Despite messy midfield play and turnovers, No. 12 Virginia was dominating the scoreboard heading into the third quarter of their final regular season game Friday against Drexel. Blue skies above, however, suddenly yielded to an anomalous clap of thunder, putting the contest into an Extreme Weather Delay.
As Virginia (8-6, 2-2 ACC) players entered the field after a half-hour delay to restart play, the crowd had depleted, with only dedicated fans and family members remaining. The interruption on the Cavalier’s Senior Day seemed to echo some of the frustrations Virginia experienced last season — the clouds of a losing conference season eventually gave way to better conditions, a 17-6 beatdown ahead of next weekend’s ACC Tournament.
Senior goalkeeper Kyle Morris started in goal, a rare sight, as graduate goalkeeper Jake Marek has been Virginia’s go-to throughout a tightly-contested season. His season-high save percentage of 0.667 followed an impressive first stop as Drexel (9-5, 5-1 CAA) won the first faceoff and went careening for the cage.
“[Drexel] had a fast-break first play of the game, and he stuffs a guy in the doorstep … that's pretty special,” senior defender John Schroter said.
Following Drexel’s first strike, a goal by junior attacker Witt Crawford, Morris was traded out for Marek where the starting goalkeeper remained until the final six minutes of the fourth quarter. The defense missed key players, with senior Ryan Colsey and freshman Robby Hopper absent from play, and sophomore Michael Meredith exiting in the second quarter.
“We needed our goalies to bail us out a lot,” Coach Lars Tiffany said. “So you definitely felt that impact … hopefully we can get them back.”
Drexel and Virginia called it even with 15 turnovers each, swinging possession back and forth even as the goal deficit grew larger. Clearing, an issue that has followed the Cavaliers around this season, was improved, partly to the credit of Marek’s sweeping passes to the offense that cut down on time in the midfield and helped Virginia go 24-27 on the day.
“Our goalies made us look really good,” Schroter said. “I think there's definitely a couple of things we can clean up.”
Some calamities on behalf of the defense melted out of view as the offense found its pace, uncharacteristically scoreless until less than five minutes in the first quarter remained, but able to kick into gear. Two scoring stretches of five and seven goals respectively were largely the work of senior attacker Truitt Sunderland, sophomore attacker Ryan Duenkel and freshman attacker Brendan Millon, who made the cage into a shooting clinic. Sunderland led in goals with four and boasted six assists, with Duenkel adding a hat trick and Millon remaining a steady presence behind the cage with two goals and three assists. Sunderland, who formerly played behind the goal and has transitioned this season to face the cage, noted the different offensive scheme took weight off of players who were typically entrusted with scoring.
“We have the best X attackman in the country back there, so I'm not back there much,” Sunderland said. “Having Brendan has just unlocked so much … we got a lot of weapons, and it's a really unselfish group.”
Duenkel, who was absent during the 2025 season due to injury, added his season-high three goals to the bunch and spread the Drexel defense thinner. Tiffany noted his return and development brought a new level of depth to offense at the perfect time heading into the ACC Tournament.
“The emergence of Ryan Duenkel really, really boosts us,” Tiffany said. “He's a legitimate threat now, and it's going to make opposing defensive coordinators really account for him, which could liberate [other players].”
The most roaring goal of the 17, however, came from the stick of graduate attacker Burke McFarlane — sophomore attacker Sean Browne rolled the crease to feed McFarlane, who stepped to the ball and chucked it past graduate Drexel goalkeeper Andy Pozo. McFarlane’s first goal of the season incited an eruption one would have thought reserved for Sunderland or Millon, but the rows of families with graduating players who had made their procession through Senior Day stood tall. They had witnessed a season of surprises, of shock to the system losses and elating upsets, and made it to the other side — far enough to glimpse the conference postseason Virginia had missed in 2025.
“My parents have done so much for me,” senior midfielder Joey Terenzi said. “It means so much seeing them after every good game, every bad game, and everything in between ... my senior class has a lot of memories together, and I'm going to miss it when it's gone.”
Fortunately for Virginia, the chance to continue play in the postseason begins in Charlotte May 1 with the ACC Tournament. In the distance looms the NCAA Tournament, with Championship Weekend slated for Charlottesville’s own Scott Stadium for the first time since 1982 — but the Cavaliers are content to approach each game as it comes, building towards victory at the highest level.
“We're just trying to play our best lacrosse,” Tiffany said. “As we go down to Charlotte, first and foremost, I want to win an ACC tournament … that's what we're striving for right now.”
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