No. 11 UVA and No. 12 Syracuse Meet Friday in ACC Tournament

April 25, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-The Virginia (10-4, 1-3 ACC) men’s lacrosse team, which is the No. 4 seed in the 2018 ACC Championship, will host the No. 1 seed Syracuse Orange (7-5, 4-0 ACC) in the semifinal round on Friday night at Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is set for 8:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first semifinal game (6 p.m.) between No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 seed Notre Dame.

This week Virginia is ranked No. 11 in the USILA coaches poll and No. 13 in the Inside Lacrosse/Maverik media poll. Syracuse is ranked No. 12 in both the coaches and media poll.

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.

Friday’s game is also part of Wahoowa Weekend, which features several home athletics events on Grounds over the weekend.

Live stats of Friday’s game will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU. Anish Shroff will bring the play-by-play, Quint Kessenich will provide the analysis, while Paul Carcaterra will add analysis from the sideline. 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 Doug Tarring will provide the analysis.

Virginia is 20-19 all-time in the ACC Tournament since the inception of the event in 1989 and 14-10 all-time in the semifinal round. UVA and Syracuse are meeting in the ACC Tournament for the first time.

The Cavaliers and Orange are meeting for the 35th time in series history. Virginia has won nine of the last 16 regular-season meetings, but four of the seven losses have come at the Carrier Dome (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017). Syracuse leads the series, 18-16, and has outscored UVA by one goal all-time, 442-440. These two programs won four combined NCAA titles between 2006-11.

Virginia lost the last four meetings with the Orange, including a narrow 12-11 setback at Klöckner Stadium on March 4. UVA also experienced a 14-13 setback at Klöckner Stadium in 2016, followed by another 14-13 setback last year in the Carrier Dome.

Michael Kraus leads Virginia with 38 goals, 33 assists and 71 points. Dox Aitken is No. 2 on the team with 32 goals and 42 points. Ian Laviano has 31 goals and Mike D’Amario rounds out the top goal scorers with 22 tallies. Justin Schwenk is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 16 in the nation with a 59.5 percent winning percentage at the faceoff X, while also leading the ACC with 79 ground balls. The Cavaliers have been using two goalies this season. Griffin Thompson is saving 47.6 percent of shots and posting a 10.74 goals against average. Alex Rode is saving 51.2 percent of shots and posting an 11.43 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 21 goals. Stephen Rehfuss leads the Orange with 23 assists and 40 points. Nate Solomon has 19 goals and 12 points, while Jamie Trimboli rounds out the top scorers with 16 goals and 25 points. Danny Varello is winning 48.7 percent of his faceoffs. Dom Madonna is saving 46.4 percent of shots between the pipes, while posting an 11.29 goals against average.

Tickets for the ACC Tournament 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.

An all-session pass for a reserved seat to the entire ACC Tournament is on sale for $30. An all-session pass for general admission adult tickets for the ACC Tournament are $25, while youth (18 and under) tickets are $20. The all-session pass is good for entrance into each semifinal game on Friday (April 27) and the championship game on Sunday (April 29). Single-game reserved seats for the ACC Tournament are on sale for $15. Single-game general admission adult tickets for the ACC Tournament are $10, while youth (18 and under) tickets are $5 each.