Friday’s rematch against No. 1 seed Notre Dame gave No. 4 seed Virginia a chance to bounce back and improve upon its performance from last weekend — one riddled by small mistakes from the Cavaliers (10-5, 1-3 ACC) as the Fighting Irish (11-1, 4-0 ACC) rallied late in the game to win 11-9. Instead, Notre Dame put on a show, scoring six goals in the first quarter and holding the lead the entire game on its way to an 18-9 win in the ACC Tournament semifinals in Charlotte, N.C.’s American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Virginia’s mistakes last week were in the 51-26 ground ball shortage and in a succession of failed clears. The Cavaliers did better in both departments Friday, keeping the ground ball margin of defeat to 30-25, clearing 24 of 25 and committing only 12 turnovers.
On a lighter note, graduate attackman Connor Shellenberger and graduate attackman Payton Cormier both broke ACC records. Shellenberger became the all-time conference assist leader, with 185 career assists, making two assists despite being held scoreless. Cormier became the all-time goals leader, with 214 career goals, finishing the day with three goals and one assist.
In the first quarter, Notre Dame set a precedent for the entire game with four consecutive goals in under six minutes. Halfway into the quarter, Cormier put Virginia on the scoreboard with an unassisted shot, his 53rd goal of the season. The Fighting Irish scored two more in the quarter, and the remaining time was spent battling back and forth. Notre Dame led, 6-1, at the end of the quarter.
“Definitely not how you want to start any lacrosse game," graduate midfielder Chase Yager said. "We played them so well last weekend. And coming into this weekend, we were trying to recreate some of that. They responded well to that.”
After winning the opening faceoff in the second quarter, the Cavaliers continued to look for opportunities. Graduate attackman Jack Boyden collected the rebound from his own shot and passed to Cormier, who fed sophomore midfielder Joey Terenzi for the score. Later, freshman attackman McCabe Millon shot and scored his 34th goal of the season. For every one goal Virginia made, though, the Fighting Irish scored two. The half ended with the Cavaliers trailing 10-3.
To open the second half, Cormier scored early on, establishing himself as the all-time goals leader. Notre Dame went on to score four more while Virginia struggled for the remainder of the quarter, which ended at 14-4.
Junior midfielder Griffin Schutz was the first to score in the fourth quarter, but the Fighting Irish answered with three goals. In the final five minutes of the game, Virginia outscored its opponent 3-1, with goals from Millon, sophomore attackman Ryan Colsey and junior attackman Thomas Mencke. However, this effort was not enough as the game ended 18-9 and Notre Dame headed to the ACC Tournament final.
From start to finish, the Fighting Irish were in control of the game. Coach Lars Tiffany noted Notre Dame graduate goalie Liam Entenmann’s outstanding performance, saying he was “lights out,” while also talking about his team’s performance.
"We just weren't able to take away what they were trying to do," Tiffany said. "We had a really poor defensive effort. What we were able to do this past Saturday in Charlottesville, we just weren't able to repeat here."
In the end, Tiffany and his team want to continue playing. With veterans like Shellenberger, Cormier, Boyden and graduate defenseman Mitchell Whalen, this will be their final run in collegiate lacrosse.
“I just want to keep playing,” Tiffany said. “If the RPI says we’re [at] home and the committee wants to make us [play] at home, we’d be very grateful to play in front of our faithful. We have the best fans in the nation and that’s why I want to apologize to our fans. This is not what they should expect from Virginia lacrosse.”
Looking ahead, this loss puts Virginia’s seed for the NCAA Tournament up in the air, muddying the question of whether the Cavaliers will be able to play at home. The Cavaliers’ fate will be determined during the Division I men's lacrosse selection show Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
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