What a weekend it was to be an UNLTD athlete! We were gifted games with huge implications, conference tournament games on the women’s side, and record breaking performances! Our athletes went for a combined record of 9-5 with 32 goals and 34 assists, for a total of 66 points throughout the week.
Matt Moore got our week started with the Cavaliers senior game against Lafayette Thursday night in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers were able to take care of Lafayette pretty easily as they went on to win 20-10. With a 2 goal and 6 assist performance, Matt Moore is now the all-time leading scorer in UVA lacrosse history with 270 points and counting. Matt passed Steele Stanwick who has held the record since 2012 when he recorded his 269th point.
The next record breaker we saw was Brendan Curry, and what a special moment it was for the Curry family. The Orange hosted Notre Dame for their final game of the season, and Brendan’s collegiate career. Brendan’s father, Todd Curry played lacrosse at Syracuse and scored 93 goals in his career for the Orange. Brendan was set to break that record in his last game against Notre Dame, even though the game didn’t go their way as they lost 11-18. Brendan tied his dad’s record with about 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. A couple of minutes later, Brendan made a nice dodge to the net and scored his second goal of the game, overtaking his father’s goal record. It might not have been the season Syracuse had wanted, but that is a perfect story book ending for the Curry family.
Chris Gray broke the biggest record there ever will be in college lacrosse – most points in NCAA Men’s Lacrosse. Lyle Thompson has held this record since 2015 with 400 points. Chris Gray was on a mission against Joe Robertson and Duke last night in their last game of the season. It was a good game up to the second half, when Duke came out with a second wind and started to separate from the Tar Heels. Joe Robertson finished the game with 2 goals and an assist. Chris had a 6 point performance, and with his third goal of the game he broke Lyle Thompson’s record and scored his 401st point in his career. The next accomplishment for Chris is the Tewaaraton, which at this point should just be handed to him after his performance this season. UNC most likely played in their last game of the year, and the next time we’ll see Chris Gray will be this summer – but this time in a PLL uniform.
Connor DeSimone and Joey Epstein are keeping the Blue Jays alive, as they took down Penn State in their final game at Homewood field for the B1G Ten quarterfinals. It’s win or go home now, and the Jays aren’t done yet. Hopkins won the game 16-8 behind Connor’s 4 point day, and Joey’s hat trick. The Jays have a renewal of their rivalry this Thursday with Maryland to see if they can stay alive and make it to the NCAA playoffs. After getting dominated by Maryland very recently, the Jays are going to have to step up their game significantly, and we are expecting big games from both Connor and Joey as they fight to continue their season.
Our ladies have begun the ACC conference tournament, and it was chaotic to say the least. On Friday, Kasey Choma and Katie DeSimone played each other in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame completed an upset by a good margin, winning 19-11. Kasey had a tremendous game scoring 4 goals. Katie had a solid outing with 2 goals and 2 assists in the loss. Sam Swart played UVA on Friday, and the Orange suffered a tough 18-14 loss. Sam finished the day with just a goal. Belle Smith and the BC Eagles played Virginia Tech and won that game 19-13. Belle Smith had an awesome weekend scoring 12 points through their two games, including a hat trick on Friday in their winning effort.
On Sunday, the ACC Semi-finals were taking place. We saw Belle Smith playing Virginia, and Kasey Choma playing UNC. Boston College secured the win 20-12, behind Belle’s 3 goal and 6 assist game; she was unstoppable out there. Notre Dame didn’t have the luck of the Irish against UNC as they went on lose the game 14-13 in a heartbreaker. Kasey didn’t go down without a fight though as she scored 2 goals in the close battle. Belle Smith will play for the ACC title this Saturday against UNC. It’ll be an intense battle as UNC previously won 16-15 in the regular season.
Kelsey and USC had a special day for the Huff family, as they honored Kelsey’s father Scott Huff at USC’s senior day. Scott is currently battling brain cancer, and the Trojans honored Kelsey and Scott, wearing our “No One is Tougher than Huffer” T-shirts. USC won the game 12-6 and Kelsey scored a goal and got an assist in the game.
Kelsey and USC had a special day for the Huff family, as they honored Kelsey’s father Scott Huff at USC’s senior day. Scott is currently battling brain cancer, and the Trojans honored Kelsey and Scott, wearing our “No One is Tougher than Huffer” T-shirts. USC won the game 12-6 and Kelsey scored a goal and got an assist in the game.
Aurora played Michigan this weekend, and got another win with a final score of 13-8. Aurora collected 3 points for the day with 2 goals and an assist. The Lady Terps will be playing Johns Hopkins - Aurora’s old team - in their conference tournament.
We’ve got a couple games left to play this weekend, Connor and Joey are heading down the road to College Park, MD to play the #1 Terps in their conference semi-finals, Aurora is playing Johns Hopkins, and Joe Robertson is taking on Notre Dame this weekend. Belle Smith will be playing UNC in a huge rematch for the ACC title.
With the regular season over for most teams, it’s time to go over our athletes stats for the year. Our athletes combined record this year was 128-63 with 434 goals, and 238 assists for a total of 672 points. We are proud to say that we have the best talent in the country and have been able to watch them go off all year long. Matt Moore took the crown for the UNLTD head-to-head matchups going 5-1 with wins over Syracuse and North Carolina twice, Johns Hopkins, with a loss to Joe Robertson and Duke.
We are rooting for you all as the post-season gets closer and closer to an end, and we know you will all do great in future seasons and beyond the sport of lacrosse! We are UNLTD!
