Men’s Lax: No. 5 Virginia upset by Georgetown in opening round of NCAA Championship, 14-10

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

In the eighth and final first-round game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, fifth-seeded Virginia could not find its footing in wet and dewy conditions Sunday night, falling to Georgetown, 14-10, at Klöckner Stadium to close an up-and-down season that was highlighted by an ACC championship run.

The Hoyas (11-4) used a 5-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to seize control before the Cavaliers trimmed the deficit to one [10-9] late in the third. Georgetown responded by outscoring UVA 4-1 in the fourth quarter to pull away for good.

Hoya goaltender Anderson Moore (11-4) made 15 saves and helped snap UVA’s four-game streak of scoring at least 15 goals. Jack Schubert (3g), Rory Connor (3g, 1a) and Jack Ransom (3g, 1a) each recorded hat tricks for the Hoyas, who advanced to face Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals next Sunday (May 17) at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.

Cavalier senior attackmen Ryan Colsey (2g) and Truitt Sunderland (2g) were UVA’s only multi-goal scorers. Sunderland concluded his career by becoming the program’s ninth player to tally at least 50 goals in a season after finishing with 51 in 17 games this year.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

On the game’s opening possession, UVA netminder Jake Marek (9 saves) picked off a Hoya pass attempt to X before UVA defenseman Tommy Snyder (1a) hit midfielder Lindan Verville (1g) in stride at the midline, who buried his first career goal on the run to electrify the crowd. GU responded by scoring three straight goals toward the middle of the period to take a 3-2 lead. Goals from Brendan Millon (1g, 2a), Chase Band (1g) and Sunderland gave the Hoos a 5-3 lead by the end of the first.

Another transition goal for the Cavaliers – this one from Owen Crann (1g) – doubled up the Hoyas 6-3 nearly four minutes into the second quarter. Moments later, Colsey’s second man-up goal of the year extended UVA’s lead to 7-5. The Hoyas closed out the half by notching three consecutive goals, including two in the final 21 seconds.

Georgetown continued to control play into the third quarter. After committing six turnovers in the period, the Cavaliers finally broke through with 3:11 remaining, ending a scoring drought of more than 20 minutes. With his second assist of the night, Brendan Millon (1g, 2a) fittingly connected with his brother, McCabe Millon (1g, 2a), on a crease cut to break Connor Shellenberger’s UVA freshman assist record. McCabe then buried a goal with 19 seconds left in the quarter to trim Georgetown’s lead to 10-9 entering the fourth.

After Brendan Millon’s record-setting assist, the Cavaliers (10-7) managed just one goal the rest of the way. With time winding down, UVA ramped up its defensive pressure, forcing eight Georgetown turnovers in the fourth quarter, but six turnovers of its own thwarted the comeback effort. The Hoyas capitalized with a pair of empty-net goals late in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

A total of 4,137 spectators were on hand for Sunday’s game, the largest at Klöckner Stadium for an NCAA Tournament first-round game since the tournament expanded in 2003 to include at least 16 teams.
It’s also the 15th-best first-round attendance figure among all NCAA Division I Tournament games in that span.
Virginia made its 44th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and Sunday’s contest is its 98th NCAA Tournament game all-time.
Only Johns Hopkins (50) and Maryland (47) have made more NCAA Tournament appearances than UVA.
Senior Ryan Colsey extended his goal streak to 31 games dating back to last year’s season opener, a span in which he’s totaled 65 goals.
With two assists, Brendan Millon set UVA’s freshman record, previously held by Connor Shellenberger (42) in 2021. Millon, the ACC Freshman of the Year, finished his freshman campaign with 43 assists.
Attackman Truitt Sunderland finished with 51 goals to become only the ninth 50-goal scorer in program single-season history. In 58 career games, Sunderland amassed 95 goals and 47 assists.

FROM HEAD COACH LARS TIFFANY

“I feel like I need to apologize to our fanbase. The ups and downs of this season will give you an ulcer, a headache, or whatever. We can play some great lacrosse at times and unfortunately today was one of those we [didn’t] put our best foot forward. Granted, Georgetown’s a very good team. Their goalie kept stoning us. Anderson Moore really stepped up when they needed him today.

“Too many turnovers by us. Just so grateful for all the people who stuck through it with us when we weren’t very good in the early part of the season and supported us through ACC play. But yeah, this is certainly disappointing. This isn’t too the level that Virginia lacrosse is supposed to be at.

“The fight – I love this team. It was really hard in there saying goodbye to some guys who won’t play again … I’m a very lucky man to coach such warriors.”

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