What We Learned From Virginia Lacrosse's High-Scoring Win Over Harvard

The No. 1 Virginia men's lacrosse team moved to 2-0 on the season thanks to an offensive explosion that fueled a 25-21 victory over Harvard on Saturday at Klockner Stadium. UVA started the game with a bang, scoring nine straight goals and finished the first half with a 20-8 lead. A 20-goal first half had not happened for the Cavaliers since 2019 against VMI when the Hoos scored 22. The game was essentially over at halftime and the final score of 25-21 was a little misleading because the Cavaliers pulled their starting defense with about eleven minutes to go, while the Crimson kept their starters in and managed to outscore UVA 9-2 in the fourth quarter to make the final score more respectable. Despite the sour ending, it was still a strong showing for the Hoos offensively, but questions remain on the defensive end of the field.

With another game and another win on tape, here are some key takeaways from Virginia's win over Harvard:

Shellenberger making an early case for the Tewaaraton

Connor Shellenberger was everywhere on Saturday, finishing with three goals and seven assists for a career-high 10 points. The Charlottesville native proved why head coach Lars Tiffany calls him the "Tom Brady of the team.” Shellenberger’s outstanding performance earned him The Lacrosse Network Player of the Week award and reminded everyone why he was a Tewaaraton finalist in 2022 and named to the Tewaaraton Watch List entering this season. Shellenberger has 16 points on six goals and ten assists through the first two games of the season. If he can maintain this pace, the sky is the limit for both Connor Shellenberger and the Virginia men's lacrosse team this season.

The Cavalier offense flexes its depth

Virginia’s 25 goals on Saturday came from thirteen different goal scorers, putting on full display the Cavaliers' deep offensive roster. While starters such as Xander Dickson, Payton Cormier, and Shellenberger led the scoring charge, freshman Truitt Sunderland picked up his first two goals, and redshirt freshman Thomas Mencke scored for the first time as well. Additionally, midfielders Peter Garno and Ricky Miezan each added a goal. In a tough and physical sport such as lacrosse, there is always a risk of injuries throughout the course of a long season. But with so many talented goal scorers on the roster, UVA has some built-in insurance that should keep this powerful offense flowing even if the injury bug strikes.

UVA defense needs work, especially the man-down unit

Through three quarters, the Virginia defense surrendered 12 goals to the Harvard offense after only giving up 13 goals against Michigan the entire game. Additionally, after the man-down defense surrendered zero goals against Michigan on four penalties, the Cavaliers allowed Harvard to score five times on nine man-up attempts. Committing nine penalties in a game is unacceptable especially come ACC play when the Cavaliers will face even more potent offenses such as Duke and Notre Dame. From a six-on-six perspective, Virginia also struggled despite a strong start from goalie Matthew Nunes, who shut down Harvard through most of the first quarter. For an experienced group that returned its entire starting close defense, the Cavaliers need to tighten up or defensively so as not to rely on the offense to score 20 goals a game.

Lack of defensive depth becomes woefully apparent

When the starting defense was called to the bench with eleven minutes left, Virginia’s defensive backups had the opportunity to see the field against Harvard’s premier offense. Unfortunately, the backups struggled and gave up nine goals during that stretch. Surrendering a few goals during that stretch would have been acceptable against the starting Harvard attack, but nine was disappointing. Backup goalie David Roselle also struggled to see the ball in between the pipes, giving up nine goals vs. three saves in just under 12 minutes of action.

Matthew Nunes found his groove

The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year did not allow a Harvard goal until halfway through the first quarter. Matthew Nunes finished with only ten saves, but he made a number of remarkable stops in the first quarter that allowed the UVA offense the opportunity to pull away and quickly make the game a non-contest. The sophomore will continue to play an integral role for this team as he combats the high expectations after a strong freshman season.

Faceoff room has a potential violations problem

On Saturday, Harvard and Virginia combined for an NCAA record 49 faceoffs due to the high-scoring affair. Petey LaSalla and Mac Eldridge combined to commit six faceoff violations, which led to three man-down penalties for the Cavaliers. LaSalla and Eldridge need to tighten up the violations as they may prove costly down the stretch. From an overall faceoff perspective, Virginia's duo won over 50% of the faceoffs (27/49) which was positive, but the penalties need to be cleaned up.

No. 1 Virginia (2-0) returns to action on Saturday at 7pm against Ohio State at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples, Florida.

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