A furious fourth-quarter rally ran out of time as unseeded UVA fell in the first round at No. 6 seed Loyola in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, 14-12, on Saturday night.
UVA concludes its 2018 season with a 12-6 record. The 12 wins are the most by a Cavalier team since the 2012 also team finished with 12 wins.
There was a weather delay of 2:14 just prior to the 7:17 p.m. scheduled faceoff time due to lightning in the area.
“Loyola played at a higher level than we did, especially in the first half,” said Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Lars Tiffany. “They scored goals in transition, which we knew they could and it was a bit like looking in a mirror. Scoring in transition is something we do often to our opponents. We score goals in bunches, we win faceoffs and certainly frustrate the opposing defensive coordinator, well today I was that defensive coordinator. I was watching the scoreboard and it continued to add up in the first half for Loyola, who played with such good energy tonight.”
Once the game started, UVA held a narrow 2-1 advantage. Regan Quinn’s goal at 8:55 in the first quarter gave UVA its only lead of the game. Loyola responded with a 9-1 run and UVA trailed 10-5 heading into the intermission.
The Cavaliers nearly mounted a tremendous comeback. Trailing 13-6, UVA finished the game on 6-1 run as time expired before the full comeback could come to fruition. Dox Aitken scored all four of his goals in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers scored six goals in the final frame. Aitken scored back-to-back unassisted goals to start the fourth quarter. Ian Laviano scored his second goal of the game before two more Aitken goals. In transition, Matt Moore found Jared Conners for a long-poll goal with 14 seconds left. Time expired on the ensuing faceoff, ending UVA’s season.
Aitken finished the season with 51 points (39-12-51), the most in a single season by a UVA midfielder. Kraus finished with 83 points (44-39-83), which is the second most all-time in a single season by a Cavalier.
Loyola won the battle of shots (40-34) and faceoffs (15-14). Virginia had more ground balls (34-31), saves (11-7) and turnovers (13-12).
Share
Chris Graham
