Here's how Virginia knocked out Brown men's lacrosse from the NCAA tournament
PROVIDENCE --- Saturday night’s matchup at Stevenson-Pincince Field was competitive into the second half.
Brown was even with two-time national champion Virginia in front of a raucous capacity crown. This opening game of the men’s lacrosse NCAA Tournament had all the makings of a thriller.
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That’s when the Cavaliers found the level generally reserved for two-time national champions. The Bears were blown away on their home turf, the victims of an eight-goal run that lasted more than 20 minutes.
Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Matt Moore were the headliners as Virginia dismissed Brown, 17-10, and moved on to the quarterfinals at Ohio Stadium. Lars Tiffany celebrated on the campus he called home as both player and coach before jumping to the Cavaliers in 2016.
“This defines what lacrosse should be about,” Tiffany said. “Enemy territory, hostile environment, being booed and just being the man in the arena.”
Xander Dickson’s bounce shot with 5:39 left in the third snapped a 9-9 tie and pushed Virginia ahead for good. The Cavaliers opened up a four-goal advantage by the end of the quarter and continued to roll from there. Brian Antonelli fired home for Brown with 2:30 to play in the fourth, but it was much too late to mount any sort of rally.
“That’s just sometimes how it goes,” Brown coach Mike Daly said. “Credit to their faceoff guy (Petey LaSalla) for keeping the pressure on. Look at the stat sheet – their guys, the dudes, made their plays.”
Shellenberger was the Most Valuable Player of last year’s postseason – his four goals and four assists were par for the course in his career to date. Cormier added five goals and Moore – the program’s all-time leading scorer – closed with two goals and two assists.
“Later on we actually started to shoot better,” Cormier said. “At the start of the game we could have focused a little bit more.”
The announced crowd of 3,200 fans that filled the bleachers and ringed the perimeter fencing gave the Bears (10-6) plenty of energy early. Brown couldn’t manage to keep its momentum through the second half, hitting the post on a shot from close range that would have tied things up for the seventh time. Jack Peele’s 40-yard run the other way and rocket home gave Virginia an 11-9 advantage with 2:48 left in the third.
“They went on a little bit of a run,” Brown co-captain Ryan Aughavin said. “We had some plays where we felt like we had to make a play instead of letting the game come to us and hitting singles.”
Virginia (12-3) won its fourth straight and has piled up 79 goals in that span. The lone program selected from the ACC enjoyed a 13-9 lead after three quarters when Cormier and Moore struck inside the final minute. Shellenberger set up Cormier twice inside the opening 4:12 of the fourth and the issue was pretty much decided.
“It just makes it that much more fun,” Shellenberger said. “When you grow up playing this game those are the environments you look forward to and hope to play in.”
The Cavaliers went 11-for-15 at the faceoff dot over the final 30 minutes and prevented the Bears from opening up on offense. Virginia squeezed its way to full control thanks to steady possession and an offensive attack that executed beautifully. The No. 8 seed in the field has now dropped eight of its last 11 opening games – there was an argument to be made the Cavaliers could have been hosting this one instead.
“We had to come win a lacrosse game at Brown,” Shellenberger said. “We all have social media. We all see the noise.
“But inside our team, our players, our coaching staff, it’s all about taking care of business.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here's how Virginia ousted Brown men's lacrosse from NCAA tournament
