At the end of the third quarter of Saturday's game against Johns Hopkins, the Cavalier men's lacrosse team had reason to worry. With a pair of goals from freshman attackman Adam Doneger in the final three minutes of the period, the Blue Jays cut the Virginia lead to 8-7 after trailing by four at halftime.
Then the Cavalier veterans took over, as the No. 2 Cavs (4-1) rode an eight-goal fourth-quarter barrage to a 16-8 victory over No. 7 Hopkins (1-3) at Klöckner Stadium.
"At the end of the third quarter, that's when we made our plea to everybody," Cavalier coach Dom Starsia said. "Our big kids stepped up and made some plays for us, and it captured the game. I felt like we should be wearing these guys down, not the other way around. They shouldn't be coming back on us in the fourth quarter."
Sophomore attackman Conor Gill led the Cavaliers with four goals, including a highlight-reel behind-the-back shot past senior Brian Carcaterra, Hopkins' All-American goalie.
"We just exploded in the fourth quarter," Gill said. "Our depth really proved valuable. I don't think we ever panicked when it got uncomfortable. We're a very, very senior-oriented team and those guys never get nervous or scared, even when we're up by one and teams are coming back on us."
Virginia senior midfielders Jay Jalbert and David Bruce scored three goals each. Sophomore attackman Ian Shure and senior midfielder Jason Hard added two goals apiece.
Shure converted a pass from senior attackman Drew McKnight just seven seconds into the final period, putting the momentum squarely on the Cavs' side.
Three minutes after Shure's goal,
McKnight deposited an easy goal after Carcaterra left the cage to chase down a rebound. Freshman attackman Bobby Benson scored to bring the Blue Jays within two, but the Cavaliers scored the next six goals to seal the victory.
Benson broke out for a team-high four goals, but Hopkins stars A.J. Haugen, Dan Denihan and Conor Denihan combined for only one goal and three assists.
"I think we did a good job on A.J., Dan and Conor. I don't know what they ended up with point-wise, but it was a lot less than what they've been averaging, and I think that was the key to our game."
Starsia singled out senior All-American Ryan Curtis as an important defensive component.
"His task of covering the other team's best offensive player is an important, singular responsibility," Starsia said. But "we need him doing other things on the field, picking off passes, getting involved in the defense. Our first game against Syracuse, he was obsessed with Ryan Powell. He didn't help us enough with other things in the game, and today you saw the best of Ryan Curtis: playing the best guy, knocking down balls, picking balls up."
Starsia also praised his stars for coming through when it mattered most.
"It clearly was our big kids that stepped up and made the difference in the game," Starsia said. "At the end, when the game was being decided, it was Jalbert,
McKnight, Conor Gill. Our lead ponies took that game back over in the fourth quarter"
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