No. 9 UVA outlasts Manhattan on Tuesday Night, 8-5
March 6, 2018
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers (5-1) bounced back on one day’s rest and beat the Manhattan Jaspers (3-3) on Tuesday night, 8-5, at Gaelic Park in the Bronx. Six of Virginia’s eight goals were scored by freshmen.
“It was a good step forward for our defense today,” said Virginia men’s lacrosse head coach Lars Tiffany. “Led by our captain Scott Hooper, he had a very demanding matchup with one of the better attackman in the game in Parker Giarratana. I think Scott led us by solid one-on-one play and the rest of the defense stepped up behind him, including at goalie. I was really happy with Griffin Thompson‘s play. He has started the last few games, but he has been practicing so well. We believe in rewarding men for the way they practice and he earned the start tonight. His 12 saves were big on a day when our offense wasn’t clicking.”
It was a scoreless contest until Manhattan broke through at 5:48 in the first on a goal by CJ Scharf. The Jaspers followed that with another goal at 4:28 to take an early 2-0 lead.
UVA scored three in a row to take its first lead of the game, 3-2. UVA received goals from Regan Quinn, Matt Moore and Michael Kraus. The goal by Kraus with 12:59 in the second quarter capped the run and sent UVA into the intermission with a 3-2 lead.
Manhattan tied the game, 3-3, with the first goal of the third quarter when Brandon Grinnell scored a man-up goal. Mike D’Amario started a 4-1 Virginia run and the Cavaliers never trailed again. Ian Laviano scored back-to-back goals and Jackson Appelt scored his first career goal with five seconds left in the third quarter to cap the spurt. Through three quarters UVA led by three goals, 7-4.
Defense was the name of the game in the fourth as each team scored a goal. Moore’s open-net goal with 26 seconds left capped the game’s scoring.
UVA won the battle of shots (38-29), ground balls (33-26), faceoffs (9-7), while Manhattan had more saves (18-12) and turnovers (13-7).
Six of UVA’s eight goals were scored by freshmen with Moore and Laviano leading the way with two each. Scott Hooper caused three turnovers on defense for the Cavaliers. Kraus led UVA with three points on one goal and game-high two assists.
Virginia will remain in New York and travel to Long Island on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers will play at Stony Brook and faceoff is set for 1 p.m.