Moore and Shellenberger Help No. 5 UVA Cruise Past No. 13 Richmond, 18-10

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  – The No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers (8-2) used 10 goal scorers to pace an 18-10 win over the No. 13 Richmond Spiders (4-4) at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday.

The Cavaliers outscored the Spiders 7-2 in the first quarter to take an early lead. Five different Cavaliers dented the scoreboard to pace the UVA attack. Trailing 1-0, Matt Moore tied the game, 1-1, with 9:06 left in the opening frame. The unassisted shot from his knees made Moore the 19th player in UVA program history with 100 career goals. UVA won the ensuing faceoff and 34 seconds later Connor Shellenberger gave UVA the lead for good.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Richmond bounced back to make it a closer game in the second quarter. The Spiders started the period on a 3-1 run. Dalton Young capped the run with a goal via a Sean Menges helper with 1:40 left in the first half. UVA responded with 14 seconds left in the second quarter when Shellenberger found Payton Cormier to send the Cavaliers into the intermission with a 9-5 lead.

Young scored at 11:58 in the third quarter to get the second half scoring started. It cut Richmond’s deficit to three goals, 9-6. It was the closest the Spiders got. UVA responded with an 8-1 run to take a commanding 17-7 lead. Cormier’s man-up goal on a Shellenberger helper with 8:35 in the game put a stamp on the streak. At one point during the run UVA held Richmond scoreless for 14:13.

Virginia emptied its bench and Richmond closed the game on a 3-1 spurt in a losing effort.

UVA STAT LEADERS
• M Connor Shellenberger
4 goals, 3 assists

• A Matt Moore
3 goals, 3 assists

• A Payton Cormier
3 goals

• M Petey LaSalla
1 assist, 12 GBs, 19-of-27 FO

• LSM Jared Conners
5 GBs, 4 CTs

NOTES
• UVA is now 7-0 all-time against Richmond and extends its winning streak against in-state foes to 73 games.
• Matt Moore became the 19th player in UVA program history, second this season (Ian Laviano), to reach 100 career goals.
• Richmond entered the game No. 7 in the nation (90.3) in clearing. UVA held the Spiders to 18-of-27 (.704) on the day.
• Payton Cormier scored at least three goals for the third week in a row. He has at least a hat-trick in 10 of his 16 career games.
• With 19 faceoff wins, Petey LaSalla now has 445 career wins from the faceoff X, which has him taking sole possession of No. 3 all-time in UVA career faceoff wins. He entered the day tied with David Jenkins (426).
• With one assist, Dox Aitken now has 36 for his career, breaking a three-way tie with Chris Wakely and Ryan Conrad for sole possession of No. 6 in program history for career midfielder assists.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“What I really like is how our attackmen, Connor Shellenberger and Matt Moore, are making really good reads. Defenses are sliding early sometimes and then other times not sliding. Whether the slides are coming from the crease or cross-crease, I thought both Matt and Connor did a great job analyzing and dissecting the opposing team’s schemes. I also want to give credit to our offensive coordinator Sean Kirwan for preparing our men for the different slide packages that Richmond throws at you. It really comes down to Matt and Connor making those reads and [then deciding] sometimes you have to go to the goal without the extra pass, but when the slides were drawn they found open people and shared the ball. It’s a really good balance of when to take it yourself versus when to distribute. Both facilitated our offense really well today.”-Lars Tiffany

UP NEXT
UVA returns to action on Sat., April 10 when the Cavaliers return to ACC play at No. 2 North Carolina. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.