No. 7 UVA men’s lacrosse wins Tuesday night tilt with Saint Joseph’s, 15-14

No. 7 UVA (5-1) outlasted the visiting Saint Joseph’s Hawks (3-4) on Tuesday night, 15-14, inside Klöckner Stadium. UVa’s Owen Van Arsdale led the way with five goals and Ryan Lukacovic added four scores in the victory.

“We are very happy with the result and I knew this would be a tough game,” said Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia. “I give our guys a lot of credit. The effort is always there. We had chances to give the game away and we did not do that. At the same time we are making a lot of mistakes and we have to clean that stuff up. We have to get smarter and we have to get better, but at the same time there is a lot to like about this team.”

Saint Joseph’s held the ball for nearly the first seven minutes of the game, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals by Kevin Forster and Ryan McGee. Van Arsdale and Tyler German each scored to tie the game, 2-2, with 7:35 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks went on a 4-1 run to take a 6-3 lead over the Cavaliers. Anthony Joaquim scored at 9:06 in the second quarter to cap the run.

UVa reeled off a 4-0 run of its own, taking a 7-6 lead into the intermission. Lukacovic and Ryan Tucker each scored before Van Arsdale tallied back-to-back goals to cap the streak with 35 seconds left in the second quarter.

Saint Joseph’s took an 8-7 lead after scoring back-to-back goals to start the third quarter. Pat Swanick scored unassisted at 12:51 in the third, giving the Hawks the one-goal advantage.

UVa retaliated with another 4-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. Lukacovic found Van Arsdale, capping the run with 5:58 left in the third quarter.

The Hawks went off for a 6-2 spurt that gave Saint Joseph’s the 14-13 lead with 4:31 left in the game. UVa bunkered down and won a couple decisive faceoffs and Zed Williams found Greg Coholan at 3:17 to tie the game and then the sophomore midfielder assisted Lukacovic on the eventual game-winning goal at 1:26.

Lukacovic tied his career high in goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine). Van Arsdale added a career-high five goals and six points.

UVa won the battle of ground balls (32-31), faceoffs (18-14) and saves (13-7). Saint Joseph’s outshot UVa, 47-32.

The game served as the 500th career game of Starsia’s head coaching career. Starsia has coached 353 games at UVa and 147 at Brown, spanning 33 seasons.

UVa returns to action on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium against No. 4 Notre Dame. Faceoff is set for noon and the game will be televised live on ESPNU.