Round Robin: Predicting the 2025 UVA Men's Lacrosse Season

The 2025 Virginia men's lacrosse season is right around the corner. Just a few weeks remain before Lars Tiffany's Cavaliers will take the field at Klockner Stadium to officially begin their latest campaign to return to Championship Weekend. As we continue to preview the upcoming season, three members of the Virginia Cavaliers On SI writing staff - William Smythe, Aidan Baller, and Matt Newton - are going to answer some questions to preview and predict the 2025 UVA men's lacrosse season.

Who is Virginia’s X-Factor in 2025?

William Smythe: Sophomore midfielder Joey Terenzi. A Swiss Army Knife, the former five-star recruit redshirted his first year in Charlottesville and debuted as a two-way midfielder for the ‘Hoos last season. Terenzi has all the makings of the next Ryan Conrad — a two-way unicorn with a nose for ground balls. Last spring, Terenzi scooped 27 balls off of the carpet and scored nine goals; moreover, he’s a “juice” player who can cash in on transition opportunities. Virginia didn’t ask too much of its midfielders with Shellenberger and Millon the primary initiators, yet the offense won’t hum next season without a leap from that group. Expect Terenzi to play both ways again while complementing senior long-stick midfielder Ben Wayer on the face-off wings. Virginia — known for its ground-ball prowess — has those two vacuums at its disposal.

Aidan Baller: I give the nod to John Schroter, who steps into the fold as Virginia’s number-one cover guy in 2025, following in the footsteps of recent greats Cole Kastner and Cade Saustad. Schroter stands at 6’5 225 pounds, perfectly fitting the mold of a Lars Tiffany velociraptor defender. In 2024, Schroter recorded 28 groundballs and 17 caused turnovers (CTO), including an impressive five groundball and three CTO day in the season opener against Michigan. Schroter will be guarding each team’s best player, which will include Chris Kavanagh (Notre Dame), Joey Spallina (Syracuse), Andrew McAdorey (Duke), and Braden Erksa (Maryland). If the junior rises to the occasion each and every time, it quickly turns the Cavaliers into an instant threat to win the ACC and see themselves playing at the end of May.

Matt Newton: Since my two colleagues chose X-Factors at midfield and defense, I'll go with a player who needs to have a breakout season in order to help fill Virginia's massive void on the attack line. With Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier gone, McCabe Millon stands as the only returning starting attackman on this year's UVA roster. There are a few potential candidates to slide in alongside Millon, but I'm picking Ryan Colsey as the X-Factor and potential breakout star for this season. After redshirting in 2023, Colsey started on UVA's first midfield unit most of the 2024 campaign and registered 23 points on 19 goals and four assists. He scored a goal in all but two of Virginia's games last season, making him one of the most consistent scorers from the midfield. Following a productive summer spent playing box lacrosse in Canada, where he won a Junior A title, Colsey seems poised to take a leap in 2025 and the Cavaliers absolutely need him to do just that.

How will the Virginia offense adapt to the losses of Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, and Jack Boyden?

William Smythe: As mentioned earlier, midfield initiation is essential to lighten the burden presumably carried by a second-year Millon. Coach Lars Tiffany nabbed a prolific transfer in the midfield by way of Bryant’s Johnny Hackett — a two-time all-America East selection whose quickness and down-the-alley dodges can keep defenses honest. Another X-factor, senior Griffin Schutz has to boost his production and further limit the turnovers if Virginia wants another shot at a National Championship. Schutz — a bruising dodger — provides a mismatch in the midfield and requires early slides from the defense. He’s a tremendously high-impact player who can impose his will and shift the eyes of the defense away from off-ball activity. If the midfield plays up to its billing, the Cavaliers can at least chip away at the holes left by Shellenberger and Cormier at attack.

Aidan Baller: The losses of these three players mark the start of a new era of Virginia men’s lacrosse, the Millon era, with McCabe Millon set to be the primary quarterback in 2025, with his brother Brendan joining the Hoos next season. With Millon set to draw a heavy presence behind the goal, expect Virginia to initiate much more from the midfield than in years past. With Griffin Schutz, transfer Johnny Hackett, and Will Inderlied all powerful downhill dodgers, the UVa offense will feature a variety of looks from up-top and behind-x with Millon that differentiates from years past.

Matt Newton: While I agree that it's McCabe Millon's time, I am curious to see how he'll handle getting every team's best cover guy in each matchup. Virginia's offense has been driven by star power for years, but the departures of Shellenberger and Cormier mean that the Cavaliers must evolve offensively and become less one-dimensional. This is a very important season for second-year offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese to show what he brings to the table. Virginia still has the pieces to have an effective offense, but I think that the Hoos need to implement and develop an unselfish, pass-heavy approach, and get much more out of the midfield than last year, in order to reach that goal.

Which freshman/transfer will make the biggest impact?

William Smythe: Coach Tiffany relishes physical, two-way midfielders. Ryan Conrad, Jeff Conner (Class of ‘23), and Joey Terenzi fit that mold, and freshman Hudson Hausmann could be the next in line. Hailing from the prolific Brunswick School (CT) pipeline, the former Brown commit switched to his dream school and stepped on Grounds as the fourth-ranked midfielder in his class. As Terenzi did, Hausmann will presumably start his career at short-stick midfielder and build from there depending on his offensive toolkit at the DI level. Athletic, dynamic, and possessing a background in football from his time at Brunswick, the highly-touted freshman will certainly get his runs alongside a high school teammate — sophomore defensive midfielder Will Erdmann. You have to imagine that Hausmann will earn more time on the offensive side of the ball as well, and he’ll have to prove that he can hurt opposing defenses in transition.

Aidan Baller: Johnny Hackett arrives in Charlottesville as not only one of the best transfers for the Hoos but also one of the best transfers this cycle. The Bryant midfielder, who Lars Tiffany has already dubbed “the ignition switch,” is a powerful left-handed dodger that makes the Virginia midfield extremely potent, with Hackett and Griffin Schutz guaranteed to have at least one short-stick defensive midfielder between the two of them. Hackett also demonstrated his ability to score down the alley and feed as he finished with 23 goals and 24 assists in his sophomore season in 2024, compared to 41 goals and 13 assists in his freshman year.

Matt Newton: While I am very tempted to go with a freshman in five-star attackman/midfielder Sean Browne (he is my honorable mention choice here given how much offensive production Virginia needs to replace), my actual answer is Notre Dame transfer and faceoff specialist Andrew Greenspan. Of the four players who took faceoffs for UVA at some point last season, only Anthony Ghobriel returns. And while Ghobriel was excellent when he was on the field, he also battled significant injuries throughout the season and underwent surgery at the end of the year. Ghobriel is expected to be healthy to start the 2025 campaign, but the Cavaliers need Greenspan, who went 17/30 at the X in his true freshman season with the Irish in 2024, to not only be a reliable No. 2 faceoff option, but to be able to carry the load if Ghobriel gets injured again.

What does this team need to reach the top of the mountain and win the national championship?

William Smythe: Dominance at the X certainly helps to boost national championship-level rosters. Notre Dame’s Will Lynch had a 61.2% face-off percentage last season — good for fourth nationally — while Maryland’s Luke Wierman finished second nationally in 2022 with a 66.7% clip. Both schools dominated the field en route to wins on Memorial Day. Longtime ‘Hoo Petey LaSalla helped Virginia to its back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021, finishing 21st and then 12th in face-off percentage. He also holds Virginia’s school records in both career faceoffs won and ground balls collected. When the fifth-year departed at the end of 2023 season, a major hole opened in the midfield. It’ll be up to junior Anthony Ghobriel (55.6% FO) and Notre Dame transfer Andrew Greenspan to recreate LaSalla’s production in the aggregate. The former — a pleasant surprise last season — has the best chance to do so if he can remain healthy. Regardless, Virginia’s questions at both the X and the goalie position are lingering.

Aidan Baller: Following UVa teams of the past, dominating ground balls will propel this team to its 8th national championship. The Cavaliers have led the nation in ground balls per game six of the last seven years and will need to earn these extra possessions again to propel themselves to another championship. In the Hoos' six losses in 2024, they lost or tied the ground ball battle in five of those six games which included their semifinal loss to Maryland. With scrappy players like Ben Wayer, Joey Terenzi, Noah Chizmar, and Jon Schroter, the Cavaliers are capable of winning any game in 2025 if they can dominate on the carpet. To add, reinvigorating the Virginia ride similar to the 2019 team that included the attack unit of Ian Laviano, Matt Moore, and Michael Kraus, who would ride as if their lives depended on it, would also play a large hand in allowing Virginia, who may not have the rosters of Notre Dame or Syracuse this year, to flip the script.

Matt Newton: Defense wins championships. Lars Tiffany's best teams have been enormously talented offensively, but the ones that bring home the hardware on Memorial Day had physical, lockdown defenses that peaked in May. Last season, Tiffany acknowledged that he may have tried to tinker too much with a young defense. Virginia loses Cole Kastner, Mitchell Whalen, and Chase Yager from last year's squad, but they bring back a bunch of key contributors, including Noah Chizmar, Ben Wayer, John Schroter, George Fulton, Tommy McNeal, Griffin Kology, and Will Erdmann. Virginia could have a strong defense this season and I think that would be the biggest key towards this team contending for a national title.

How does Virginia fare in the ACC in 2025?

William Smythe: Unfortunately, the ACC’s top-two teams — Notre Dame and Syracuse — are both top-three preseason teams. The Irish are back-to-back National Champions, and the Orange are returning a stockpile of offensive weapons alongside their starting defense. Virginia and Duke are both dealing with the departures of mainstays on their attack lines, however, and buzz will surround the question of whether newcomers and returning contributors can pick up the slack left by Shellenberger and the Blue Devils’ Brennan O’Neill. Virginia will finish below Syracuse and Notre Dame in the ACC slate, but I believe that they can finish third in what should be the most competitive and talented conference in America. North Carolina hasn’t appeared in the postseason since 2021; nevertheless, a solid transfer haul and the return of five-star attackman Owen Duffy will keep them in the hunt. Sadly, I don’t see anyone touching Notre Dame — the runaway favorite to win a third consecutive National Championship.

Aidan Baller: As previously mentioned, Syracuse and Notre Dame are the two favorites to win the National Championship, making the ACC the toughest conference in the country. Virginia could finish third in the ACC and be the third-best team in the country; it’s that tough. Despite this, I like Virginia’s ACC schedule this season. I see them picking off Duke at home this season before knocking out the Orange either at home at the end of March or in the ACC tournament semifinals, propelling the Hoos to a runner-up finish in the ACC.

Matt Newton: I guess somebody has to be the (perhaps unrealistic) optimist. With all due respect to Notre Dame, Pat Kavanagh and Liam Entenmann were two of the five best players in the sport last season and even with all the pieces the Irish have coming back, I think there's a chance those two losses are felt more than many people are expecting. I won't go out and predict the Cavaliers to win in South Bend in the regular season, but I think it's very possible that Virginia goes 3-1 in the ACC (I agree with Aidan that this could be the year UVA finally ends that streak against Duke) and I could see the Hoos giving the Irish all they could handle for the ACC Championship in Charlotte.

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