The territory is more familiar than ever. Virginia men’s lacrosse is back in the postseason for the seventh time under Lars Tiffany’s leadership, where they will face Georgetown in their first game Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Should Virginia advance past the Hoyas (10-4, 5-0 Big East), they will play either No. 4 Richmond or Duke in Newark, Del. May 17. A victory there would bring the Cavaliers back to Charlottesville with the opportunity to take the national championship trophy in front of a home crowd, Memorial Day weekend.
Virginia will be riding into the NCAA tournament match after a weekend trip to Charlotte, N.C., where the lacrosse squad vanquished the Queen City ghosts that had plagued the football and men’s basketball teams. The defeat of North Carolina 16-6 in the ACC Championship avenged a regular-season overtime loss and added to a dazzling resume for the selection committee to consider.
Georgetown found themselves in the tournament field by virtue of their thorough domination in Big East conference play, easily beating Providence Saturday 14-6 to win the conference for the eighth straight time. The Hoyas are headlined by graduate attacker Rory Connor, who has notched 50 goals and 13 assists on the season en route to a Tewaaraton nomination.
Georgetown is not a one-man team, though. Nine different Hoyas scored goals in their conference championship victory, showcasing their ability to share the ball.
Where Virginia can beat Georgetown starts at the faceoff. The Hoyas only won nine of 23 faceoffs in their conference championship match, a number that does not hold up to Virginia’s unit. Against North Carolina Sunday and especially faceoff phenom junior specialist Brady Wambach, Virginia won the faceoff battle, going 13 for 25. The Cavaliers also vastly outpaced the Tar Heels in collecting ground balls 41-24, another statistic in which Georgetown trailed their opponent.
If Virginia collects a win Sunday, they will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play the victor of Richmond and Duke on a neutral field in Newark, Del. The Blue Devils will be well-rested after finishing last in the conference and missing out on the ACC Tournament, but their opponent is no slouch.
Richmond is a powerful team that Virginia has already faced — and fallen to — once this season. Meanwhile, the Spiders’ (14-1, 6-0 A-10) only loss this season was to a neutral-site match against Notre Dame in Chicago. Richmond has two Tewaaraton nominees in senior attacker Aidan O’Neil and senior defender Hunter Smith, both names to watch for if Virginia plays them.
Duke also fields a solid squad, though one that was “on the bubble” for the tournament given their out-of-conference schedule that some considered rather weak. Virginia beat the Blue Devils (9-4, 1-3 ACC) in a literal demon-exorcising, streak-breaking victory in early April, and the Cavaliers might hope to repeat the same formula.
That match at the time was viewed by some as an upset by Virginia. If Duke and Virginia were to advance this time, the shoe — or the lacrosse cleat — would be on the other foot, with the Cavaliers likely to be favored in a rematch.
The inclusion of Duke in the tournament does make for a notable feat for the Atlantic Coast Conference, in that every single team in the conference made the tournament for the first time in five years. Although partially attributable to the small size of ACC men’s lacrosse, no other conference has come anywhere close.
Some teams will find themselves on flights and lengthy travel schedules, but Virginia holds the advantage of only needing to make one trip for the remainder of the postseason — to Newark, Del. for the quarterfinals if they make it. If they do so, they will return home to play at Scott Stadium, which is hosting both the semifinals and finals for the Final Four weekend.
If Virginia finds themselves victorious in the quarterfinals, their next opponent would be one of five teams. The most likely is No. 1 overall seed Princeton, who won the Ivy League and have been generally dominant all season. Since the tournament was expanded in 2003, No. 1 seeds are 22-0 in the first round, and have made 21 semifinal appearances.
If an upset occurs, the Cavaliers will meet one of several other teams. Vying for the right to play Princeton in the opening round are Stony Brook and Marist, two teams coming off of conference championship victories but unlikely to advance much beyond what is functionally a play-in game.
No. 8 Penn State and Army West Point are the two remaining schools on that side of the bracket. Both of these teams are conference champions as well, of the Big Ten and Patriot League respectively.
Regardless of who Virginia faces beyond the opening game, the revival of the season is something to admire for Virginia fans. Following the agonizing triple-overtime loss to Maryland, Coach Lars Tiffany said “We just turned our season around.”
Much hoopla has been made of that quote, which has rang true in the second half of the season as the Cavaliers crashed back into the rankings, upset top teams and hoisted the conference tournament trophy for the first time since 2019.
Virginia is back. They have done it before — and maybe, just maybe, they have a chance to do it again.
The match against the Hoyas is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, and will be televised on ESPNU. Those interested in viewing who the Cavaliers might face in the next round will be able to watch Richmond take on Duke, which will be starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and is also viewable on ESPNU.
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