Nunes Scores Game-Winning Goalie Goal, Virginia Rallies to Win at Harvard 13-10
Story by Aidan Baller
Trailing 10-6 with 13:54 left in the fourth quarter, it seemed the Cavaliers were set to leave Cambridge, Massachusetts with their second loss of the season. That deficit would have been substantially larger if it were not for 15 saves through three quarters by Matthew Nunes.
After the goal from Harvard in the fourth, everything came together for the Cavaliers, with the faceoff committee winning 8/9 faceoffs in the quarter to awaken the Virginia offense, who rifled off seven straight goals to propel the Cavaliers to a 13-10 victory over the Crimson.
During that run, the game-winning goal came from the most unlikely of players, Matthew Nunes. On the clear, Nunes saw daylight and sprinted the full length of the field before bouncing his shot home to give Virginia the lead, causing an eruption of excitement from the Cavalier bench.
Offensively, the Cavaliers struggled in the opening period, only scoring two goals with the two Canadians, Payton Cormier and Jack Boyden finding the back of the net. Defensively, Virginia gave Harvard two man-up opportunities, but the Crimson only capitalized on one as Nunes made multiple saves to keep them at bay.
Virginia continued to shoot in the second quarter but struggled to get past Christian Barner, who made seven saves early on. Seizing the opportunity, the Crimson scored four straight goals to take a 5-2 lead midway through the second quarter. To cut the bleeding, Griffin Schutz scored a solo goal, but Harvard fired right back to enter the locker room with a 6-3 lead.
One thing that contributed to Harvard’s lead at the half was the ground ball battle, as the Crimson led in that category 24-16. At the faceoff x, Thomas Colucci and Matthew DeSouza trailed the faceoff battle 6-4 as the two filled in for Anthony Ghobriel, who was once again sidelined.
To start the second half, Harvard added two more tallies to give themselves an 8-3 lead, creating an advantage that was beginning to look insurmountable. In response, Tommy McNeal gave Virginia a spark with a pole goal off a faceoff, beginning a three-goal run for the Cavaliers to cut the lead to two with three minutes left in the third.
On the ensuing Harvard possession, Nunes made three straight saves, but it was not enough to keep the Crimson out of the net as Teddy Malone scored to give Harvard a 9-6 lead at the end of the quarter.
To start the fourth, Virginia committed another turnover, their 15th of the day, giving Harvard a fast break opportunity, which they capitalized on, giving themselves a four-goal cushion. In response, Cormier found nylon off of a faceoff win from Thomas Colucci, beginning the comeback for the Cavs. Riding the momentum, Ryan Colsey scored on the ensuing possession off of a feed from Griffin Schutz before Truitt Sunderland scored on a dodge from behind the cage to bring Virginia back within one.
Griffin Schutz then backed down his defender on an inside roll and scored to tie the game at ten. Harvard then managed to earn themselves a possession but were unable to cut the bleeding.
On the ensuing clear, Matthew Nunes ran coast to coast, scoring his first goal of his career, and giving Virginia its first lead since the second quarter, causing the Virginia bench to erupt.
After that, Cormier scored his fourth and Ben Wayer scored on an empty net to solidify a 13-10 Virginia victory.
The fourth-quarter run was empowered by Colucci and the faceoff committee, who won six straight faceoffs to start the fourth quarter to keep the offense in rhythm and propel Virginia into the win column.
Offensively, Payton Cormier led the way with four goals and one assist, followed by Griffin Schutz, who had two goals and two assists. McCabe Millon and Connor Shellenberger served as quarterbacks today, not scoring any goals but dishing out a combined five assists.
Defensively, Cole Kastner had four caused turnovers while Matthew Nunes had 16 saves to anchor the Virginia defense, further solidifying himself as a leader for the Orange and Blue. Nunes had a .615 save percentage in addition to his game-winning goal, easily the player of the game for Virginia on Saturday.
With a win secured in Cambridge, Virginia (9-1) will return home to host North Carolina to begin ACC play on April 6th at noon at Klockner Stadium.
Story by Aidan Baller