Scott Stadium will host the 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships May 23-25, the athletic department announced Saturday. The Division I semifinals will take place May 23 and the Division II and III finals May 24. The Division I final will be held May 25.
Virginia’s successful bid will plop one of the global lacrosse calendar’s biggest weekends into the middle of Grounds, the first time since 2002 that the event will be held at a college stadium.
“This is a tremendous opportunity,” Matt Colgiovanni, the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee Chair, said in the release. “Fans from across the country will experience Charlottesville for the first time as the host of the national semifinals and the national championship game.”
The Championships have over the past 20 years predominantly been held at professional football stadiums. The 2026 event was previously scheduled for Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., but the NCAA announced in October 2023 that conflicts with the 2026 FIFA World Cup had forced it to relocate the event.
Scott Stadium seats 60,000 and previously hosted Championship Weekend in 1977 and 1982. It last staged a lacrosse game in 2011, a regular-season tilt between Virginia and Maryland, coming nearly two decades after Virginia’s lacrosse programs relocated in 1984 from Scott Stadium to the newly constructed Klöckner Stadium.
Rutgers, the last program to host Championship Weekend on its campus, did so in 2002. The event has floated around since, taking root at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., the last two seasons.
“We thank Virginia for their strong bid to host,” Colgiovanni said, “And the committee looks forward to collaborating closely to make this a memorable event for everyone involved.”
Virginia has in recent years molded itself into a Championship Weekend fixture. It won national titles in 2019 and 2021 and returned to the semifinals in 2023 and 2024, losing before the final both times.
This season, though, the Cavaliers floundered to a 6-8 record, their worst under Coach Lars Tiffany, going 0-4 in the ACC and missing the NCAA Tournament.
Come this time next year, though, successful men’s lacrosse rebuild or not, the University will stand at the center of the college lacrosse universe.
“We extend our gratitude to the NCAA and the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee for entrusting us with the opportunity to host Championship Weekend,” Athletic Director Carla Williams said in the release. “We have great respect for the history and tradition of this iconic event and U.Va. is honored to welcome collegiate men’s lacrosse to Charlottesville."
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