Shellenberger Shatters UVA’s Career Points Record in Win Over UAlbany

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With his second point of the day, which came on an unassisted goal early in the third quarter, attackman Connor Shellenberger (1g, 5a) became Virginia’s all-time points leader as the fourth-ranked Cavaliers (7-1) took down UAlbany (2-5) 16-10 at Klöckner Stadium Tuesday afternoon (March 19). Now with 282 career points, Shellenberger surpassed former teammate Matt Moore, who set the previous record in 2022.

The victory was also the 200^th of Lars Tiffany’s heading coach career. Tiffany is currently in his 20^th season as head coach, including eighth at UVA.

The Great Danes led for more than 23 minutes of game time in the first half before a furious third quarter propelled the Hoos to victory.

In addition to Shellenberger, McCabe Millon (5g) and Payton Cormier (5g) stood out for the Cavaliers offensively. Thomas Colucci (10-16 FO) and Matthew DeSouza (8-14 FO) both finished above 50 percent at the faceoff X. Netminder Matthew Nunes (7-1) made 12 saves and allowed only five goals in nearly 50 minutes of action.

UAlbany attackman Silas Richmond finished with a game-high seven goals and defenseman Jake Piseno scored two goals, and logged four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Richmond scored the first three goals of the game and the Great Danes’ defense shut out UVA for nearly the first 12 minutes of the opening quarter. Cormier’s first strike came on an assist from Jack Boyden (1g, 2a) and ended the Cavaliers’ scoring drought. UAlbany led 3-1 at the end of the first after its goalkeeper Landon Whitney recorded six of his 11 total saves in the first 15 minutes of play.

Nunes and the Cavaliers’ defense shut out UAlbany in the second, but UVA only managed two goals to knot things up by the half. Shellenberger recorded his first point of the day after fittingly finding Cormier 20 seconds into the second quarter. Thomas Mencke notched his first score of the year to tie the game with 1:29 remaining in the half. For the first time this year, UVA did not lead at the break at which point the two teams were tied, 3-3.

Within the first 2:30 of the second half, the Cavaliers tallied three consecutive scores to double up UAlbany, 6-3. The Great Danes broke up UVA’s 6-0 scoring run with a goal at the 10:50 mark before the Hoos tacked on six more unanswered goals by the close of the third. Shellenberger broke Moore’s record at the 13:34 mark of quarter No. 3 on a left-handed stepdown rip. Nunes turned away seven Great Dane shots in the third as UVA led 12-4 heading into the final period.

Cormier and Boyden added two more scores to open the fourth. Kyle Morris relieved Nunes in net with 10:19 remaining. Additional UVA reserves began to mix in throughout the fourth. The Cavaliers’ led by as many as 10 – on three separate occasions – but UAlbany recorded the last four goals of the game, all of which occurred in the final 2:30 of play.

WITH THE WIN…

• Lars Tiffany tallied his 200^th career win as head coach.
• In 20 seasons as a head coach, including eight at UVA, Tiffany is 200-100.
• Virginia is off to a 7-1 start for the third consecutive year under Tiffany.
• The Cavaliers improved to 2-0 in the all-time series, which began in the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• With his second point of the afternoon, Connor Shellenberger became the program’s record holder in career points.
• Shellenberger surpassed Matt Moore’s (2018-22) previous record of 277 career points.
• With 116 goals and 166 assists, Shellenberger now stands at 282 career points.
• No other active Division-I player has more assists than Shellenberger and he is second among all active DI players in career points.
• With five goals in Tuesday’s win, McCabe Millon has six hat tricks in just eight career games.
• LSM Ben Wayer (1g) has recorded at least one point in UVA’s last three games, a span in which Wayer has three goals and one assist.
• UAlbany’s Silas Richmond scored a game-high seven goals.
• Richmond and Harvard’s Sam King (2023) are the only two opposing players to score seven goals against UVA under Tiffany.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers return to Klöckner Stadium on Saturday (March 23) to host Drexel (3-4). Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.