No. 3 UVA Drops ACC Opener at No. 10 Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  – The No. 10 Syracuse Orange (1-1, 1-0 ACC) outscored UVA in the second half, 11-3, to hand the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 0-1 ACC) their first defeat of the year on Saturday night, 20-10, inside the Carrier Dome.

After UVA trailed early, 2-0, the Cavaliers went on a 5-1 run to stake themselves to a 5-3 lead in the first quarter. The Orange put a goal in right before the end of the first frame, starting a 7-2 Syracuse run that started the game’s separation.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 2-0 with 10:51 left in the first quarter, Ian Laviano scored the first of his three goals on a helper from Matt Moore to start the UVA scoring. Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Charlie Bertrand all scored goals as part of a 4-0 Cavalier run that gave UVA a 4-2 lead with 7:19 left in the first frame.

Syracuse bounced right back with a 2-1 run to close the period on goals by Lucas Quinn and Brendan Curry. The latter coming with 16 seconds left in the first quarter, cutting UVA’s lead to one goal, 5-4.

Curry’s goal started a 7-2 Orange run, giving Syracuse a 10-7 lead 13 seconds into the third quarter. UVA’s only goals during that span came from Cormier and Laviano. The Laviano goal with 5:28 left in the first half came off a saved shot by Jared Conners. Laviano picked up the ball and quickly took the garbage out for his second goal of the night. Back-to-back goals by Laviano, his third, and Scott Bower in the third quarter brought the score to 13-10, Syracuse, with 6:22 left in the third quarter. Syracuse didn’t let UVA score again, finishing the game on a 7-0 run, including shutting out the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter.

UVA STAT LEADERS

• A Connor Shellenberger
  2 goals, 1 assist
• A Ian Laviano
  3 goals
• A Payton Cormier
  2 goals, 1 assist
• A Charlie Bertrand
  2 goals
  
  NOTES
  • Charlie Bertrand now has a point in all 62 of his career games, which is the longest current streak in the nation.
  • Bertrand also has at least one goal in all 62 of his career games, also the longest current streak in the nation.
  • With two goals, Bertrand has recorded a multiple goal-scoring game for the 56th time in his career (62 games).
  • UVA and Syracuse played in front of zero fans.
  • Scott Bower scored his first career goal in the third quarter.
  • Alex Rode made 18 saves, the second most of his career in a single game.
  • The win by Syracuse is its largest in the series, topping the 1938 game (9).
  • With 11 faceoff wins, Petey LaSalla passed both Justin Schwenk (340) and Andy Kraus (344) in career faceoff wins at UVA. LaSalla is currently No. 8 in program history with 346 wins.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“We knew all week that Syracuse was putting a big emphasis on taking away transition because Army was able to expose them last week. Not only did they take away transition, then we suffered the same flaws that Syracuse did a week ago. We were letting them get behind us. Some of that hyperness and being aware of the next play, Syracuse was all over finding that edge. They were finding that transition and making that look. They played like a team that was trying to avenge something and give Coach Desko tremendous credit. He got that team to bounce back in great fashion. Another category where we really struggled, and give Syracuse credit, was our clearing. Four or five times our defensemen are running on the midfield line and getting checked by their attackmen and that surprised us. We have tremendous confidence in Kyle Kology and Cade Saustad, and others, to win that matchup and run over the midline. Syracuse got us today.” – Lars Tiffany

UP NEXT
UVA returns home to host No. 15 High Point on Wednesday, March 3. Faceoff is set for 3 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. The contest will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.