The #1 ranked UVA men’s lacrosse team rolled to a 12-5 victory over Stony Brook on Saturday, February 26th, led by Steele Stanwick’s historical playing. Virginia is now 3-0 to remain undefeated for the season.
The game quarter started with both teams scrambling for the first faceoff and Stony Brook quickly got on the scoreboard in the first minute. They scored again after a few minutes, yet it would be the last time they would score for 19 minutes.
The Cavs scored the next 3 goals of the quarter, led by Colin Briggs who had one goal and one assist during that stretch. The Cavs reached their first lead of the night at 3-2.
The next 15 minutes began with another 3 straight goals from UVA. Once again Colin Briggs was unstoppable, involved in all of those three plays. He assisted goals to Ryan Tucker and Chris Bocklet and netted one of his own from Steele Stanwick.
Stony Brook finally managed to find the back of the net again in the last 5 minutes of the second quarter to edge the score to 6-3, though first year Owen Van Arsdale notched his second goal of the day to give the Cavs their momentum back before heading to halftime.
Both teams scored two goals in the 3rd quarter to maintain the Cavs’ lead 9-5. With 9:28 left in the quarter Steele made history by attaining his 100thcareer goal with an assist from Mark Cockerton. He followed it up a couple minutes later with another goal, with
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
the help of Chris Bocklet.
In the final quarter Mark Cockerton had two scores, Colin Briggs added two assists and once again Steele Stanwick’s name was written in the history books due to him dishing out his 100th assist. UVA scored 3 in the final period and shut out Stony Brook for the final 17 minutes of the game to end with a score of 12-5.
Virginia narrowly led Stony Brook in shots, 37 to 35, and bested them in ground balls 35 to 31. Also the Cavs held the edge in face-offs 13 to 8. However, Stony Brook combined less turnovers, 12 to Virginia’s 17.
Starting at goalie for UVA, Rob Fortunato saved 14 shots. Backup goalie Austin Geisler made a late appearance and added a save. UVA’s 15 saves outmatched Stony Brook’s mere 5 on the day.
After reaching a lead 3-2 in the first quarter, the Hoos never relented their lead for the rest of the game. Their defense was an integral part of their win today, only allowing 5 goals to the opposition.
Colin Briggs seemed to be involved in every play, tallying three goals and four assists. Stanwick chipped in two goals and three assists, while Mark Cockerton and Owen Van Arsdale both netted two goals. Chris Bocklet also scored and assisted one each.
Steele Stanwick became the third player in UVA history to join the elite club of collecting 100 goals and 100 assists on the career. He is also the 7thin ACC lacrosse and the 44th overall in collegiate lacrosse to accomplish this feat. Even more special is the fact that he reached both 100s in the same game. On his achievement, Steele says, “I’m really humbled by it and obviously it’s a team sport so I couldn’t do any of it without my teammates.”
The Virginia men’s lacrosse team travels to Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday for their next game. On Saturday March 4th Syracuse will head down to Charlottesville for a much-anticipated game.
