After a close win over No. 14 Richmond on April 1, No. 12 Virginia was looking to build a bit of momentum off of this past weekend. Virginia (7-4, 0-2 ACC) did just that Tuesday night, with the team returning to Klöckner Stadium in triumphant fashion and thoroughly dominating the visiting Cleveland State Vikings (3-8) in a 20-7 win.
The midweek matchup between a historic program — Virginia — and a program in it first season — Cleveland State — was far from close, with Virginia cruising past the opponent. After five straight one-goal games, Coach Lars Tiffany talked about what it felt like to finally play a game without heading down to the wire.
“I don’t know if you emotionally get used to playing so many one-goal games, there’s never really truly a comfortable situation so it felt great tonight that we came out and played with big energy and explosively in our transition game,” Tiffany said.
Their high-flying, up-tempo offense was on full display Tuesday night, as Virginia returned to its high-scoring ways just three days after scoring a season-low eight goals.
Tiffany talked about how positive it was to see Virginia score 20 goals from so many different players.
“It felt good,” Tiffany said. “Just getting back [on] our horse and building that confidence again was really critical today and we were able to do that and again, what I’m really happy about was multiple sources, not just one or two men.”
Senior attackman Joe French also talked about the team scoring a season-high 20 goals.
“Our goal all season is try to eclipse that 20 mark,” French said.
French also praised the team for not getting comfortable with a large lead and staying aggressive on offense throughout the night.
“I was teasing some of the guys today, saying you know how great it would be just to keep our foot down on the pedal — I don’t think we’ve done that really quite yet,” French said. “We’ve gone up in some games and then all of a sudden let teams back in … You know four, five, six goal runs and next thing you know it’s a one or two goal game, so [it] just feels good to know that we got up by a few and then we accelerated and we kept going.”
The Cavaliers jumped right out of the gate ready to go, as sophomore midfielder Ryan Conrad scored the first goal of the night less than 30 seconds into the match. The Cavaliers went on to score seven goals in the first quarter, building a comfortable lead early on that would not be threatened the rest of the night.
The second quarter of the match was much of the same, with Virginia outplaying Cleveland State. The Cavaliers one-upped their scoring output in the first quarter with eight goals, while the Vikings finally got on the scoreboard with two goals.
Virginia took a 15-2 lead into halftime behind a dominating team performance. The third quarter was a bit more even, with both teams scoring three goals apiece. However, that did little to nothing for Cleveland State in trying to cut into the 13-point lead Virginia had built in the first half, and Virginia headed into the final frame with the 13-point lead intact. Virginia went on to keep their lead and pull out the convincing victory.
The scoreboard not only showcased a strong offensive performance from Virginia, but also highlighted the team’s defensive effort and toughness. The Cavaliers prevented the Vikings from getting much of anything going, allowing only two goals in the first half and seven for the night.
“It felt good to play some good defense,” Tiffany said. “It felt great to get some saves, and I was really excited about Will Railey stepping in and making five saves”
Sophomore attackman Mikey Herring — who had a strong performance with one goal and four assists — agreed with his coach.
“Those guys played really well — Richmond, too — and they’ve really been stepping up so it’s nice to have that support,” Herring said.
Virginia will continue its homestand with a Sunday night ACC showdown against No. 19 North Carolina. The match is scheduled to begin 7 p.m. Sunday at Klöckner Stadium.
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