measure ourselves. Coming out here to South Bend, Ind., and getting a win is significant because we know how strong the opponent is,” UVA coach Lars Tiffany said.
“Notre Dame has a team defense that’s really tough to crack. Their offense shares the ball. They have a very good faceoff man and good goalie. Winning here means we must have played well as a team. This is our best team victory of the season. We’ve won games prior to this, with great individual efforts, which we had some as of those as well, but it was much more of trust the system and trust each other. It is pure elation to earn a victory here today,” Tiffany said.
UVA held Notre Dame scoreless in the first quarter after taking an early 3-0 lead, but the Irish went on a 7-2 run in the second quarter to take a 7-5 lead into the intermission.
The Cavaliers came out of halftime with a 3-0 spurt to take the lead, 8-7. Ian Laviano found a loose ball on the doorstep and delivered it home with 4:12 left in the third frame to cap the streak. Yorke tied the game roughly two minutes later, 8-8, with an unassisted goal.
Virginia wasn’t done with its third-quarter scoring. Payton Cormier scored the fourth of his five goals with 1:03 left in the third, followed by a step-down score from Laviano, completing his hat-trick.
Notre Dame didn’t go away in the fourth quarter, starting the game’s final frame on a 3-1 run, tying the game at 11-11. From there, Aitken scored his goal to put UVA up for good.
With three seconds left, UVA goalie Alex Rode saved a Yorke shot on the doorstep to solidify the win.
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Chris Graham
