The senior class of the Virginia men's lacrosse team reached new heights this weekend in the ACC Tournament. In the semifinals Friday night at College Park, Md., the Cavaliers defeated Duke for the first time in eight games against the Blue Devils.
Moving on to the finals against Maryland, the seniors captured their first conference title by handling the Terrapins 10-6. Sixteen saves by Junior goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman held Maryland to just six goals, though the Terrapins edged Virginia by a nine-shot margin. The effort in the finals, in addition to his play in the semifinals, earned the goalie tournament MVP honors.
Coming into the tournament, Virginia had relinquished its No. 1 ranking after losing to Duke in its most recent contest before the conference rivalry continued just six days later. Nevertheless, the Cavaliers earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament by winning the regular season title with a 2-1 record. And despite their regular season victory against Virginia, the Blue Devils entered the tournament as the four-seed because of losses to Maryland and North Carolina earlier during the season.
During Friday's game, seven different starters and several bench players - the most surprising of which was Ghitelman - contributed goals to the 16-12 victory. Though Duke took an early 4-0 lead, Virginia stormed back with five straight goals to keep the game competitive.
The Cavaliers' scoring streaks were aided by their ability to win faceoffs. Senior midfielder Brian McDermott won 17 of his 19 faceoffs, leading Virginia to a season-high 22 takes on 32 faceoffs.\nVirginia now prepares to face Robert Morris in its last regular season game. The Cavaliers then will head to the NCAA Tournament in hopes of regaining the nation's No. 1 ranking.
-compiled by Jack Bird
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