HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.  The No. 4 seeded Virginia Cavaliers (12-4) used a 9-0 run in the first half to cruise past the No. 5 seeded Georgetown Hoyas (13-3) in the NCAA Quarterfinal Round, 14-3, on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium. UVA advances to Championship Weekend for the second tournament in a row. The three goals allowed ties a UVA NCAA single-game best. The 1972 NCAA title team beat Army 10-3 in the quarterfinals to set the standard.

UVA is now 24-8 all-time in the NCAA Quarterfinal round and the 11-goal win was UVA’s largest quarterfinal win since beating Johns Hopkins by 11 in 2009 (19-8).

Connor Shellenberger led UVA with six goals and one assist in the win. Shellenberger’s six goals tie a UVA NCAA single-game record for most goals. He matches Doug Knight’s 1995 game against Brown and Mikey Herring’s 2019 game against Robert Morris.

HOW IT HAPPENED
With the game tied, 1-1, early in the first quarter, the Cavalier offense went on attack to take a 10-1 lead into the intermission on a 9-0 run.

Shellenberger started things with an unassisted goal at 10:50 in the first. He scored five times during the Cavalier streak, capping the scoring with eight seconds left in the first half on a Jeff Conner helper. Georgetown finally pushed through 1:02 into the third, snapping a scoreless streak that lasted 28:32, easily UVA’s longest defensive shield of the season.

Georgetown didn’t score again for another 23:04, during which the Cavaliers finished the third quarter on a 4-0 run with goals by Charlie Bertrand, Ian Laviano, Shellenberger and Matt Moore, taking a 14-2 lead into the fourth quarter. Moore’s goal came with five seconds left in the third quarter.

The Hoyas found nylon with 5:02 left to finish the game’s scoring. Georgetown’s Jake Carraway had the nation’s longest active goal-scoring streak entering the game at 44 games before it was snapped against the Cavaliers on Saturday.

 

UVA STAT LEADERS
• M Connor Shellenberger
6 goals, 1 assists

• A Ian Laviano
2 goals

• M Jeff Conner

2 assists

D Kyle Kology
3 ground balls, 3 CTs

NOTES
• UVA is playing in its 40th NCAA Tournament, which is No. 3 all-time.
• UVA’s win is its 54th all-time win in the NCAA Tournament, which ranks No. 4 all-time.
• UVA is now 24-8 all-time in the NCAA Quarterfinal Round
• UVA advances to the semifinals for the sixth time in the last 13 tournaments.
• UVA has won six NCAA games in a row, which ties for longest NCAA winning streak in program history (2003-05).
• UVA is 6-1 all-time in the NCAA under Lars Tiffany.
• Connor Shellenberger notched a career-high six goals in the win, tying the program single-game NCAA record with Doug Knight (1995 vs. Brown) and Mikey Herring (2019 vs. Robert Morris)
• The 11-goal win was UVA’s largest quarterfinal win since beating Johns Hopkins by 11 in 2009 (19-8).
• The UVA defense held Georgetown’s Jake Carraway without a goal. He had the nation’s longest active goal-scoring streak entering the game at 44 games.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

“It was a complete effort today. The leadership from within this team starts with Jared Conners and John Fox, our two captains. Our goalie, Alex Rode and how he has stepped up as a leader, and then on the offense end with Ian Laviano. How he personally took a lot of responsibility for how we approached those three weeks off and how we were going to really improve our fitness get healthier, be more skilled and come tighter as a team. Many of us looked at that three week layoff, as a potential disease, but we turned it into a positive. The results are what we’ve seen since then. A fantastic complete effort by this team, starting with Petey LaSalla at the faceoff X, giving us those extra possessions. The ride in the first half when we were being aggressive with that big hit by Dox Aitken setting the tone in the middle of the field. Payton Cormier got a ball back. Xander Dickson picking off a pass and scoring, it was creating those extra possessions that allowed us to attack a defense that’s athletic, and that was key to today.” Lars Tiffany

UP NEXT
UVA will advance to Championship Weekend in Hartford, Conn., against the winner of Saturday’s game between North Carolina (No. 1 seed) and Rutgers. The semifinal matchup will be played at either noon or 2:30 p.m. at Rentschler Field. The semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN2.