CHARLOTTESVILLE—After defeating No. 8 ranked Johns Hopkins Sunday, the UVA men’s lacrosse team took on in-state rival VMI at home on Tuesday.
The Hoos had a slow start allowing the Keydets to take a 2-1 lead in the first quarter. VMI scored early starting the second quarter, increasing their lead to 3-1.
Sophomore Jason Murphy helped get the Hoos back on their feet. Murphy won six consecutive face-offs, allowing his team to score on each possession.
Freshman Ryan Conrad took advantage of Murphy’s success and started the Hoos scoring streak with 11:07 left in the third quarter increasing the score to UVA 2 VMI 3.
Senior James Pannell soon followed scoring the goal to tie the game at 3-3.
Sophmore Mike D’Amario pushed the Hoos ahead by scoring two consecutive goals in 12 seconds pushing their lead to 5-3 over the Keydets.
For the remaining 7:20 left in the half, the Hoos could not be stopped. At halftime, the Cavaliers led 10-3 over the Keydets, with 20 shots on goal just in the second quarter.
Goalkeeper junior Matt Barrett finished the first half with 4 saves.
The Hoos came out with the same momentum in the second half. They attempted 9 shots on goal in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. Sophomore goalie Will Railey had 5 saves in the second half, allowing the Keydets to score only once.
The Hoos defeated the Keydets 19-4. Pannell led the team in scoring with four goals for the night.
The Cavaliers finished the game winning 19 of the 26 face-offs and finished with 50 ground balls over VMI’s 25.
The Hoos improve their record to 5-5 as they head to Richmond, VA this weekend to take on the Richmond Spiders.
