Both No. 14 Virginia and No. 13 Johns Hopkins enter Saturday starving for a signature win. The Cavaliers (2-1, 0-0 ACC) have beaten up on mid-major opponents in the first month, but faltered on the road against No. 3 Richmond. Similarly, the Blue Jays (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) had faced little resistance in their wins, but lost by eight goals in their most recent game at No. 1 North Carolina.
Now, with the rust hopefully busted, the 20th iteration of the Doyle Smith Cup is shaping up to be a bloodbath, per usual, determining not just which team walks away with the trophy but also who is a national contender versus pretender.
The first matchup between Virginia and Johns Hopkins dates back over a century to 1904, when the Blue Jays took a resounding 12-1 victory — the all-time series score is 63-35-1 in favor of Johns Hopkins. However, since the rivalry was stamped with the title of the Doyle Smith Cup in 2006, where the teams would play for a shiny silver chalice, the Cavaliers hold an 11-9 lead.
One of Virginia’s postseason victories is its most recent win over the Blue Jays in the 2024 NCAA Tournament — a thrilling 11-10 double-overtime finish, where then-graduate attackman Connor Shellenberger sent the Cavaliers into the semifinals with a sudden victory goal. Now, assistant coach Shellenberger and Virginia look to reclaim the regular-season trophy that has not resided in Charlottesville since 2023.
Of the past Doyle Smith Cup matchups, 11 of the outcomes have been decided by two goals or less, including a 13-12 nailbiter from last year, where then-junior attackman Truitt Sunderland and then-sophomore attackman McCabe Millon combined for seven goals.
This year figures to be another heavyweight clash, as Virginia boasts a high-powered offense averaging just under 17 goals a contest, while Johns Hopkins has shown to have the stingier defense.
As the two leading goal scorers for the Cavaliers, the duo of Sunderland and Millon will be key once more. Millon, especially, has been on a tear, currently leading the nation — scoring eight points per game. Virginia will certainly rely on him for offensive creation against a Johns Hopkins defense that will be far more athletic than those of Colgate and Stony Brook, which, aside from the 17-goal implosion against North Carolina, is surrendering under seven goals per game.
Last Saturday against the Seawolves was the coming-out party for freshman attackman Brendan Millon, who after scoring just two goals in his first two games, netted five to go along with two assists. The Cavaliers hope that Brendan can carry this momentum into Saturday and continue to show why he was the consensus No. 1 freshman in the country.
On the other end of the field, the key for the Cavaliers will be slowing down junior attackman Hunter Chauvette, who torched the Virginia defense for five goals in last year’s matchup and leads the Blue Jays with 10 goals this season. Similar to Sunderland’s role for Virginia, Chauvette is a sharpshooter, but not as much of a dodger against man-to-man defense. Ultimately, whichever defense can force more shots out of one-on-one isolation against the long poles may give its team the best chance at winning.
After Coach Lars Tiffany gave playing time to both graduate goalie Jake Marek and senior goalie Kyle Morris in the first three games, Morris figures to get the starting nod after allowing just six goals in his start against Stony Brook. It would not be surprising, however, if Tiffany continues to implement the goalie-by-committee strategy if the starter looks shaky early.
In between the nets, a matchup to keep an eye on will be between Virginia’s freshman faceoff specialist Griff Meyer and Johns Hopkins’s sophomore faceoff specialist Joe Hobot. Hobot commands the dot for the Blue Jays, boasting a 64 percent win rate on 58 total faceoffs. Meyer has improved each game and jumped into the go-to guy for the Cavaliers, taking 68 of Virginia’s 98 faceoffs, with a win rate of 62 percent in his last two outings.
Most recently against Stony Brook, Meyer took two of his faceoff wins to the net and scored his first two goals of his college career. Meyer setting up transition offense only helps to take more load off of the Millon brothers and Sunderland.
While there is rarely a must-win game this early in the season — especially during out-of-conference play — Saturday feels like a prove-it game for both teams. The Doyle Smith Cup always has a postseason feel to it because of the historic rivalry, and both Virginia and Johns Hopkins will have the opportunity to show that they are built to compete in such a game against a major-conference opponent.
The game is set to start at 3 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium and can be streamed on ACCNX.
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