No. 4 UVA Picks Up Key Road ACC Win at No. 3 North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.  – The No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers (9-2, 2-2 ACC) notched a key ACC road victory over the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels (8-2, 1-2 ACC) on Saturday afternoon, 18-16, at Dorrance Field. Matt Moore led all players with eight points on two goals and six assists.

The first quarter was an offensive show with 12 combined goals on 30 combined shots, three ties and three lead changes. With the score tied, 4-4, UVA finished the frame on a 3-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. UNC held UVA scoreless for the next 19:36, but only managed a 3-0 spurt to take an 8-7 lead by the 11:00 mark of the third frame.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 10-9 with 4:23 left to play in the third, UVA went on a 5-0 run and never looked back. Dox Aitken started the run by tying the game on an Ian Laviano helper. Moore assisted the next three goals for UVA and Petey LaSalla scored off the opening draw of the fourth quarter to cap the pivotal streak.

LaSalla was clutch in the fourth quarter, winning the first nine draws of the period and 11-of-12 overall to pace UVA’s attack. He scored and assisted Laviano at 7:27 in the fourth to give UVA a 16-12 lead. Laviano found Moore on an empty-net goal with 1:00 remaining to secure the victory and a four-goal lead, 18-14. UNC was able to muster two more goals in the losing effort.

UVA STAT LEADERS
• A Matt Moore
2 goals, 6 assists

• A Ian Laviano
4 goals, 2 assists

• M Jeff Conner
4 goals

• M Petey LaSalla
1 goal, 1 assist, 26-of-38 FO

• M Connor Shellenberger
1 goal, 2 assists

NOTES
• The win was Lars Tiffany’s 50th as the head coach of Virginia.
• Petey LaSalla won 26 faceoffs, which ranks No. 2 on UVA’s single-game all-time ledger.
• LaSalla is the only Cavalier in program history to win 20+ faceoffs in a game three times in the same season and only the second to do it three times in a career (Justin Schwenk).
•  With eight points, Matt Moore becomes just the 13th Cavalier with 200 career points.
• With 15 saves, Alex Rode became just the fifth Cavalier to reach 500 career saves. Against UNC he passed Peter Sheehan (491), Bo Moore (494), Chris Sanderson (495) and Deeley Nice (498) into No. 4 all-time slot at UVA in career saves. Rode finished the game with 500 on the nose for his career.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“Today’s offensive explosion is due to the unselfishness of our offense, which starts with No. 5, Matt Moore, playing more and more unselfish and being a better facilitator for offense. The real key though is having the ball as much as we did and that starts with Petey LaSalla [at the faceoff X]. He continues time and time again to prove that not only is he an elite possession faceoff man, but also one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the nation. We saw it again today, with a goal and an assist in the fourth quarter that allowed us to pull away.”-Lars Tiffany

UP NEXT
UVA returns to action on Thurs., April 15 when the Cavaliers return home to host No. 1 Duke. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on ACC Network.