Back-to-back losing seasons for the Cavaliers have left a storied program in a state of confusion entering this campaign.
After the opening whistle it was clear that Loyola (0-2, 0-0 Patriot League) was no match for the talented Virginia (2-0, 0-0 ACC) squad as the Cavaliers cruised to a 6-0 victory.
While Virginia certainly would have liked to capitalize more on their opportunities, the dominance on both sides of the field is a positive sign for the team moving forward.
New opponents and rising programs within the conference will challenge the Cavaliers in their third go-around with senior quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
Many believe that the sport is moving into a new age of ‘mega-conferences’, where the Big Ten and SEC both expand further and become the dominant forces in college football.
The Cavaliers had a number of strong performances across the five days of competition, earning at least one top-three finish every night including a total of four gold medals.
Among the featured teams and athletes, news surrounding football, track and field, swimming and diving, basketball and women’s soccer has surfaced.
After helping Virginia women’s swimming and diving to its second consecutive national championship, three Cavalier swimmers returned to action to compete at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest to represent the United States.
The Cavaliers earned various accomplishments and accolades, the greatest of which came from sophomore thrower Claudio Romero, who won an NCAA Championship in the discus throw event.
The 90,000 square foot facility is set to be completed by spring of 2024 and will represent a significant upgrade from the McCue Center — the football program’s current facility that is severely outdated and has been in use since 1991.
These graduating athletes have combined to win five national championships in four years — a historic achievement — and many of the programs that didn’t win national championships shook off years of failure and made deep runs into the postseason.
This was the first title for Coach Andres Pedroso at the helm of the program.
Although Florida State jumped out to a 5-0 lead, Virginia would whittle it down to just two in the seventh inning before ultimately running out of outs and failing to complete the rally.
The Cavaliers were helped by an eight-point effort by sophomore attacker Connor Shellenberger and five goals by junior attacker Payton Cormier to pick up a convincing win against the Bears.
The Cavaliers have now won all of their NCAA Championship matches by the same score of 4-0 and will play No. 2 Florida in the quarterfinal.
The future of the program was on full display in Chapel Hill N.C., with freshman midfielder Rachel Clark and freshman attacker Kate Miller combining for nine points and propelling the Cavaliers to the second round.
The selection to the NCAA Tournament comes on the heels of a massive 18-14 ACC quarterfinal victory against No. 5 Syracuse, a team to which they lost to 17-11 at home during the regular season.
The Cavaliers enter this postseason in search of their third consecutive NCAA Championship while the Bears look to continue their impressive season after becoming the Ivy League regular-season champions.
The Cavaliers were led by Sambach and Cleary who both finished tied for fifth place with a 2-over 215 in the tournament.
In order to have hopes of hearing their name called for the NCAA Tournament, the Cavaliers first have to get past third-seeded Florida State on Thursday.
