On a cold and grey day down in Baltimore, Virginia beat Loyola 13-12 to open up the season for both teams. This was the sole top ten match up of opening weekend, and UVa took the win over the Grey Hounds in a tight and exciting game. The first half saw both teams scrap for goals and neither team built up more than a one goal lead. After two quarters, the game was tied a 6 apiece.
The result also made for an interesting Top 20 poll this week!
It was also free hat day. The first 1000 fans in to the Ridley Athletic Complex got a free hat, and it looks like the student section took full advantage of this! Attendance was just under 4,000 people.
UVa came out hot in the second half though, and the Cavs went up 10-6 before Loyola rallied. The Hounds got within one goal of UVa on two occassions, but Virginia was able to score 3 goals later in the game to weather the storm. Romar Dennis and Zach Herreweyers both registered hat tricks for Loyola while Brian Sherlock and Nikko Pontrello each had a goal and two assists. Virginia got five point days from Greg Coholan (4 goals, 1 assist) and Zed Williams (three goals, two assists) to lead the way, and also got a great effort from Ryan Lucakovich, who had two goals and two assists of his own.
To fill out the rest of the box score, both goalies made 9 saves, and Loyola took 38 shots, while UVa took 43. Graham Savio was near dominant on draws for Loyola, winning 19 of 28. Both teams finished 0-2 on the man up for the day.
Someone had to lose this game, and both of these programs are looking like potential Top 10 teams this year. Can UVa keep the wins coming this week with a big game against Drexel? Can Loyola rebound with a win over Penn State? Both of those games go down on February 14th, so we’ll have to wait until then!
Want to see some of the game for yourself? Well, you are in a supreme state of luck today as BOTH teams have put up highlights from the game. It adds up to well over 9 minutes of superb lacrosse video! And below the video we have some amazing game photos from the one and only Craig Chase, who is the father of current Loyola player Jeff Chase.
Virginia Beat Loyola – Video
Virginia Beat Loyola – Game Photos
