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What are the Keys to a Virginia Lacrosse Win Over No. 1 Notre Dame?

Can Virginia find a way to defeat No. 1 Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament?
Aidan Baller|
Virginia Athletics

After a decisive win over Drexel to close the regular season, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team travels to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the ACC Tournament, where the Hoos open up their postseason against No. 1 Notre Dame. In the first meeting, the Cavaliers defeated the Fighting Irish 11-9, with Brendan Millon scoring the go-ahead goal with 3:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. The loss was Notre Dame’s lone of the season as they’ve picked up wins over No. 3 Richmond, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 6 Syracuse, and No. 11 Duke since facing Virginia.

That said, ahead of the Hoos matchup, here are five keys to a Virginia victory on Friday night:

Establishing Dominance at the X

Last time out against Notre Dame, the Hoos dominated the faceoff x, winning 13 of 23 draws, with Notre Dame transfer Andrew Greenspan leading the way, winning 9 of 15 draws. Henry Metz also showed up, winning 4 of his 7 draws. On the other side, Notre Dame had Tyler Spano taking the majority of the draws as his counterpart, Aidan Diaz-Matos, was out with an injury. Last week against Syracuse, Diaz-Matos won 4 of his 7 draws and will definitely add a new element to this faceoff battle between the two squads.

Additionally, Spano has heated up since his trip to Charlottesville, as he went 13/21 last weekend against Syracuse. As for the Hoos, freshman Griff Meyer has also found solid form heading into this weekend, going 9 of 13 last week against Drexel and winning six draws against North Carolina’s Brady Wambach, who many have touted as the best in the country. In a game that will likely be close, every possession will matter.

Jake Marek Rising to the Occasion

Another reason for the Hoos' upset win over Notre Dame in late March was the heroic performance of goalie Jake Marek, who made 9 saves and posted a .55 save percentage. Marek, once again rising to the occasion, will be critical when you look at Notre Dame’s goaltender Thomas Ricciardelli. Since the loss to Virginia, Ricciardelli has posted three 13+ save performances, including a 17-save outing in a 7-6 win over Duke. Ricciardelli has bailed out his squad on multiple occasions, likely meaning that if Virginia wants to win, Marek will need to do the same. As a tidbit, Marek will be facing former teammate Josh Yago, who leads the Fighting Irish in points, as he has 22 goals and 8 assists.

Running in Transition and Winning the Unsettled Situations

In the overtime loss to North Carolina, the Cavaliers dominated the groundball battle 38-31 despite losing the faceoff battle 23-10. If you remove the faceoff groundballs, Virginia won about 75% of the non-faceoff groundballs, which is an absurd statistic. The Hoos used these unsettled situations to create goals, such as the game-tying goal from Ryan Duenkel, which started with a groundball from Brendan Millon.

The Hoos who are expected to have LSM Robby Hopper back on Friday should also look to push transition, something they’ve thrived in as a team all year. Alongside Hopper, midfielders Joey Terenzi and Hudson Hausmann have served as catalysts in creating these transition goals and last-second scores. This season, Joey Terenzi has a buzzer-beater assist and a buzzer-beater goal, with the latter coming in the third quarter against Notre Dame, which sparked a three-goal run for the Hoos to close the game. In May, every goal matters.

The Virginia Offense Continues to Roll

The Cavaliers will be facing the No. 3 defense as the Fighting Irish have allowed 8.27 goals per game. Although Virginia had success the first time around, expect this to be an even tougher challenge. Expect to see Notre Dame’s best defender, Shawn Lyght, matched up on Brendan Millon the entire game. Lyght alternated between McCabe and Brendan in the first matchup, but expect him to attempt to blanket Brendan whose served as Virginia’s primary initiator the past few games. Besides Brendan, look for McCabe Millon, Truitt Sunderland, Ryan Colsey, and Ryan Duenkel to all get involved.

With one of those four always guaranteed a short stick defender, this offense is more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard against Notre Dame if they can get shots past Ricciardelli. With potential tough battles at the faceoff X, being efficient and effective offensively will be key for the Cavaliers.

Limit the Penalties But Maintain Physicality

The Hoos should have defeated the Tar Heels a couple of weeks ago, but four first-half penalties by Virginia sponsored four-man-up goals for North Carolina as part of a seven-goal run. The early penalties put Virginia in a hole after leading 3-0 to start the game, which forced the Cavaliers to battle back instead of playing ahead. Moving forward, cleaning the penalties but maintaining physicality will be critical if Virginia wants to win games this ACC Tournament and make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

Opening faceoff is set for 5pm on ACC Network.

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Aidan Baller
AIDAN BALLER

Aidan has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since January of 2023 and covers UVA football, basketball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse. He is from New York and is currently in his fourth year at the University of Virginia, enrolled in the M.S. in Accounting program.

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