Virginia Men’s Lacrosse 2024 Schedule Breakdown
Last season, Virginia fell to the eventual National Champions of Notre Dame in an overtime heartbreaker in the NCAA semifinals after defeating the Fighting Irish twice in the regular season by a combined nine goals. Now, Lars Tiffany will look to get his squad back to Championship Weekend with aspirations of claiming the program's 8th NCAA National Championship.
Despite this, there are 107 days between Virginia’s first game of the season and their planned appearance on Memorial Day at Lincoln Financial Field. UVA plays four ACC games and a grueling non-conference schedule before playing in the ACC tournament beginning on May 3rd.
If Virginia wants to qualify for the NCAA tournament, I estimate the Hoos can only lose a maximum of four games in the regular season and will need to win two of their four ACC matchups. To back this point, only two teams (Yale and Johns Hopkins) lost four regular season games and made the NCAA tournament last season without an automatic qualifier.
With that said, here's a preview of Virginia's 2024 season, with each opponent rated on a scale of 1-5 based on difficulty.
February 10th | Season Opener Against No. 13 Michigan (Difficulty 4)
The Cavaliers begin their season at home against the reigning Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverines. Alongside their first Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines also knocked off Cornell in the first round of the NCAA tournament and will look to build on their breakthrough 2023 campaign. The biggest threat on this Michigan team is attackman Michael Boehm, who finished with 45 goals and 28 assists. The other weapon on this Michigan team is faceoff specialist Justin Wietfeldt, who finished fourth in the country in faceoff percentage last season at 64.5% and can make the absence of Petey LaSalla felt from the opening whistle of the season.
February 17th | At No. 20 Richmond (Difficulty 3)
Last season, the Cavaliers handily defeated Richmond 25-8 in the regular season before a 17-8 victory in the NCAA first round. Despite this, the Spiders did defeat the Cavaliers the last time the two teams played in Richmond back in 2022, and, therefore, should not be overlooked as Virginia’s first road game of the season.
February 25th | Home Against Ohio State (Difficulty 3)
Virginia crushed Ohio State 17-6 in Naples, Florida, last year and will look to do the same this season. The biggest threat for this Ohio State team that could prove problematic is transfer faceoff specialist Tommy Burke, who finished third in faceoff win percentage last season at Vermont. Despite this, the Buckeyes lost their top point producer, Jack Myers, leaving a hole in an offense that already struggled last season.
March 2nd | Home Against No. 6 Johns Hopkins (Difficulty 4.5)
The Blue Jays return their top six point scorers from last season and will be a team to watch this Spring. Last season, the team finished 30th in scoring offense, but with the entire offense returning, this squad has the potential to take big strides in 2024. Look out for midfielder Matt Collison to make a massive leap after registering 64 goals, and 49 assists this summer in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL). On the other side of the field, the Blue Jays bring in First-Team All-Ivy League goaltender Chayse Ierlan from Cornell as the Blue Jays will be looking to claim the Doyle Smith Cup for the first time since 2018.
March 5th | Home Against Robert Morris and
March 9th | At Towson (Combined Difficulty 2)
Neither of these teams finished last season with a winning record and should serve as two easier games in a long season. The biggest threat about these two teams is that these two games will close out a stretch of three games in eight days.
March 16th | Away Against No. 5 Maryland (Difficulty 5)
The big one. Virginia has lost to Maryland in all three matchups since defeating the Terrapins in the 2021 National Championship. Last year, the Hoos fell to Maryland in overtime and will be looking for revenge against their old ACC foe. The Terrapins return seven of their eight leading point scorers from last season, led by Braden Erksa, who led the team with 48 points. To add, this offensive group adds Mike Phipps as their new offensive coordinator from Navy as Maryland looks to make a run after an upset loss to Army in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
In addition to the Terrapins' high-powered offense, their defense led by Ajax Zappitello and either Brian Ruppel or Logan McNaney in the cage will be a daunting task for the Virginia offense. The battle between Connor Shellenberger and Zappitello has been a headline of every matchup over the last few years, and the outcome of that matchup usually serves as a good indicator of how the game plays out.
March 19th | Home Against Albany and
March 23rd | Home Against Drexel (Combined Difficulty 2.5)
After a grueling matchup against Maryland, the Hoos return home to host two teams that both failed to produce a single top-15 win last season. Albany finished with a 6-10 record, while Drexel finished 8-6. Neither team made the tournament last season and should serve as confidence builders heading into ACC play.
March 30th | Away Against Harvard (Difficulty 3.5)
Last season, Virginia defeated Harvard 25-21 in a game that broke the record for most faceoffs. The Crimson bring back five of their six leading point scorers, led by attackman Sam King, after finishing with a 5-7 record last season. Despite this, Harvard upset Cornell in Cambridge last year, showing they are capable of upsetting high-caliber opponents on their home turf.
April 6th | Home Against No. 20 North Carolina (Difficulty 4)
North Carolina is the first of four straight ACC games to close out the regular season. Head coach Joe Breschi adds new assistant coach Jon Thompson, the ex-Amherst head coach who will be responsible for the offense. The Tar Heels also welcome No. 1 rated freshman Owen Duffy to their offense, who will join the duo of Logan McGovern and Lance Tillman, who combined for 94 points last season.
Defensively, North Carolina adds assistant coach Dave Pietramala, who comes over from Syracuse and will look to bolster this defense led by defensemen Andrew Geppert, Paul Barton, and four-year starting goalie Collin Krieg. With lots of returning players and a rejuvenated and experienced coaching staff, the Tar Heels will look to improve after finishing 1-5 in the ACC last season, including a 19-12 loss against Virginia in Chapel Hill.
April 13th | Away Against No. 2 Duke (Difficulty 5)
The Cavaliers have not defeated the Blue Devils in the regular season since 2004 and will only have one chance to do so this year. Duke is led by Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill, who headlines a Duke squad that only loses two starters. To add to the firepower that finished 5th in scoring offense in 2023, the Blue Devils add Michigan's all-time leading scorer, Josh Zawada, and Princeton attackman Alex Slusher.
Defensively, defensemen Kenny Brower, Tyler Carpenter, Will Frisoli, and goalkeeper Will Helm return to lead the charge. The group finished 17th last season in scoring defense and is expected to improve with much of the group returning.
Lastly, the group returns first-team All-American faceoff specialist Jake Naso to round out a Duke team that is determined to return to Championship Weekend and will be a huge test for the Cavaliers on the road.
April 20th | Away Against No. 9 Syracuse (Difficulty 4.5)
Syracuse is headlined by the 2023 ACC freshman of the year, Joey Spallina, who had a prolific summer in the OJLL and will once again be the focal point of the Orange offense. After missing the tournament last season, Syracuse has added Princeton transfer midfielders Sam English and Jake Stevens, who will bring instant impact and playoff experience. Additionally, this offense adds Christian Mule from Lehigh, who finished third in assists last season in all of Division I.
This Syracuse team also grabbed three defenders in the transfer portal and Mason Kohn, the Division III Faceoff Specialist of the Year. To round out Gary Gait’s squad, goalie Will Mark returns after finishing 11th in save percentage last year. This team has the potential to be dangerous if they can put all the pieces together.
April 27th Regular Season Finale at Home Against No. 1 Notre Dame (Difficulty 5)
As mentioned earlier, Virginia defeated Notre Dame twice in the regular season yet fell to them when it mattered most in the NCAA semifinals. Notre Dame loses two-way midfielder Brian Tevlin, defenseman Chris Fake, and LSM Jose Boyer, but returns almost every other piece of their first National Championship-winning squad.
The team is headlined by brothers Pat and Chris Kavanagh, joined by Jake Taylor on an attack line that led the Fighting Irish to the third-best scoring offense in the country. At the midfield, Eric Dobson netted four goals against Virginia in the semifinal.
Defensively, All-American goalie Liam Entenmann will headline this squad that finished sixth in scoring defense last year and adds close defenseman BJ Burlace from Maryland and SSDM Danny Parker from Virginia.
Despite all of this, Virginia defeated Notre Dame twice last season and is capable of doing it once again.
After Notre Dame, Virginia will play in the ACC tournament with the semifinal on May 3rd and final on May 5th, assuming they are a top-four team in the ACC. After that, Virginia has a shot at the NCAA tournament with the first round on the weekend of May 11th and 12th. The quarterfinals will be held on May 18th and 19th in Hempstead, New York, and Towson, Maryland. As always, Championship Weekend will be on Memorial Day Weekend, with the NCAA semifinals taking place on May 25th and the national title game following on Monday, May 27th at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
UVA opens the 2024 college lacrosse season against Michigan on Saturday, February 10th at Klöckner Stadium.
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