CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — When Matt Moore fired an overtime shot over the left shoulder of Maryland goalie Danny Dolan, it not only sent his Virginia team back to championship weekend for the first time since 2011, but also it put him in unprecedented territory among Cavaliers.

Moore’s quarterfinal game-winner was his 40th goal of the season, making him the first UVA player ever to put up 40 goals and 40 assists in a season. While teammate Michael Kraus came close last season with 44 goals and 39 assists in 17 games, Moore’s perfectly balanced 80 points is a feat not even former Virginia greats Steele Stanwick, Matt Ward or Chris Rotelli approached in their Tewaaraton-winning seasons.

Moore, for his part, downplayed the numbers and said the Cavs have more important things on their mind as they prepare to head to Philadelphia for a national semifinal matchup against ACC rival Duke.

“I’ll tell you, I also have the most turnovers on the team,” Moore joked before Virginia began practice Wednesday afternoon. “But it’s about how we play. We play fast lacrosse, and the coaches will take those turnovers, and I thank the coaches because they let us play fast and do things to make up for those turnovers.”

Moore does in fact have a team-leading 35 turnovers, but it’s a dynamic that’s come to embody this Virginia team, which has made a habit of coming back from large deficits, including a five-goal rally in the final minutes to beat the Terps last week.

Virginia players know they will get to play through their mistakes, and it’s a mentality that helped them decide no deficit is insurmountable.

“You get to play with a lot more confidence than if you had a coach who was screaming down your neck for any bad pass you make or a wrong decision,” Kraus said. “It breeds confidence into all of us. We can use that at any point, whether it’s a normal dodge or when we are down and have to take it to the rack. The only thing we are worried about is getting that next goal.”

That played a large part in putting together the group that has Virginia gunning for its first NCAA championship since Stanwick led the Cavs to glory in 2011. Moore, a sophomore, was one of head coach Lars Tiffany’s first recruits after leaving Brown for Virginia.

Moore began his UVA career in the midfield, but has taken it to another level since joining the attack this season and said he knew right away he’d fit at Virginia regardless of position.

“I liked the way Brown played,” Moore said. “It’s fun. It’s like backyard lacrosse. You run up and down the field. Last year we were a little too trigger happy. We’re a smarter team this year, but still playing the fast lacrosse that’s fun.”

Of course, it will be a lot more fun for the Cavaliers if they can beat Duke, something they haven’t done since Tiffany arrived at Virginia three years ago. In a loss to the Blue Devils earlier this season, the Cavs played without Krause, but Tiffany believes it was the game in which Moore really emerged with four goals and an assist.

“Duke’s a tremendous team and a good obstacle in the path of our mission,” Tiffany said. “We were certainly disappointed when we drove back from Durham six weeks ago with a loss. But we discovered that Matt Moore can really put the team on his shoulders. That was a big, big learning moment for him and us.”