No. 13 UVA and Vermont Meet Saturday in Connecticut

April 19, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.— The Virginia men’s lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday in a neutral site game as the Cavaliers (9-3) return to non-conference action to face the Vermont Catamounts (10-2) in New Canaan, Conn. The game will be contested at 1 p.m. at Dunning Stadium on the campus of New Canaan High School. This week Virginia is ranked No. 13 in both the USILA coaches and Inside Lacrosse/Maverik media polls. Vermont is receiving votes in both polls.
 

Live stats of Saturday’s game will be available at VirginiaSports.com. There will be a live video webcast of the game courtesy of Catamount TV. Alastair Ingram will bring the play-by-play.

Saturday marks the seventh all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and the Catamounts, a series UVA holds a 6-0 advantage in. The series began in 2008 and was contested every season until 2013 when former UVA All-American defensemen Ryan Curtis was the head coach of the Catamounts. The closest game in the series was the last meeting in 2013 when the Cavaliers escaped with a 12-10 win at Klöckner Stadium. Saturday is the first game in the series that has not been played at the friendly confines of Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville.

Michael Kraus leads UVA with 36 goals, 32 assists and 68 points.Dox Aitken is No. 2 on the team with 31 goals and 39 points. Ian Laviano has 29 goals and Mike Herring rounds out the top scorers with 10 goals and 25 points Justin Schwenk is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 16 in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (59.2), while leading UVA and the ACC with 66 ground balls. The Cavaliers have been using two goalies this season. Griffin Thompson is saving 47.6 percent of shots and has posted a 10.74 goals against average. Alex Rode is saving 51.0 percent of shots and posting an 11.73 goals against average.

Vermont head coach Chris Feifs is in his second season after serving as an assistant at North Carolina. Feifs has led Vermont to its first 10-win season since 1997. Ian Mackay leads Vermont with 30 goals, 16 assists and 46 points. Rob Hudson has 21 goals and 31 points. Liam Limoges and Ben French round out the top scorers with 21 goals each. Nick Washuta is saving 59.8 percent of shots he is seeing between the pipes and is posting a 7.44 goals against average.

Next up for Virginia is awaiting its fate for the ACC Tournament on April 27 and April 29. The ACC will release the official bracket following Saturday’s Notre Dame vs. North Carolina game (12 p.m.). Virginia is hosting the 2018 Men’s Lacrosse Championship at Klöckner Stadium.