CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Seventh- Virginia (5-1) outlasted the visiting Saint Joseph's Hawks (3-4) on Tuesday night 15-14 inside Klöckner Stadium. UVa's Owen Van Arsdale led the way with five goals and Ryan Lukacovic added four scores in the victory.
"We are very happy with the result and I knew this would be a tough game," Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. "I give our guys a lot of credit. The effort is always there. We had chances to give the game away and we did not do that. At the same time we are making a lot of mistakes and we have to clean that stuff up. We have to get smarter and we have to get better, but at the same time there is a lot to like about this team."
Saint Joseph's held the ball for nearly the first seven minutes of the game, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals by Kevin Forster and Ryan McGee. Van Arsdale and Tyler German each scored to tie the game, 2-2, with 7:35 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks went on a 4-1 run to take a 6-3 lead against the Cavaliers. Anthony Joaquim scored at 9:06 in the second quarter to cap the run.
UVa reeled off a 4-0 run of its own, taking a 7-6 lead into the intermission. Lukacovic and Ryan Tucker each scored before Van Arsdale tallied back-to-back goals to cap the streak with 35 seconds left in the second quarter.
Saint Joseph's took an 8-7 lead after scoring back-to-back goals to start the third quarter. Pat Swanick scored unassisted at 12:51 in the third, giving the Hawks the one-goal advantage.
UVa retaliated with another 4-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. Lukacovic found Van Arsdale, capping the run with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
The Hawks went off for a 6-2 spurt that gave Saint Joseph's the 14-13 lead with 4:31 left in the game. UVa bunkered down and won a couple decisive faceoffs and Zed Williams found Greg Coholan at 3:17 to tie the game and then the sophomore midfielder assisted Lukacovic on the eventual game-winning goal at 1:26.
Lukacovic tied his career high in goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine). Van Arsdale added a career-high five goals and six points.
UVa won the battle of ground balls (32-31), faceoffs (18-14) and saves (13-7). Saint Joseph's outshot UVa 47-32.
The game served as the 500th career game of Starsia's head coaching career. Starsia has coached 353 games at UVa and 147 at Brown, spanning 33 seasons.
