Virginia Lacrosse: Lars Tiffany Provides Injury Update on Matt Moore and Petey LaSalla

UVA's head coach says Moore and LaSalla are day-to-day ahead of Saturday's game against North Carolina

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Apr 7, 2022 6:28 PM EDT

Virginia men's lacrosse head coach Lars Tiffany was asked on Thursday to provide an injury update on the status of fifth year attackman Matt Moore and senior faceoff specialist Petey LaSalla, who both suffered injuries in the first half of UVA's 17-13 loss at Richmond on Saturday. Tiffany did not give many details on the nature of the injuries or the recovery timetables, but he did say that both Moore and LaSalla are currently day-to-day ahead of Virginia's game against North Carolina on Saturday.

"The official response is what I can give you. Petey has an upper extremity injury that is day-to-day and Matt Moore has a lower extremity injury that is day-to-day," Tiffany said. "Losing two warriors like that is difficult to overcome... Those are two guys that are really tough to replace. It really is day-by-day and we'll see what we can get. We have alternative plans certainly in place to start on attack for Matt Moore and who is going to play at the faceoff x obviously is Gable Braun. We'll see how those guys can do, but it'll be a big ask to get them out there 100%."

The injuries to Moore and LaSalla were massive blows for the Cavaliers in their loss at Richmond. Moore tallied two goals and an assist and LaSalla won nine of his ten faceoff draws before both players suffered injuries and did not return. The Spiders used a seven-goal run to erase a four-goal UVA lead and never looked back, pulling a massive upset over then-No. 2 Virginia and beating the Cavaliers for the first time ever.

Without LaSalla, Virginia turned to sophomore Gable Braun, who won 11 of 23 faceoff draws, but Richmond held a significant possession advantage after LaSalla's injury.

If LaSalla and Moore are unable to play, the Cavaliers will turn to Braun to start at faceoff and will rely on their tremendous depth in the midfield to replace Moore. Tiffany said redshirt junior Xander Dickson will likely take Moore's place on the starting attack line alongside Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier. Dickson has 24 points on 18 goals and six assists so far this season. Moore has recorded 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points through eight games played and Virginia will sorely miss his playmaking abilities as a second "quarterback" along with Shellenberger on the UVA attack.

With Moore out, Shellenberger will certainly be leaned on more heavily to score for himself. Shellenberger is currently third in the nation in assists with 3.56 helpers per game, but he will need to be more aggressive in searching for his own shots if Moore is out. He had three assists against Richmond, but scored just one goal on ten shots, snapping a six-game multi-goal streak.

At faceoff, Virginia will certainly miss LaSalla's .601 faceoff win percentage (104/173), but also his goal-scoring ability as he has tallied five goals so far this season. Gable Braun has won 42 of 98 faceoffs for a .429 faceoff percentage this season.

After sliding down five spots in the latest Inside Lacrosse rankings to No. 7, Virginia (7-2, 3-0 ACC) will look to bounce back this weekend against No. 16 North Carolina. This is the second meeting between the Cavaliers and Tar Heels this season. UVA defeated UNC 15-11 in Chapel Hill on March 10th.

Virginia hosts North Carolina on Saturday at 4pm at Klockner Stadium and the game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

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