The Virginia men's lacrosse team climbed to No. 1 in the nation with a 16-15 defeat of then top-ranked Syracuse on March 1, going on to solidify their position with a 10-7 triumph at Princeton on Saturday. The Cavaliers (3-0) face a hot No. 11 Notre Dame squad (3-0) at Klockner Stadium this afternoon.
The two victories came against last season's national champion and runner-up. The win over the Orangemen was Virginia's first since 1999.
"It's certainly something that this team can be proud of," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "It's early in the season and the things we want to accomplish are still down the road, but we're off to a good start."
Sophomore attackman John Christmas broke a 15-15 tie with 22 seconds left on a low bounce shot to put Virginia ahead for good and served to rocket the Cavaliers to the top position after coming into the game at No. 4.
Christmas, sophomore attackman Joe Yevoli and senior midfielder A.J. Shannon each had four goals in the contest. Christmas was chosen as National Player of the Week by Warrior/Inside Lacrosse for his performance against the Orangemen.
The Cavaliers had an easier time with Princeton on Saturday, going ahead 7-6 on Shannon's late third quarter goal and keeping the lead throughout the final period on their way to a 10-7 victory.
Senior midfielder Chris Rotelli lead the way for the Cavaliers, tallying four goals and an assist. Christmas and freshman midfielder Matt Ward each scored a pair.
Despite the victory, Starsia said he felt Virginia was not on top of their game versus the Tigers.
"I didn't think we played our best game against Princeton," Starsia said. "We turned the ball over too many times and we had some defensive lapses that gave Princeton a few goals. We need to play a little smarter for 60 minutes."
Notre Dame could be the team to exploit these vulnerabilities. The Fighting Irish are fresh off a 10-8 triumph at No. 13 North Carolina and, like the Cavaliers, are undefeated on the year.
"Notre Dame has very good balance," Starsia said. "There's not a soft spot on the team. Their intent may be to play the game at a more deliberate pace than we would like, so we have to win faceoffs and get the ball off the ground to force the tempo of play a little bit."
Virginia is off to their strongest start since 1996, when the Cavaliers opened the season with six straight wins. Four of Virginia's next five games will be at home, but none of the opponents will give the Cavaliers a chance to get comfortable.
Last season, Virginia struggled against Notre Dame, prevailing in a low-scoring 7-5 affair at Klockner
"For the past two years it's been kind of a hard game for us," Rotelli said. "We lost two years ago and had a close one last year that we just pulled out. The team is refreshed and we'll be ready to play. I think Notre Dame is a really good team, and it's going to be a really hard game."
Although both teams have identical records coming in, the pressure is on Virginia, who looks to retain its top ranking for the second straight game against a team that has caused the Cavaliers trouble for the last two years.
St. Patrick's Day may be right around the corner, but the Cavaliers will try to make sure Notre Dame's Irish luck does not come early this year.
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