The Cornell Big Red (2-2) used a 5-0 run in the fourth quarter to outlast No. 17 Virginia (3-4) on Saturday afternoon, 14-10, at Schoellkopf Field.
“I give credit first and foremost to Cornell,” said Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia said. “They were hard after us from the beginning. I thought they were sharp and were on the loose balls. On our side we had some moments, but generally I thought we were outplayed and outworked, which is the most disappointing piece for me.”
Virginia jumped out early to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter via goals from Joe French, Zed Williams and Mike D’Amario. The unassisted goal by D’Amario at 3:48 capped the Cavalier run.
Cornell retaliated with a 6-0 run, taking a commanding 7-3 lead. Emmy Poccia finished the run at 6:34 in the second period for the Big Red on an assist by Jordan Dowiak. On the play Carlson Milikin was charged with a cross-check, putting UVA a man-down heading into the ensuing faceoff.
Jeff Kratky won the man-down faceoff for Virginia after Michael Howard fought for the ground ball in a scrum. Howard found Will McNamara streaking in the middle of the field. McNamara deposited the man-down goal at 6:01 in the second quarter off the Howard assist, halting the Cornell spurt.
McNamara’s goal started a 4-1 Virginia run to end the first half. James Pannell and Ryan Lukacovic scored before Williams capped the quarter with an unassisted goal as time expired, cutting UVA’s deficit to one goal, 8-7, at the break. Greg Coholan assisted Pannell’s goal, the 100th point of the fifth-year’s career.
The Cavaliers used the third quarter to even the game, 9-9, after goals from Lukacovic and Pannell, who scored at 3:01 to cap the scoring.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Big Red, who went on a 5-0 spurt to ice the game. John Edmonds started the run when he scored with the 30-second timer on with 12:38 left in the game. Colton Rupp capped the run with the Big Red’s final score with 5:11 left. Lukacovic scored on a man-up opportunity with 37 seconds left to finish the game’s scoring.
Virginia won the battle of shots (42-34), while Cornell won the battle of ground balls (34-32), faceoffs (15-12) and saves (16-7). Virginia had a season-high 16 turnovers, while Cornell also had 16.
Virginia returns to action on Saturday, March 19 when the Cavaliers travel to No. 2 Notre Dame in a return to ACC action. Faceoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised live on ESPNU.
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Chris Graham
