Charlottesville, Va. / Klöckner Stadium-Coming off a win over Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game, the Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse team was the number-one team in the nation as they hosted Robert Morris University Saturday afternoon. After 30 minutes, it would have been hard to tell which team was in just its sixth season of existence and which was the perennial national powerhouse.

Six third-period goals by the Cavaliers (14-1), however, quelled any thoughts the upstart Colonials had about upending the nation's top squad as UVA captured an 18-9 victory. RMU slips to 9-5 on the season.

Who knows if the game would have taken on a different slant had the Colonials capitalized on either of their two chances of the opening possession. An opening face-off win by junior Keith Lee (Hudson, Ohio / Western Reserve Academy) led to a shot by junior Taylor Caparosa (Annapolis, Md. / Annapolis) ringing hard off the post 50 seconds in. Lee's ensuing ground ball led to another Caparosa chance, but this time it was Virginia goalie Adam Ghitelman turning aside the opportunity.

The Cavaliers answered on their next two chances as Matt White and Chris Bocklet scored just 3:44 into play. Caparosa found the net at 8:35, but Mikey Thompson and Rhamel Bratton goals pushed the Virginia lead to 4-1 with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

A pair of RMU goals by sophomore Kiel Matisz (Stoney Creek, Ontario / Saltfleet) and freshman Taylor Graves (Carlsbad, Calif. / Carlsbad) just 61 seconds apart cut the margin to one goal before White's second goal of the quarter sent the game to its first break with UVA holding a 5-3 lead.

A Rhamel Bratton goal preceded a man-up score by Bocklet that stretched the gap to four goals. The Colonials tallied the next two scores, the first unassisted by Lee. Redshirt-sophomore Kevin Brownell (Burlington, Ontario / Central) then found Matisz with 3:30 left in the first half cutting lead back to two goals.

Virginia held possession over the final 67 seconds, allowing Bratton to tally a marker with three seconds left in the half and give the home squad an 8-5 lead at the break.

The Cavaliers then tacked on six third period goals to put the game out of reach for the upset-minded Colonials. Fourth period goals by redshirt-junior Patrick Smith (Westminster, Md. / Westminster), Brownell, sophomore Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, Ontario / John McCrae) and Matisz offset three more Virginia goals putting the final score at 18-9.

Matisz finished the game with three goals and an assist to lead all Colonial scorers. Brownell chipped in with a goal and two assists while Caparosa, Graves, Lee, Buchanan and Smith each had single scores. Sophomore Dillon Pope (Smithtown, N.y. / Smithtown) was chased from net after allowing goals on four of the Cavaliers first five shots. Redshirt-freshman Charles Ruppert (Long Island, N.Y. / Massapequa) played the remainder in net, stopping 11 shots while allowing 14 goals.

Bocklet finished with six goals and three assists while White tacked on three scores. Four different goaltenders combined for 11 saves with Ghitelman earning win after stopping seven shots and allowing seven goals in 52:00.

Robert Morris wraps up the 2010 season at Wagner on Wednesday, May 5, in a 3:30 p.m. contest.