No. 3 Virginia Overpowers No. 11 Michigan for 19-11 Win in Season Opener
In the week leading up to the season opener, Michigan head coach Kevin Conry made headlines for a quote he gave in an interview with Inside Lacrosse that seemed to question the toughness of the ACC and its status as the best conference in college lacrosse.
"We play in the best conference in the country. It's not the pretty-boy conference," Conry told Inside Lacrosse. "It's full of 6-foot-4 gorillas ready to rip your face off."
Needless to say, UVA heard that message and took it rather personally.
The Cavaliers physically outmatched their Big Ten opponent from start to finish, and behind a stifling defensive performance and five goals each from Payton Cormier and star freshman McCabe Millon, No. 3 Virginia overpowered No. 11 Michigan for a dominant 19-11 victory in the season opener on Saturday at Klockner Stadium.
For as high scoring as the game would eventually become, the first several minutes of the game were a defensive stalemate, with UVA goalie Matthew Nunes making two early saves and Virginia's offense turning the ball over on two of its first three possessions. The first goal of the game, which came more than six minutes in, was produced by a defensive play as John Schroter recorded his second caused turnover with a smooth over-the-head check that led to a goal for Joey Terenzi in transition. It was the first collegiate goal for Terenzi, who redshirted his first season at UVA.
Then it was Connor Shellenberger getting in on the action, using a pick behind the cage to free himself curling up the right side before painting the corner with a perfect shot to double Virginia's lead.
Given the chatter in the week leading up to the game, it seemed inevitable that things were going to get chippy on the field and it only took 10 minutes for that to come to fruition as a loose ball in front of the Michigan cage created a scuffle with a lot of shoving and Shellenberger ended up getting pushed to the ground in the crease. Virginia scored shortly after that with star freshman McCabe Millon scoring his first-career goal and the Cavaliers did plenty of talking to the Wolverines after that score.
Michigan finally got on the board with less than three minutes to go in the first, scoring almost instantly on a man-up opportunity resulting from a Will Cory cross-check. UVA responded with two more goals before the end of the period, as Millon used another pick to score his second goal and then Payton Cormier backed down his long-stick defender and ripped a shot that found the back of the net with just one second left, giving Virginia a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Michigan continued to struggle to defend Virginia's pick plays in the second quarter, leading to Millon completing the first-half hat trick in his first game on a righty rip from the right wing.
"We had a game plan going in with a lot of picks," said McCabe Millon after the game. "So we really executed our pick play pretty well today and we were able to get my hands free a couple of times."
An ill-advised illegal body check from behind by Mitchell Whalen gave the Wolverines another man-up opportunity and they cashed in within seconds again for their second goal. For the most part, though, Michigan simply could not crack Virginia's defense or Matthew Nunes in even 6 on 6 situations.
Nunes intercepted a Michigan crease pass, leading to another UVA goal on the other end as Tufts transfer and 2023 Division III Player of the Year Jack Boyden set up Cormier for his second goal. Virginia then used the substitution game to produce another goal, with LSM Ben Wayer doubling back into the attacking third, getting the pass from Terenzi, and making Michigan pay for leaving him wide open for a step-down pole goal. Ryan Colsey got underneath the Wolverine defense on a backdoor cut and scored to make it 9-2 in favor of Virginia.
The Cavaliers continued to be more physical than the Wolverines, relentlessly pursuing the ball and causing nine turnovers in the first half. With the defense in front of him keeping Michigan's looks at the cage to a minimum, Matthew Nunes did the rest, coming up with five more saves in the second quarter, giving him eight by halftime.
Michigan's first even-man goal didn't come until 2:10 left in the first half, as Isaac Aronson scored from the left wing, but that was the only 6 on 6 goal of the first half for the Wolverines. Nunes had a hand in Virginia's 10th goal of the half, as he delivered a perfect long pass into a tight window to Millon, who then took it to the rack, soaring across the crease for a beautiful diving goal. Millon's fourth goal of the game gave Virginia a 10-3 lead that held through to halftime.
"What a fantastic performance by a first year," Lars Tiffany said of McCabe Millon. "Aren't they supposed to feel a little pressure? Supposed to be a little scared like, let's maybe let the best player in the country be the quarterback today and let Connor Shellenberger take over. But you know, McCabe recognized that he had a matchup he could win."
Michigan scored the first goal of the second half, but Virginia responded immediately, as Terenzi found Cormier on the right wing for a goal just 21 seconds later. Michael Boehm scored on a crease dive for the Wolverines, but UVA again answered, this time with back-to-back goals as Boyden scored his first goal in a Cavalier uniform on a backhanded shot and then Anthony Ghobriel won the ensuing faceoff and dished to Shellenberger for a goal.
Virginia had a significant and surprising advantage at the faceoff x, as in the first game without Petey LaSalla, the Cavaliers went against preseason All-American Justin Wietfeldt and managed to win that battle. Navy transfer Anthony Ghobriel won 15 of his 23 draws and Colgate transfer Thomas Colucci won six of his eight faceoffs, giving Virginia a 21-11 advantage at faceoff.
"The key here was what happened at the faceoff x," Tiffany said. "Justin Wietfeldt, Michigan's faceoff man is exceptional. And for Anthony Ghobriel to come in and do what he did, to win the ball and our wing play, whether it was Ben Wayer, Joey Terenzi, and the rest of them, that was tremendous, having possession and giving our team more shots."
Michigan scored the next two goals, but the Cavaliers continued to answer every Wolverine punch with an ever bigger blow, rattling off four-straight goals from Will Cory, Griffin Schutz, and two more from Cormier to give Virginia its largest lead of the game at 17-7, essentially putting the game away in the third quarter.
Michigan scored a few goals in the fourth, but the lead was never in doubt and UVA cruised to the 19-11 win.
Payton Cormier had five goals and an assist and McCabe Millon joined him with five goals in an electric collegiate debut. Connor Shellenberger and Jack Boyden had two goals apiece and Boyden also had three assists, while five other Cavaliers found the back of the net.
On the defensive end, John Schroter had three caused turnovers and UVA had 13 caused turnovers as a team. Matthew Nunes opened his junior campaign, his third season as Virginia's starting goalie, with a solid performance, posting 13 saves versus 10 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage. Nunes also caused a pair of turnovers, twice intercepting Michigan passes that ventured too close to the crease. Virginia outshot Michigan 54-34 and was a nearly perfect 25/26 on clear attempts.
Up next, Virginia plays its first road game of the season against in-state foe Richmond next Saturday at 1pm on ESPN+.
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