The No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers (5-2, 2-0 ACC) overcame a five-goal deficit in the second half, disposing the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-2, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday afternoon, 13-11, at Klöckner Stadium.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  – The No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers (5-2, 2-0 ACC) overcame a five-goal deficit in the second half, disposing the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-2, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday afternoon, 13-11, at Klöckner Stadium. UVA used an 8-1 run over the game’s final 23:59 to snatch the key league victory. UVA is 2-0 to start ACC play for the first time since the 2012 season.
 
Virginia led early, 4-2, after Michael Kraus found Mikey Herring across the crease with 11:24 left to play in the second quarter. Notre Dame surged to a 10-5 lead on the heels of its own 8-1 run which was capped by Connor Morin with 8:59 left to play in the third quarter.  At one point during the run Notre Dame scored five-straight goals, capped by back-to-back goals by Wheaton Jackoboice to close the first half.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ian Laviano started the UVA comeback with an extra-man goal on a Matt Moore helper at 7:27 left in the third quarter. The goal jump-started UVA’s 8-1 streak to end the game. Laviano scored three of his game-high five goals during run, capping his day with the go-ahead score with 6:26 left to play on another assist from Moore. 
 
After UVA took the lead for good, Moore scored unassisted to give UVA a two-goal cushion, 12-10. The Irish broke through with 2:54 left on a Quinn McCahon goal via a Brian Willetts pass. Notre Dame won the ensuing faceoff, but a clutch caused turnover from John Fox of Notre Dame’s Griffin Westlin created another UVA offensive opportunity. With 54 seconds left, Dox Aitken stuck a high-to-high shot to give the Cavaliers the final two-goal win. The Irish won the following faceoff, but Moore and Fox each caused turnovers that derailed all comeback plans for Notre Dame. 
 

 
UVA STAT LEADERS
• A Ian Laviano
5 goals 
 
• A Matt Moore
1 goals, 3 assists
 
• A Michael Kraus
1 goals, 2 assists
 
• M Dox Aitken
3 goals
 
• M Ryan Conrad
1 goal, 1 assists, 7 GBs, 2 CTs
 
NOTES
• UVA’s win snaps a seven-game losing streak to Notre Dame. It was UVA’s first win over the Irish since the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The win is also UVA’s first over Notre Dame since the Irish joined the ACC.
• UVA is 2-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2012 when the Cavaliers opened with wins at Maryland and at North Carolina.
• Michael Kraus extends his streak of games with at least one point to 39, which ranked No. 4 in the nation entering the weekend among active streaks.
• With three goals, Dox Aitken moved into a tie with Chris Rotelli (2000-03) for No. 5 all-time at UVA among midfielder career goals with 85.
• Aitken now has 110 career points, which gives him sole possession of sixth-place all-time by a UVA midfielder, passing Jay Jalbert (1997-00) and Andy Kraus (1987-89, ’91).
 
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“What a game of runs. First it was Notre Dame’s turn to pull far-far away from us over the second and third quarter, and they just made plays. They were picking up the tough ground balls and getting extra possessions, and then converting on man-up opportunities. I have to give them a lot of credit for their man-up and what they did to us in the first half. We have been down four [goals] and come from behind, but we hadn’t been down five [goals] before. Fortunately, we were able to get those late ground balls. Ryan Conrad had seven ground balls and it was huge, he gives us those extra possessions. I felt as the game went on, those in-between, those 50-50’s, they went our way. Even late in the game when we threw a bad clearing pass to someone covered, the ball is covered and we pick it up and get the ball cleared again. It is those extra possessions, that extra effort of making a play and getting the offense set – that is what our men our doing, and that starts with a trust and a belief in each other. We have worked really hard on that culturally and the men are buying in.”– Lars Tiffany 
 
UP NEXT
Virginia returns to action on Sat., March 23 at No. 17 Johns Hopkins in the annual battle for the Doyle Smith Cup. Faceoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.