“We're just trying to play our best lacrosse,” Tiffany said. “As we go down to Charlotte, first and foremost, I want to win an ACC tournament … that's what we're striving for right now.”
“Odds [were] it's got to break at some point,” Tiffany said. “We're fortunate today to get ours and see what happens the next time we see Duke.”
“There’s something that I’ve seen with this team grow in the last couple weeks,” Tiffany said. “A belief is growing.”
No. 1 Notre Dame walked into Klöckner Stadium on Saturday the premier team in the country, preparing to steamroll the weakest of their four ACC foes on their home field.
With the days of back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2019 and 2021 now far in the rearview, after four bumpy losses, Virginia looks to claw back into conference contention
“Our coaching staff is thrilled with the energy, effort, and performance of our men tonight,” Coach Tiffany said. “We love challenges, and certainly playing two games in three days presents such a challenge.”
“I liked our physicality,” Tiffany said. “We like it when it's aggressive … We like our man-down defense, so [we] want to play a physical game.”
An 11 a.m. matchup Saturday against Utah in Scott Stadium will see Will Inderlied land in unexpected territory — his first time playing in the venue his father once did.
“It was really a surprise to tell you the truth,” Tiffany said. “As I was running out of LaValle Stadium, somebody from the Stony Brook administration said something … that was a special moment.”
“I told the team, ‘Fellas, it's so much easier to point towards a win when we turn the season around, but we're going to remember this through the pain and hurt of this losing locker room right now — this is when we turned the season around,” Tiffany said. “We took a huge step today.”
In order to avoid a season similar to last year’s 6-8 final record — the first losing season of Lars Tiffany’s 10-year tenure at Virginia — the Cavaliers must find a way to win this afternoon in College Park, Md.
“It’s always hard to say, did we not shoot well, or did the goalie have a great day?” Tiffany said. “Probably both — it’s the easy, cop-out answer, but it's probably the truth.”
The Cavaliers were up 2-0. They were up 5-1. They were up 8-3. They were up 11-4. They were up 12-8. Games are not won on the basis of the score during or at the end of the first, second, or third quarter, though.
This year figures to be another heavyweight clash, as Virginia boasts a high-powered offense averaging just under 17 goals a contest, while Johns Hopkins has shown to have the stingier defense.
It is evident that the roster is deep with talent for scoring the ball, and having two distributors in both Millon brothers is paying dividends for setting up scoring opportunities on a silver platter.
