Ninth-ranked Virginia scored four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to fend off Robert Morris on Saturday, 14-12, at Klöckner Stadium.
With the score tied, 10-10, and 9:05 left to play, Dox Aitken dodged and stuck a left-handed shot high to complete his hat-trick and start a decisive 4-0 run to secure the win.
Matt Moore assisted the next three UVA goals, one by Jared Conners, another on a stepdown by Peter Garno and a transition goal by Scott Bower capped the run to solidify the victory.
“Petey is one of the grittiest people I know. He’s a very talented faceoff man, but what makes Petey one of the best faceoff men in the nation is his ability to make plays with the ball in his stick on offense and in those transitions,” UVA coach Lars Tiffany said. “Not only feeding the ball, but we throw the ball to Petey. He has so much talent as a lacrosse player. Certainly, at the faceoff X today, Petey was critical. He was able to draw some man-ups to give us an extra-man situations several times during the fourth quarter when possessions were so critical to keep Robert Morris off the scoreboard. I’m feeling very grateful that Petey LaSalla is a Virginia Cavalier.”
Cormier’s goal, his second of the game, started a 6-1 Virginia streak as the Cavaliers (6-2) took a 7-3 lead. Cormier scored three times in the run, including the last two. Cormier’s fourth goal of the game came with 7:08 left to play in the second quarter.
RMU (3-4) started a 7-3 run of their own to tie the game at 10-10. Corson Kealey scored with 12:24 left to play, tying the game for the final time.
UVA went on the final 4-0 run to pick up the non-conference win.
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Chris Graham
