No. 5 UVA Hosts No. 12 Syracuse in Sunday ACC Clash

March 1, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia (4-0) men’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 5 this week in the USILA coaches poll and No. 4 in the Inside Lacrosse/Maverik media poll, opens ACC play on Sunday against the Syracuse Orange (2-1). Syracuse is ranked No. 12 in both the coaches and media polls. The game will be contested at Klöckner Stadium and faceoff is slated for 3 p.m.

Sunday’s contest is the 1,000th game all-time in the history of the Virginia men’s lacrosse program. Virginia will become the 13th program to reach the feat at the Division I level. The first 1,000 fans that enter the gates will receive a free rally towel on Sunday.

There is a new “Clear Bag” policy in place at Klöckner Stadium. Please click here to view Klöckner Stadium FAQs regarding bag and entry policies.

Live stats of Sunday’s game will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, which can be viewed on the WatchESPN app, or by logging onto ESPN3.com. Dean Linke will bring the play-by-play and Doug Tarring will provide the analysis. There will be a live radio broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA 1070 AM and 98.9 FM. Luke Neer will bring the play-by-play and Nate Rullman will provide the analysis.

The Cavaliers and Orange are meeting for the 34th time in series history, but are playing each other for only the fifth time as part of ACC play. Virginia has won nine of the last 15 regular-season meetings, but four of the six losses have come at the Carrier Dome (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017). Syracuse leads the series, 17-16, and has outscored UVA by one goal all-time, 430-429. These two programs won four combined NCAA titles between 2006-11.

Virginia lost the last three meetings with the Orange, including a narrow 14-13 setback at Klöckner Stadium in 2016, followed by a second 14-13 setback last year in the Carrier Dome.

Michael Kraus leads UVA with 18 points on 10 goals and eight assists. Ian Laviano has a team-high 14 goals, while Mike Herring has dished out a team-best nine assists. Dox Aitken rounds out the top scorers with nine goals and 12 points. Justin Schwenk is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 8 in the nation with a .667 faceoff winning percentage. Schwenk also leads UVA with 29 ground balls. Between the pipes, UVA has played two goalies. Griffin Thompson started the first three games and is saving 48 percent of shots and posting an 11.41 goals against average. Alex Rode is saving 50 percent of shots and posting an 11.72 goals against average.

Syracuse head coach John Desko is in his 20th year at Syracuse, where the Orange have won five NCAA national championships under his direction. Brendan Bomberry leads Syracuse with six goals and nine points. Bomberry, Nate Solomon and Stephen Rehfuss share the team lead with three assists. Solomon is second on the team with five goals, while Rehfuss and Jamie Trimboli round out the top scorers with four goals each. Danny Varello is winning 52.3 percent of faceoffs and has 12 ground balls. Reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Week Dom Madonna is saving 46.3 percent of shots between the pipes, while posting a 9.22 goals against average.

Tickets for Virginia home lacrosse games can be purchased online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone at (800) 542-8821 or in person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Reserved seats for men’s home games are on sale for $10. Single-game general admission adult tickets for men’s home games are $8, while youth (18 and under), seniors (60 and over), and UVA faculty and staff tickets are $6 each. General admission tickets for groups of 20 or more are priced at $4.

Virginia returns to action when the Cavaliers head to state of New York for a mini-spring break road trip, visiting Manhattan on March 7. Faceoff with the Jaspers will be 7 p.m. UVA continues the trip at Stony Brook on Sat., March 10. Faceoff with the Seawolves is 1 p.m.