No. 5 Virginia and No. 12 Loyola raised the stakes for next weekend’s game in Baltimore as each posted a victory over a top-20 opponent on Sunday.

Virginia got dominance from faceoff specialist Petey LaSalla (12 of 16) in a 14-9 victory over No. 14 Army.

Loyola struggled to get much going offensively for most of the game against No. 16 Richmond, but star attackman Kevin Lindley scored the final three goals of the game, including this amazing quick-stick goal in overtime to give the Greyhounds an 8-7 win.

LINDLEY WINS IT

Kevin Lindley with a quick shot to give @LoyolaMLAX the 8-7 comeback win over @SpiderMLAX in OT.

Lindley with 3G in the 4Q and overtime. pic.twitter.com/VzvGQgJHhE

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 14, 2021

After taking a 2-1 lead in the first quarter following Liam Bateman’s goal, Loyola went scoreless for a stretch of nearly 30 minutes as Richmond built up a 5-2 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Greyhounds got within one goal twice, but Richmond looked in good shape after Mitch Savoca’s goal with 4:02 left gave the Spiders a 7-5 lead.

Lindley’s, Loyola’s leading goal scorer the last two seasons, then took over. Held without a point for 56 minutes, he scored with 3:18 left to cut Richmond’s lead back to one and then tied it up with 1:06 left to force overtime.

Bailey Savio, who won 10 of 17 faceoffs in the game, won the faceoff to start overtime, and the Greyhounds maintained possession throughout. Riley Cox had a shot go wide before Evan James fed Lindley on the game-winner.

Loyola goalie Sam Shafer made 10 saves to earn the win. Richmond goalie Jack Rusbuldt made 12 saves.

Virginia improved to 2-0 behind hat tricks from Payton Cormier and Matt Moore. The Cavaliers scored five goals in the first quarter and then blanked Army in the second quarter to take an 8-4 halftime lead. Army never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Virginia freshman Bobby Gavin, a California native who once ranked in the top 10 nationally in his age group as a surfer, made his first collegiate start in goal and finished with 12 saves. All 12 came after the first quarter and eight of them came in the second half.

Cormier, who had six goals in Virginia’s season-opening win over Towson, continued his hot start with a team-high five points, adding two assists to go along with his three goals.

Brandon Nichtern had five points for Army (two goals, three assists) and Aidan Byrnes scored three times. Army failed on nine of its 19 clear attempts against the Virginia ride. Virginia attackman Ian Laviano had three caused turnovers in addition to two goals and an assist on the offensive side.

FEAR THE RIDE. @UVAMensLax turns defense into offense quickly and leads @ArmyWP_MLax 12-6.

Cormier with 3G, 2A pic.twitter.com/uMJnwodlaw

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 14, 2021

Virginia and Loyola meet this Saturday at Loyola’s Ridley Athletic Complex at 5 p.m. The game will be carried on ESPN+.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 5 Virginia 14, No. 14 Army 9
No. 12 Loyola 8, No. 16 Richmond 7 (OT)