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Men’s lacrosse uses 7-0 run to top Hoyas, 12-9

Lukacovic’s seven points, German’s hat trick propel Virginia offense on Senior Day

<p>Sophomore attackman Ryan Lukacovic picked apart the Georgetown zone Saturday at Klöckner Stadium, finishing with four goals and three assists. </p>

Sophomore attackman Ryan Lukacovic picked apart the Georgetown zone Saturday at Klöckner Stadium, finishing with four goals and three assists. 

Before Virginia entertained Georgetown in the teams’ first-ever regular-season meeting, nine Cavalier seniors were honored, many of whom were suiting up for their final regular-season contest at Klöckner Stadium.

But from the opening whistle, a certain underclassman stole the show.

Sophomore attackman Ryan Lukacovic, who tallied four goals and dished out three assists on the afternoon, overcame a slow start and meticulously picked apart the Georgetown zone, allowing No. 9 Virginia (9-4, 0-4 ACC) to pull away and earn a much-needed 12-9 victory against the No. 14 Hoyas (8-5, 3-1 Big East).

Senior midfielder Tyler German added a hat trick while senior attackman Owen Van Arsdale put up a goal and two assists in their Senior Day performances.

“I think the zone definitely helped me out,” Lukacovic said. “Being behind and not really having too much pressure on me, I was able to find the guys inside.”

The Cavaliers began the game slowly, with Georgetown clearly starting off with more energy and focus. The Hoyas took advantage, starting the game on a 3-0 run and outshooting Virginia 11-6 in the first quarter.

But junior attackman Greg Coholan finally put Virginia on the board with 2:07 to play on a running, stick-side high shot. Van Arsdale brought Virginia to within one after his low bouncer slipped past Georgetown freshman goalie Nick Marrocco with 40 seconds to play in the first.

Three minutes later at the 12:40 mark of the second quarter, Lukacovic curled around the crease and put in a low-angle shot to even the game at three.

Still, Georgetown appeared to be controlling the game, especially after an ensuing 2-0 run gave it a 6-4 lead. At that point, the Hoyas held a 21-9 shot advantage.

But from there forward, the Cavaliers seized command. Virginia took the final 11 shots to finish the half on a 5-0 run.

Lukacovic, who finished the half with a hat trick along with two assists, began the streak by scoring on a transition pass from Van Arsdale.

The equalizer provided highlight-worthy material – a hidden ball trick by sophomore attackman Joe French allowed sophomore midfielder Zed Williams to score an easy, uncontested goal.

“Zed [Williams] and I both have a background in the indoor game,” French said. “I think that correlates to the way that we play. It was just an opportunistic play and Zed did a great job.”

Lukacovic, German and Williams scored the next three goals for Virginia in the half’s final 2:52, allowing the Cavaliers to take an 8-5 lead into the third quarter.

“I thought the difference [in the second quarter] was the play in the middle of the field,” coach Dom Starsia said. “We started to pick the ball up off the ground. I thought our faceoff guys and our wings were good.”

The Cavaliers started the third quarter exactly how they ended the second – with a couple quick goals.

Just over four minutes in, the Cavaliers found nylon twice within 15 seconds. On his third assist of the afternoon, Lukacovic found German on the crease at the 10:34 mark right before Lukacovic netted his fourth goal of the day.

Georgetown sophomore midfielder Devon Lewis finally ended the 7-0 Virginia run with a goal with 8:15 to play in the third. The Hoyas added one more goal to pull within three when the fourth quarter began.

However, Virginia sophomore defensive midfielder Carlson Milikin started the fourth quarter by netting a fast-break strike, his first career goal, following a failure to advance penalty against Georgetown.

The Hoyas had opportunities to close the deficit, but a total of 14 turnovers, including 10 caused by Virginia, ended too many second-half Hoya possessions. And just as importantly, Virginia sophomore goalie Matt Barrett, who stopped 11 shots, recorded multiple second-half saves on open looks at the net.

“If we needed to switch a matchup, we switched,” senior defenseman Davi Sacco said. “We made some adjustments at halftime. We also went zone, which slowed down their offense.”

Before all was said and done, German recorded his hat trick with 4:22 remaining – a fitting end to a four-year stint in Charlottesville.

“I’m glad I was on the receiving end of it,” German said.

The Hoyas added two goals in the final 1:26 to cut the Virginia lead to three, but by then, as evidenced by Georgetown’s lack of on-ball pressure during Virginia’s final possession, the game had been decided.

The Cavaliers outshot the Hoyas 40-34, including a 20-13 edge in the second half. To cap off the complete team victory, redshirt freshman midfielder Jason Murphy won 13 of 18 faceoffs to give Virginia a 15-10 edge in that category.

“I thought it was a real team win overall,” Starsia said. “When you’re playing against a team that’s playing a zone, nobody can decide that they’re going to do it on their own. You have to take what they give you. I thought we did a good job of that.”

The Cavaliers will next face Pennsylvania April 25 in the ACC/Penn Challenge after failing to reach the ACC tournament. Opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

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