RICHMOND, Va. — No. 8 Richmond (2-0) scored 11 of the final 16 goals on the way to its 18-12 victory over No. 13 Virginia (1-1) at Robins Stadium on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14). Less than a week after UVA was forced to play its season opener indoors due to frigid temperatures, a lively crowd of 3,896 was in attendance under seasonally warm, sunny skies.
Goaltender Connor Knight (2-0) dazzled in net for the Spiders, finishing with a career-high 18 saves to earn his second win of the year.
For the second consecutive game, McCabe Millon stood out among the Hoos. He finished with a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists. McCabe now has eight goals and eight assists in two games so far this season.
Virginia’s Jake Marek (0-2), who made his second straight start Saturday, and Kyle Morris split goaltending duties, but the duo combined for only 11 saves after facing 40 Spider shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams were knotted 4-4 the end of the first quarter after a UR goal with four seconds left in the period erased UVA’s lead for good. Two of McCabe’s three assists came in the first quarter, as did Ryan Duenkel’s first career goal, which was assisted by Ryan Colsey. Colsey finished with two goals and two assists to extend his goal-scoring streak to 16 games dating back to last year's season opener.
The Spiders’ goal just before the first horn ignited a 4-0 run that gave UR a 7-4 lead midway through the second. McCabe then tallied three straight goals of his own—including consecutive unassisted efforts—in the span of 65 seconds to tie the score [7-7] one last time. McCabe's third goal of the quarter came in highlight-reel fashion when he dodged from the wing, spun to evade his defender, and buried a low-angle shot while 1-on-1 with Knight. Richmond scored two more goals before the close of the first half, however, to lead it 9-7 at the break. UR attackman Aidan O’Neil, who tallied a game-high five goals, scored four in the first 30 minutes of play.
After the Spiders scored their first goal of the second half, Morris checked into the game, but to no avail. Including its final two goals of the first half, UR manufactured a seven-goal unanswered run into the third period.
The Hoos scored four of the next five goals, including a pair from Brendan Millon, to trim their deficit to three [15-12] with just under 10 minutes to play. But that was as close as UVA would get as the Spiders claimed the final three strikes of the contest to win their second straight in the series.
FROM HEAD COACH LARS TIFFANY...
“The season is a race — a race to improve. It's obvious after today that we have a whole lot of racing to do, because there’s a great deal of improving that has to occur. A well-coached and talented Richmond team shot the ball really well today and executed a well-thought-out game plan. We will learn from this, and we will grow from this. I believe in this team.
“Some days in sports, you run into a hot-shooting team and today may have been one of those days. But we also know we have to be much better with our team defense and with our play in the goal from our goalkeepers.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Junior attackman McCabe Millon (4g, 3a) led all players with seven points. In only two games this season, Millon has eight goals and eight assists.
- Senior attackman Ryan Colsey extended his scoring streak to 16 games dating back to last year’s season opener, a span in which he’s totaled 35 goals.
- Sophomore midfielder Sean Browne made his UVA debut. He missed the 2025 season and UVA’s 2026 season opener due to injury.
- Senior midfielder Joey Terenzi made his season debut, his first appearance since the Ohio State game on Feb. 22, 2025.
- Sophomore defenseman Luke Hublitz made his first career start.
- Sophomore midfielder/attackman Ryan Duenkel scored his first career goal in the first quarter. He finished with two goals.
- True freshman faceoff specialist Griff Meyer won 17 of his 28 attempts at the center X. The last time a UVA faceoff specialist won 17 draws was in UVA’s 17-14 win over Georgetown in the 2023 NCAA quarterfinals in Albany, N.Y., when Petey LaSalla also finished with 17 wins.
- The last time a UVA true freshman won at least 17 faceoffs was Petey LaSalla, who did so on four occassions in 2019.
- Virginia was 19 for 20 on its clear attempts.
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers travel to Stony Brook (0-2) for their second straight road contest. Opening faceoff from LaValle Stadium is set for noon and can be streamed with a paid subscription to FloCollege.
The Seawolves fell 14-11 at Rutgers Saturday afternoon in New Brunswick, N.J.