Men’s Lax: No. 5 Cavaliers host Hoyas for spot in NCAA quarterfinal round

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 5 seed Virginia hosts Georgetown on Sunday evening in the eighth and final first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament. Opening faceoff from Klöckner Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).

Coming off its eighth consecutive Big East championship, the Hoyas (10-4) enter Sunday’s contest as one of three Division I teams carrying at least a seven-game win streak into NCAA Tournament play.

Parking for Sunday’s first-round game is free to the public in all lots surrounding John Paul Jones Arena, including the JPJ garage. Overflow parking is available in the Emmet-Ivy Garage (hourly rates apply, see parking map here).

VIRGINIA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Sunday’s game marks Virginia’s 44th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 98th NCAA Tournament game.
Only Johns Hopkins (50) and Maryland (47) have made more NCAA Tournament appearances than UVA.
The Cavaliers are 61-36 (.629) all-time in NCAA Tournament games and have won 13 of their last 16 tournament contests dating back to 2019.
Only Johns Hopkins (73), Maryland (76) and Syracuse (68) have more NCAA Tournament wins than Virginia.

If you want even more award-winning coverage on the UVA athletics department, including its nationally-ranked football and basketball programs, be sure to subscribe to “Cavalier Exclusive” to follow all of Virginia Sports Hall Of Famer Jerry “Hootie” Ratcliffe’s analysis and content. It’s the best in the business for Wahoo Fans!

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD …

Mark UVA’s 18th in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers are 17-7 all-time in such contests.
Improve their all-time record in NCAA Tournament games to 62-36, including 16-3 at Klöckner Stadium.
Improve their all-time series record with the Hoyas to 7-0, including 5-0 in NCAA Tournament games, dating back to the 2003 NCAA quarterfinals, the inaugural meeting of the series.
Send the Hoos to their 37th NCAA quarterfinals all-time.
Mark UVA’s first in the NCAA Tournament since defeating Johns Hopkins in double overtime at the 2024 NCAA quarterfinals in Towson, Md.

SERIES HISTORY

Virginia (10-6) leads the all-time series, 6-0, over the Hoyas.
Four of UVA’s six wins in the series have come in the NCAA Tournament, including the most recent meeting in the 2023 NCAA quarterfinals at UAlbany.
All four prior NCAA Tournament meetings between the Cavaliers and Hoyas (2003, 2006, 2021 and 2023) have come in the quarterfinals round. UVA went on to win national championships in 2003, 2006 and 2021.
At the 2023 quarterfinals, Connor Shellenberger (6g, 4a) totaled 10 points in UVA’s 17-14 win over seventh-seeded Georgetown, tying Conor Gill’s program NCAA Tournament single-game record set against Cornell in 2002. His six goals also matched UVA’s NCAA Tournament single-game record, previously set by Doug Knight (1995 vs. Brown) and Mikey Herring (2019 vs. Robert Morris).
It also marked the second six-goal performance for Shellenberger against the Hoyas in the NCAA Tournament, having done so in 2021.
In 2021, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers advanced to Championship Weekend after UVA scored nine straight goals in the first half to knock off then-No. 5 seed Georgetown, 14-3. UVA’s three goals-allowed tied its NCAA Tournament single-game best. In addition to six goals, Shellenberger logged an assist. After helping UVA to its seventh NCAA title, he was named the 2021 NCAA Tournament’s most outstanding player.
The 2021 Cavaliers held Georgetown’s Jake Carraway scoreless. He had the nation’s longest active goal-scoring streak entering the game at 44 games.
In the 2006 meeting, the Cavaliers exploded for nine goals in the third quarter to ultimately secure the largest win in series history. Ben Rubeor scored five goals and Matt Ward set UVA series records with five assists and eight points. Kip Turner also recorded a dozen saves before the Wahoos eventually capped a 17-0 season with a national championship at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.).
In the 2003 quarterfinals, John Christmas scored three goals and Tillman Johnson made 15 saves as the Cavaliers prevailed, 12-7, in the inaugural victory despite winning just seven of 30 faceoffs.

SCOUTING THE HOYAS

Princeton (8), Army (7) and Georgetown (7) are the only three Division I teams with an active win streak of at least seven games.
GU went 5-0 in Big East regular-season play before winning both of its conference tournament games to capture its eighth consecutive Big East crown.
Like the Cavaliers, the Hoyas are toward the top of a number of statistical categories nationally, most notably on offense. GU is fifth in assists (8.79/gm), seventh in man-down defense (.774), ninth in points (21.86) and shooting percentage (.333), 10th in scoring margin (3.64/gm), 11th in scoring offense, and 12th in scoring defense (9.43/gm) and win percentage (.714).
Georgetown attackman Liam Connor leads the nation in assists (3.64/gm) and is fifth in points (5.14/gm). His brother Rory Connor leads the Big East and is fourth nationally in goals (3.57/gm) and second in the Big East in points (4.50/gm).
Hoya goaltender Anderson Moore is 11th nationally in save percentage (.561) and 13th in goals-against average (9.50/gm). Both marks are good for second among all Big East netminders.
The Hoyas are led by head coach Kevin Warne, who is in his 14th season on the Hilltop. The five-time Big East Coach of the Year was also recognized with the F. Morris Touchstone Award as the 2021 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division I Coach of the Year.

ON THE HORIZON

The winner of Virginia–Georgetown advances to face Duke (10-4) in the quarterfinals at Delaware Stadium (Newark, Del.) next Sunday (May 17). The Blue Devils scored the final five goals to rally and upset No. 4 seed Richmond Saturday night, 14-12. On April 4, the Cavaliers secured their first regular-season win over the Blue Devils since 2004 – a 14-10 road decision.

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