Virginia Lacrosse Falls at No. 6 Syracuse in 18-17 Heartbreaker
Article by Aidan Baller
The second loss in as many weeks and third defeat of the season for the Virginia men's lacrosse team came in heartbreaking fashion.
On Saturday, No. 4 Virginia (10-3, 1-2 ACC) suffered its second loss in a row, falling to No. 6 Syracuse (11-4, 3-1 ACC) 18-17 as the Orange scored the game winner with 48 seconds remaining. The Cavaliers led 17-14 with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but a four-goal run powered the Orange past the Cavaliers for the first time since 2021. Virginia has allowed 18 goals in back-to-back games.
To start, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 4-1 lead, which included two goals from Payton Cormier before Syracuse responded with a three-goal run to tie the game at four to close the opening quarter, a period during which goalkeeper Matthew Nunes did not register a save.
The run bled into the second quarter, with Syracuse scoring another three goals to take a 7-4 lead as the Orange perfectly placed their shots past Nunes. On the other hand, Syracuse goalie Will Mark started strong with five saves. Mark would finish with 15 saves, including a clutch save with three seconds remaining in the game.
The Orange dominated the faceoff x to start, with Mason Kohn starting 6/8 from the dot.
Nunes then found a rhythm, picking up three saves to close the half, as the Cavaliers finished the half with a 5-2 run closed out by two goals from Shellenberger to tie the game at nine.
Shellenberger led the way in the first half with three goals and two assists, scoring or assisting on five of UVA's nine goals.
To start the second half, McCabe Millon continued the scoring for the Hoos before Syracuse responded with four straight goals to give the Orange a 13-10 lead.
After that, the Cavaliers responded with a three-goal run that bled into the fourth quarter, with Cormier netting his fourth of the day in addition to an assist to tie the game at 13.
Matthew Nunes was pivotal in UVA's rally in the back end of the third, registering eight saves in the third quarter to help the Cavaliers climb back into the game.
The back-and-forth affair continued with Christian Mulé scoring his third of the day before a three-goal run led by a goal and assist by Shellenberger gave Virginia a 16-14 advantage.
On the goal by Shellenberger, Billy Dwan received a two-minute non-releasable penalty for a hit to the head on Anthony Ghobriel, who assisted the goal. Ghobriel finished 15/26 from the x, but Syracuse edged Virginia 21-18 at the dot overall.
Taking advantage, Ryan Colsey buried a goal to stretch the Virginia lead to three with nine minutes left, seemingly putting the Cavaliers in the driver's seat.
Syracuse fired back with two goals, cutting the lead to one with five minutes left. In between the goals, Nunes continued to deliver, making another two saves, stretching his total to eleven in the second half.
Then, with less than two minutes remaining, Syracuse defender Billy Dwan came up with a ground ball in a scrum in front of the crease and scored with a no-look goal to knot the game at 17.
On the ensuing faceoff, Ghobriel won the ball and took a shot, but the Cavaliers had no backup, giving the ball back to Syracuse. On the next possession, Sam English scored with 48 seconds to go, giving Syracuse an 18-17 lead.
Ghobriel won the ensuing faceoff with Ben Wayer collecting the ground ball and Lars Tiffany called a timeout to let the Cavaliers set a play to try to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation. A couple of minutes after he scored the game-tying goal, Dwan came up with another huge play, stripping McCabe Millon of the ball and taking it the other way.
Dwan nearly cost his team the win as he attempted an ill-advised cross-field pass that Nunes hustled to intercept and sent it back the other way, giving Virginia one final chance to tie. Griffin Schutz carried the ball into the Syracuse zone and took a tough contested shot with not very much velocity on it and Mark easily made the save with three seconds remaining to secure the victory for Syracuse.
In the loss, Connor Shellenberger had four goals and five assists, followed by McCabe Millon, who had three goals and two assists. Payton Cormier had four goals and an assist.
After struggling early on, Matthew Nunes finished with 15 saves, with 12 of those coming in the second half. Defensively, Ben Wayer led the way with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers.
The Cavaliers will look to avoid a third-straight loss and get back in the win column in the regular season finale next Saturday against No. 1 Notre Dame at 2 pm at Klockner Stadium.
Article by Aidan Baller