4th-quarter surge propels Virginia

By SAM ATKINSON
Special to The Daily Progress
TOWSON, Md. — Neither rain, nor sleet nor the ninth-ranked Towson men’s lacrosse team could stop fourth-ranked Virginia here on St. Patrick’s Day at Minnegan Stadium as the Cavaliers won, 13-8, before 2,305 rain-soaked fans.
In their first visit to Towson in 24 years and their first road game of the season, the Cavaliers (4-1) received balanced scoring — six different players scored two goals apiece — along with a strong second-half defensive effort. Virginia held Towson (2-2) to single digits for the first time in 16 games, dating back to a year ago today.
The victory caps a 16-day span where the Cavaliers played all four semifinalists from last season’s NCAA tournament, all in the rain. Virginia went 3-1 with the lone loss coming against Syracuse, 15-13, on March 2 and wins against Princeton, Notre Dame and Towson.
“This was a really difficult assignment to come up here and play these guys today. It has been a really tough stretch for a young team,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “We played tough, we didn’t play smart in every instance but we never gave an inch and that’s what I was most pleased with.”
Virginia junior midfielder A.J. Shannon led the way with two goals and two assists. Freshman attackman John Christmas had a three-point day, two goals and an assist, and senior Conor Gill passed out three assists.
Towson tied the game for the fifth time on Hunter Lochte’s second goal of the game with 7:44 remaining in the third quarter with the score knotted 8-8.
Virginia shut the door on the Tigers in the fourth quarter as it outscored them 5-0 with the final two goals coming from Christmas. The Virginia defense held the Tiger offense scoreless in a quarter for the first time in 62 straight quarters. Sophomore goalie Tillman Johnson made 11 saves in the game.
“Our teams in the past have given up some games in the fourth quarter. So this year we are making a real conscious effort to put pressure on the fourth quarter and to shut opponents down,” UVa senior defenseman Mark Koontz said.
Turnovers killed the Tigers in the deciding fourth quarter along with the inability to clear the ball as Virginia rode well against them.
“It wasn’t like it was fast-paced or we were trying to push the ball, it was just making plays; you have to catch and you have to throw,” Towson coach Tony Seaman said. “We did that for three quarters and in the fourth quarter, we don’t do it seven times and they get extra plays and make three extra goals.”
Towson scored the game’s first goal as senior midfielder Josh Tankersley ripped a shot past Johnson’s stick side 2:55 into the opening quarter. Virginia answered with three straight goals, including two from freshman Jared Little, his latter coming on an extra-man opportunity as he shot a bounce shot that barely drew iron as it hit the top crossbar of the goal. Towson added another goal to end the quarter down one, 3-2.
The Virginia defense had the tough task of stopping the Towson attack line of Kyle Campbell, Ryan Obloj and Brad Reppert, who have combined to score 42 points in their first three games.
“The goal coming in was to stop their attackmen, all three of them were preseason All-Americans. It was a real challenge for us,” Koontz said.
Against the Cavaliers they only scored five points, with two goals from Reppert, two assists from Obloj and one goal from Campbell.
“They are a scary team when you look at them on film. They have so many weapons. I really thought the key was going to be if Koontz and Hughes could keep a handle on Obloj and Reppert,” Starsia said.
The second quarter saw both teams score goals in pairs as the Cavaliers led 7-6 at halftime.