Long, strange year of waiting made title sweeter for Moore, Cavs
Matt Moore needed only to cast his mind back to the fall for an appropriate measure of motivation.
The University of Virginia attackman was banged up in the NCAA men’s lacrosse semifinal on Saturday, a shoulder injury limiting him to one goal in laboring through the Cavaliers’ 12-11 win over North Carolina. But as he managed his pain and strapped up the shoulder for Monday’s NCAA final against Maryland, he reflected on the journey to get to Hartford – on all the anguish of a cancelled 2020, on the hours of online classes, on all the time spent sequestered from teammates and family during the fall.
And when the final whistle sounded on a classic, 17-16 victory over Maryland to finish the Cavaliers’ delayed repeat as NCAA champions, the emotional release for Moore and his teammates fit the arduous journey back to the summit.
“I think we worked harder for this one,” the Garnet Valley AllDelco said Thursday. “What everyone had to go through in the fall, the whole NCAA in general for all of lacrosse, the positive COVID tests, I think everyone worked hard to sacrifice socially and sacrifice with going to Zoom classes. This whole year was a big sacrifice for everyone.”
Like in 2019, when Virginia comfortably got past Yale in the final at Lincoln Financial Field, this year’s team had a distinct Delaware County flavor. Four local players scored in the final, led by Moore’s virtuoso four goals and two assists performance.
It’s nothing
less than
what’s come to be expected from Moore, a senior who in 2019 posted the highest single-season point total in program history (89) and sits seventh all-time among Cavaliers with 225 points. But where other teams at the Final Four were driven by one star – Maryland and Duke, respectively, by Tewaaraton Trophy nominees Jared Bernhardt and Mike Sowers (Upper Dublin) – Virginia’s dynamic allowed any of a handful of players to step up, as matchups and situations dictate.
In the final, that happened to be Jeff Conner. The midfielder from Strath Haven High scored 11 goals in his first 15 games of the season, but he potted three markers to go with an assist Monday. He bookended a five-goal run between the first and second quarters that put UVA up 8-4, after which it wouldn’t trail again. And Conner set up Moore for the final installment of the decisive five-goal spurt over the third and fourth, Moore’s 32nd goal of the season giving Virginia a 16-11 lead with 11:04 to play.
“There’s just so many guys,” Conner said. “Our coach puts us in great positions. We just focus on the ‘one more,’ ... if you’re the guy that’s getting that ‘one more’ shot, we have confidence that they’re going to score. We kind of let the ball do the work.”
“It’s weird because one guy isn’t going to play well in every single game,” Moore said. “… It’s something that I think helps with pressure. There’s really no individual pressure to do well and play well. I really think the pressure is on the whole offense, the whole defense. I think we’re all just playing loose and however the ball bounces, that’s going to be who plays well that game and gets the points.”
It would take an insurance tally
from Moore with 3:35 left to stand as the game-winner in a game that wasn’t resolved until the final seconds when goalie Alex Rode fought off a shot by Terps faceoff man Luke Wierman (West Chester Henderson) to seal the Cavaliers’ seventh national crown.
Springfield All-Delco Kyle Long had a goal and three assists in the final for Maryland.
“Any time we would go up, they would punch us right back,” Conner said. “When Rode saved that final ball, our sideline exploded. That was the greatest feeling, and it definitely feels nice to win it in a close game.”
That makes two titles each for Moore, a four-time All-Delco at Garnet Valley, as well as Conner, the 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year, and Dox Aitken. The 2016 Player of the Year from Haverford School scored a goal and an assist in the final.
After plans for a post-grad football season at Villanova were dashed by the pandemic, Aitken took on a different role in 2021 with 17 goals, down from the pace that lands him fourth in program history with 138 goals.
But it’s indicative of the squad’s balance.
Added to the mix is Peter Garno, a fellow Ford and the 2019 Player of the Year, who scored in each game of championship weekend and finished
sixth on the team with 22 goals. It’s part of a Virginia culture where someone different steps up each game, on offense or defense.
Experience helped get them over the finish line, too.
Moore said this year’s championship weekend was nothing like 2019, without all the awards banquets and in-person media and events. Instead, it felt like an extended weekend trip, albeit with bigger stakes and a larger crowd than the regular season. But the veterans of 2019 helped talented new faces, among them leading point-getter and redshirt freshman Connor Shellenberger and top goal-scorer/injury redshirt Payton Cormier, navigate the territory.
The focus all season hadn’t been on repeating as champions, since that last win felt so distant. Instead, Virginia was chasing the title anew, and each player tried to make the best of their 2020 sabbatical to refocus on that chase.
“I think it really had us focus on last year and not on defending or repeating because it was so long ago and we waited so long,” said Moore, who plans to take a fifth year while he obtains his master’s degree in public policy. “… I think it really helped us stay focused and not really focused on the ‘repeat’ and ‘defense.’
“I think we kind of just came out and played loose and had fun.”