Cavaliers’ Comeback Bid Lands Short in 13-12 Loss at Hopkins

BALTIMORE – No. 18 Virginia scored the final three goals of the game, but No. 7 Johns Hopkins’ six-goal run in the second half proved to be too much to overcome as the Blue Jays handed UVA its second consecutive loss, 13-12, in windy conditions at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon (March 1). With the win, the Blue Jays improved to 5-1 overall this season and retained possession of the E. Doyle Smith Cup, while the Cavaliers dipped to 2-3. 

Virginia was led by Baltimore natives Truitt Sunderland (4g, 2a) and McCabe Millon (3g, 1a). Sunderland notched his sixth career hat trick and second game with at least six points this season. UVA also received a boost from its midfield which combined for nine points, four of which were goals. 

The Cavaliers out-performed Hopkins on the ground, 27-18, and their man-down unit held JHU scoreless on all three of its extra-man opportunities. 

Kyle Morris (2-3) made eight saves in 57:40 of action, while Hopkins netminder Luke Staudt (5-1) tallied 10 saves, four of which came in the fourth quarter. 

FROM HEAD COACH LARS TIFFANY
“What a difference from last weekend to this weekend – same result. But what a difference. This team battled. We came out, played with real confidence in the first half. The third quarter got away from us and we did not play good team defense. But that fourth quarter, we showed the heart of what Virginia Lacrosse is all about, so there are a lot of positives here.” 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia scored three of the game’s first four goals with strikes from Will Inderlied (1g), Jack Walshe (1g, 1a) and Millon. Including Inderlied and Walshe, UVA midfielders scored or assisted on the Cavaliers’ first four goals. Millon’s second goal of the game came while the Cavaliers were man-up after Hopkins was flagged for a crosscheck. Virginia led 5-3 at the end of the first, which marked the third time this season it tallied five goals in the opening period.  

A little more than two minutes into the second, Morris made a huge save on a high-flying stepdown shot when the Blue Jays were man-up. Hopkins knotted the score, 5-5, after claiming the first two goals of quarter No. 2. The second goal came when UVA midfielder Will Erdmann lost his footing which afforded JHU a wide open look on Morris. Moments later, Morris erased what would have been the Blue Jays’ first lead of the game when Charlie Iler (1g, 2a) eluded his defender at X and tiptoed around the crease, but was denied high by Morris. 

Virginia let its lead slip in the third after being outscored 5-1 in the period. After Ryan Colsey (1g) notched his lone goal of the afternoon, the Blue Jays eventually tied the contest 9-9, when Dylan Bauer (2g, 2a) barreled his way to the cage for the score. After a collision in front of the goal, Tiffany challenged that Bauer was in the crease, but the original call was upheld. The Blue Jays took their first lead of the game when Hunter Chauvette (5g) fired an unassisted goal – his fourth goal of the afternoon – that got past Morris with 3:51 to play in the third. The Blue Jays struck two more times by the end of the period, including Chauvette’s fifth of the day to lead it, 12-9, heading into the fourth. 

Hopkins’ game-winning goal capped a 6-0 run to kick off scoring in the fourth. A feed from Millon to Griffin Schutz (1g, 1a) put a stop to JHU’s six-goal spree and marked UVA’s first score in 19:05 of game time. Millon’s third goal of the afternoon, with 6:11 remaining, put the Hoos in position to mount a comeback as they trailed by only two, 13-11. Hopkins was flagged for an illegal body check with 46 seconds left after Millon was hit high on a shot. Sunderland buried his fourth goal of the afternoon while UVA was man-up with 10 seconds left, but the Hoos ran out of time after JHU came up with the ball on the ensuing faceoff. Two of Staudt’s four saves in the fourth quarter came on clean looks by Sunderland. 

NOTES 

• Ten of the last 20 games between UVA and Hopkins have been decided by one goal, including Saturday’s 13-12 decision.  
• With the win, Hopkins improved to 63-35-1 in the all-time series, which began in 1904. 
• The Blue Jays earned their second consecutive win of the E. Doyle Smith Cup series. UVA leads the Smith Cup series, 11-7. 
• The Smith Cup was established in 2006 to honor Doyle Smith, who worked for both programs and made substantial contributions to the game with lacrosse, including authoring the original statisticians’ manuscript. 
• Baltimore natives Noah Chizmar, Malachi Jones, McCabe Millon, Kyle Morris and Truitt Sunderland all saw action in their hometown. 
• Virginia’s man-down unit held Hopkins scoreless on three of its EMO chances. UVA is now. The Cavaliers have now killed off 18 of their opponents’ 19 EMOs this season. 
• Sunderland logged his sixth career hat trick and second game with at least six points this season. 
• Millon recorded his ninth career hat trick. 
• Virginia’s midfield combined for nine points, including four goals. 
• UVA was held scoreless for 19:05 of game time, its third scoring drought of at least 15 minutes this season. 

UP NEXT
Virginia concludes its three-game road stint next Saturday (March 8), when it takes on Towson (1-4) in a neutral-site contest at The Kinkaid School in Houston. Opening faceoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (ET) and will stream with a paid subscription to Corrigan Sports Network (CSN). 

After dropping their first four games of the season, the Tigers earned their first win of the year, 17-10, at UMBC Friday (Feb. 28).