Shellenberger Reemerges, Leads No. 1 Virginia Lacrosse to 19-12 Win Over Towson

With the 1-4 Towson Tigers being the only thing standing between Virginia and a brutal three-game stretch against No. 4 Maryland, No. 2 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Duke in the coming weeks, it was almost predictable that the Cavaliers wouldn't have their sharpest stuff. 

That ended up being the case as the Tigers held their own against the top-ranked Hoos, limiting them to only four goals in the first quarter. Towson only trailed by four at halftime before Connor Shellenberger seized control of the game. After being relatively quiet over the last few games, the Charlottesville native scored four goals and six assists with five of those points coming in a six-goal run for the Hoos in the second half to take a commanding lead. Behind Shellenberger's 10-point performance, No. 1 Virginia eventually pulled away for a 19-12 victory over Towson on Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. 

Matt Constantinides won the draw and found Joaquin Villagomez to go up early before Patrick McIntosh evened the score with a transition goal minutes later. Later in the quarter, Nick Demaio responded for the Tigers to take a 2-1 lead. Petey LaSalla was challenged by Constantinides, going just 16/30 from the x.

Early on, the Cavaliers struggled to score due to ten first-quarter saves from Towson goalkeeper Evan Long and poor shot selection. The scoring slump ended late in the first with three quick goals, with two of those goals being assisted by Connor Shellenberger to put the Cavaliers up 5-2. Defensively, Virginia caused seven turnovers in the first quarter to keep Towson at bay.

Constantinides continued his strong start, adding a goal off the opening faceoff of the second quarter. Then, a sequence of back-and-forth scoring ensued as Jeff Conner netted two goals for the Cavaliers, and the Tigers scored two of their own to cut the Virginia lead to one. Conner went on to finish the game with two goals and two assists.

Towards the end of the half, Xander Dickson ignited a three-goal run for the Cavaliers, scoring two of those goals. The second goal was a spectacular behind-the-back finish as the shot clock neared zero. Dickson had another productive game with four goals and two assists. In response, Demaio scored his third goal for the Tigers with five seconds left to trail 9-6 at halftime.

Feeding off the last-second goal, the Tigers pounced with two goals to cut the Virginia advantage to one. Shellenberger retaliated with two goals and an assist to put the Cavaliers up 12-8. Later, Peter Garno and Ricky Miezan both scored to stretch the run to five straight goals for the Hoos. After a slow start, Matthew Nunes began to come alive with five third-quarter saves to help maintain the Virginia advantage.

The scoring streak continued in the fourth quarter as Shellenberger scored again before Towson cut the bleeding on the ensuing faceoff to make the score 15-9. Virginia fired back with a goal, but the Tigers responded with two more goals as the Cavaliers began to take their foot off the gas.

Despite this, Virginia piled on three more goals, including a full-field goal from Evan Zinn who fired off a long-range shot as as the Tigers left their net open on the 10-man ride. The strong second half allowed Virginia to cruise to a 19-12 victory.

With the win against Towson, UVA's schedule begins to pick up with a massive showdown against No. 4 Maryland on Saturday at 2pm at Klöckner Stadium. 

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