The last time Virginia men’s lacrosse played at Scott Stadium in 2011, the team lost 12-7 to Maryland in a game marked by a hailstorm and the sudden, mid-season dismissal of a star player. No such personnel or weather struggles impeded the match today as the Cavaliers (4-4, 0-0 ACC) ultimately triumphed 16-11 over Utah in their return to Scott.
Virginia had faced the Utes (5-3, 0-0 ASUN) three times before, winning each matchup by at least five goals. Despite historical success, the Cavaliers entered the game hoping to stop a losing skid. Both teams received votes in the most recent USILA poll, with Utah sitting just outside the top 20 and Virginia receiving a scant four total votes. In other words — this game was a must-win for the Cavaliers to be considered a top-tier team as conference play approaches.
The matchup between the Cavaliers and the Utes, the preseason ASUN favorites, got off to an optimistic start for Virginia, with senior attacker Truitt Sunderland scoring the opening goal four minutes into the game. The play was back and forth and altogether very physical.
The Cavaliers would hold that lead for about five minutes before an inaccurate pass by sophomore defender Michael Meredith was swiped by Utah and quickly cashed in for a goal. Ready to capitalize, the Utes quickly scored two more goals to take a two-score lead into the end of the first quarter.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, senior attacker Ryan Colsey put one through for the Cavaliers to narrow the Utah lead to one. The goal quieted the vocal Utes fans congregating behind the visiting bench. It would take just over a minute for those fans to return to bellowing, with a Utes flag flying when senior midfielder Will Overly scored.
Though the game was still in its early stage, fans may have questioned Virginia’s ability to claw their way out of a deficit. An answer to that question began with a Utah shot that careened off the goalpost and squirted all the way back to the other side of the field. A subsequent goal from senior midfielder Joey Terenzi halved the Utes’ lead with nine and a half minutes to go in the quarter.
Several stellar saves from graduate goalie Jake Marek allowed Virginia to reclaim possession, ultimately translating into an equalizing goal from sophomore attacker Ryan Duenkel. Just a few minutes later, the Cavaliers retook the lead the same way they got it originally — with a Sunderland goal. Virginia led 5-4 as the teams entered the locker rooms.
Marek’s heroics at goal stifled a Utah offense that typically plays lightning-fast and earned him praise from the coaching staff.
“I felt it in the first half … Marek just shut the door,” Coach Lars Tiffany said. “He was fantastic.”
As the temperature warmed up at Scott Stadium, so did the offenses out of halftime. The Utes and the Cavaliers combined for 11 goals in the third quarter, more than the scoring total in the first half.
Although the quarter began back-and-forth with teams trading off goals, a 10-second possession resulting in freshman attacker Brendan Millon’s first goal opened the Virginia floodgates. Over the final 10 minutes of the quarter, Utah would manage just one goal against the Cavalier’s five, putting Virginia in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game.
The third quarter also saw the Cavaliers’ first of three penalties. The aggression received praise from the coaching staff.
“I liked our physicality,” Tiffany said. “We like it when it's aggressive … We like our man-down defense, so [we] want to play a physical game.”
Although the outcome was nearly wrapped up by the end of the third quarter, Utah continued to fight, scoring in the opening minutes of the fourth. Sunderland would slam the door shut on any hope for the Utes, though, as he would score twice in the final quarter to make it six goals on the day for him.
“It feels good,” Sunderland said. “Any given day, someone’s going to step up and have a big day. I was just lucky enough [for it] to be me today.”
Utah added two goals in the concluding minutes, but it hardly mattered as the Cavaliers finished with a 16-11 victory and moved to .500 on the season.
One of the factors that was paramount to Virginia’s success was its success with faceoffs. Out of 31 total opportunities, the Cavaliers took 22. Junior faceoff specialist Andrew Greenspan, who took the majority of faceoffs for Virginia, nabbed more than the entire Utah team.
“I thought the team competed really hard all week at practice, and it transferred over to the game today,” Greenspan said.
Virginia will have little time to celebrate, as its next game will happen in just a matter of days. The Cavaliers face Dartmouth Monday at home. The opportunity against the Big Green (4-3, 0-1 Ivy) could lead to Virginia’s first win at Klöckner Stadium in well over 300 days, dating back to a Senior Day win over Lafayette during the 2024-25 season. The Dartmouth game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., and will be televised on ACC Network.
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