No. 8 Virginia Falls in Opener to No. 14 Loyola, 11-4
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Box Score Feb. 13, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 14 Loyola Greyhounds (1-0) used a 5-0 run to help jump-start an 11-4 triumph over the No. 8 home-standing Virginia Cavaliers (0-1) on Saturday afternoon, inside Klöckner Stadium. It was the season-opening game for both teams.
“We weren’t quite good enough in the goal and they were a little bit better,” said Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia. “We weren’t quite good enough on defense – they were a little bit better. That’s an experienced offensive lacrosse team for Loyola. They were able to cash in on their opportunities, and we had a number of good ones that would have made a difference. We did some things for us to feel okay about, but in general, it was not quite up to the performance that we needed today to be the team that was on top of their game.”
Loyola used a 5-0 run and held UVA scoreless in the first quarter to take commanding control of the game. Brian Sherlock capped the run for the Greyhounds at the 5:39 mark in the second quarter. UVA’s Greg Coholan put a stop to the Loyola streak with an unassisted goal at 4:22. Freshman Ryan Conrad scored his first collegiate goal for the Cavaliers at 1:20 on an assist from Mike D’Amario to finish the first half scoring for both teams.
The Greyhounds used a 3-1 run to start the third quarter, capped by a Zach Herreweyers goal on a Sherlock helper at 6:39, giving Loyola an 8-3 lead. Ryan Lukacovic scored for UVA on a James Pannell helper with 1:13 left in the third quarter to get something started for the Cavaliers. However, after winning the ensuing faceoff UVA turned the ball over and Loyola deposited another Herreweyers goal in transition with two seconds left in the period.
Virginia was shutout again in the fourth as Loyola added two more to close the scoring. The loss for Virginia snapped a nine-game winning streak in season openers. UVA last lost a season opener against Drexel in 2007 when the Cavaliers were ranked No. 1. That loss was at UVA’s UHall Turf Field.
Virginia won the battle of shots (40-33), ground balls (39-32) and faceoffs (10-7), while Loyola had more saves (14-10) and turnovers (15-13).
UVA’s Zed Williams led all players with 10 ground balls.
Virginia returns to action next Saturday as it travels to Philadelphia to take on the Drexel Dragons. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at Vidas Field.
Loyola 4-1-4-2-11
Virginia 0-2-2-0-4
Att-1275
Scoring (G-A) – L: Tyler Albrecht 3-0, Pat Spencer 2-2, Brian Sherlock 2-2, Zach Herreweyers 2-0, Zach Sirico 1-1, Ryan Fournier 1-0, Johnny Giuffreda 0-1, Grant Limone 0-1V: Greg Coholan 1-0, Ryan Lukacovic 1-0, Ryan Conrad 1-0, AJ Fish 1-0, Mike D’Amario 0-1, James Pannell 0-1
Goalie Summary — L: Grant Limone 60:00 mins. 14 saves 4 goals against. V: Matt Barrett 60:00 mins. 10 saves 11 goals allowed
Shots: L-33, V-40
Ground Balls: L-32, V-39
Clearing: L-22×26, V-14×17
Faceoffs: L-7-17, V-10-17
Penalties: L-1-1:00, V-2-2:00
EMO: L-0x2, V-0x1