Virginia with impressive victory, 14-3. An ominous start for Georgetown in their quarter-final set to with the Virginia Cavaliers when they lost fo-go James Reilly on the opening face-off.
In-Game Action
Reilly was chasing a ground ball when he took a shot to head from Jared Conner that left Reilly on the turf for several minutes.
John Fox followed with an additional penalty that put the Cavilers at a 6 on 4 disadvantage. The Hoyas seemed out of sorts due to the injury and couldn’t beat The Cavs netminder, Alex Rode.
A minute forty-seven later, Redshirt Connor Shellenberger kicked off his big afternoon. He set up Ian Laviano (2g) and Virginia was off and running. Georgetown pulled in the reins :43 later with Declan McDermott (1g) answering. Shellenberger (6g,1a), Payton Cormier (1g), and Dox Aitken (1g) added his 16th to end the opening quarter with a 4-1 Cavs advantage.
Virginia continued their run with a 6-0 second quarter started when Peter LaSalla won the opening faceoff and took it to the house.
Shellenberger and Xander Dickson (1g) just 2:17 later, widened the gap to 7-1. Shellenberger rattled off a natural hat trick with the final two coming in the last minute to close the half, 10-1.
In the End
Finally, after a recess of 28:04, the Hoyas would get on the board thanks to Gibson Smith. Could a miracle be in the works? Charlie Bertrand (1g) snagging bis 24th, Laviano with his 22nd and Shellenberger getting his sixth ion the day and 31st for the season and Matt Moore (1g) put a profound question mark on the miracle hopes to close the third, 14-2. Virginia put it in coast mode with Dylan Watson (1g) capping the scoring on the commanding 14-3 event.
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
By the Numbers
Stats were as you would think, dry telling. with Virginia taking far more shots, 45-27, and more on goal, 22-18. Georgetown coughed the ball up 18 times in while Virginia was more thrifty with 15. The Cavs scooped 31 ground balls with the Hoyas gaining 16. Petey LaSalla was outstanding with a goal, 9 ground balls, and 15 of 19 from the “X” with Virginia having a 16 for 21 afternoons. Shellenberger tied the school record with his six goals. G’town’s Jake Carraway had his 44 game goal-scoring streak snapped but did have one helper. Virginia with an impressive victory.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
