Virginia Leads ACC Men's Lacrosse Awards and All-Conference Team
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced the 2022 ACC Men's Lacrosse season awards and All-ACC Team on Thursday and Virginia won three of the four awards and placed five players on the all-conference team.
Lars Tiffany was voted ACC Coach of the Year, Cole Kastner was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Matthew Nunes was chosen as the ACC Freshman of the Year. North Carolina's Chris Gray was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year.
2022 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year – Chris Gray, Gr., A, North Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year – Cole Kastner, So., D, Virginia
Freshman of the Year – Matthew Nunes, G, Virginia
Coach of the Year – Lars Tiffany, Virginia
Cole Kastner has had a fantastic sophomore season and becomes the first Cavalier ever to win ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Kastner leads the ACC and is seventh in the country with 2.0 caused turnovers per game (28 total). He has also scooped 23 ground balls and scored two goals this season. Kastner was twice named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week and is also one of just three defensive players in the country nominated for the Tewaaraton Award.
Freshman Matthew Nunes has delivered one of the most impressive rookie goalie seasons in the history of Virginia lacrosse. Nunes has recorded 132 saves, fifth-most ever recorded by a UVA freshman goalie. His 11.12 goals against average is second-best in the ACC and he was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions this season. Nunes is just the second goalie in program history to be named Freshman of the Year, joining Tillman Johnson in 2001.
Lars Tiffany is the ACC Coach of the Year for the second time (2019). Virginia went 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the ACC this season to claim a share of the ACC Championship. The Cavaliers are back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-consecutive tournament under Tiffany and are seeking their third-straight national championship.
Virginia placed five players on the 2022 Men's Lacrosse All-ACC Team: attackmen Connor Shellenberger and Matt Moore, midfielder Jeff Conner, defenseman Cole Kastner, and faceoff specialist Petey LaSalla. UVA is tied with Duke for most All-ACC honorees with five.
2022 Men’s Lacrosse All-ACC Team
A – Chris Gray, Gr., North Carolina
A – Connor Shellenberger, So., Virginia
A – Pat Kavanagh, Jr., Notre Dame
A – Brennan O’Neill, So., Duke
A – Tucker Dordevic, Jr., Syracuse
A – Matt Moore, Gr., Virginia
M – Brendan Curry, Gr., Syracuse
M – Eric Dobson, So., Notre Dame
M – Jeff Conner, Sr., Virginia
M – Nakeie Montgomery, Gr., Duke
D – Arden Cohen, Gr., Notre Dame
D – Kenny Brower, Jr., Duke
D – Cole Kastner, So., Virginia
FO – Petey LaSalla, Sr., Virginia
SSM – Connor Maher, Sr., North Carolina
LSM – Tyler Carpenter, Jr., Duke
G – Liam Entenmann, So., Notre Dame
G – Mike Adler, Gr., Duke
Virginia is set to begin its quest for a third-consecutive national championship when the Cavaliers play at No. 8 seed Brown on Saturday at 7:30pm in Providence.
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