April 26, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– Virginia attackman Michael Kraus and midfielder Dox Aitken were named to the men’s lacrosse All-Atlantic Coast Conference squad, as announced by the league office on Thursday. The team is determined by a vote of the league’s five head coaches. The accolade is the second career nod for Kraus, who was the only freshman on the squad in 2017 and was named last year’s Freshman of the Year. The honor is the first of Aitken’s career as the UVA duo are two of five true underclassmen on the 2018 All-ACC team.

Aitken (So., Villanova, Pa.) has 32 goals and is the 12th UVA midfielder all-time to reach 30 goals for a season. Aitken is No. 2 on the team with 42 points. He currently ranks No. 6 all-time in program history for single-season goals by a midfielder (32). The 2018 season saw Aitken reach his 50th career goal, coming in his 25th career game, making him the fastest UVA midfielder to the 50-goal plateau. Aitken reached 50 career goals in five fewer games than Pete Eldredge did (30 games).

Kraus (So., New Canaan, Conn.) leads UVA with 38 goals, 33 assists and 71 points. He is No. 2 in the ACC and No. 7 in the nation with 38 goals, while he is No. 2 in the ACC and No. 10 in the nation with 33 assists. Kraus is No. 2 in the ACC and No. 6 in the nation with 71 points. The 71 points currently ranked tied (Tim Whiteley, 1994) for No. 8 all-time on UVA’s single-season ledger. Kraus needs two goals and seven assists to become the first player in program history to accumulate at least 40 goals and 40 assists in the same season. He is also nine points away from being only the third Cavalier to reach 80 points or more in a season, joining Dough Knight (86, 1996) and Steele Stanwick (80, 2012).

The Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced early next week.

Virginia returns to action Friday night when they face No. 12 Syracuse in the semifinal round of the ACC Championship. The 2018 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be contested at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville. No. 4 seed UVA and No. 1 seed Syracuse will meet at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night, while No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 seed Notre Dame will faceoff at 6 p.m. The championship will be played Sunday at noon.

2018 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team

A – Justin Guterding, Sr., Duke

A – Chris Cloutier, Sr., North Carolina

A – Brendan Gleason, Jr., Notre Dame

A – Nate Solomon, Jr., Syracuse

A – Michael Kraus, So., Virginia

M – Brad Smith, Jr., Duke

M – Bryan Costabile, So., Notre Dame

M – Jamie Trimboli, So., Syracuse

M – Dox Aitken, So., Virginia

D – Cade Van Raaphorst, Jr., Duke

D – Nick Mellen, R-So., Syracuse

D – Brett Kennedy, R-Fr., Syracuse

SSM – Carlson Milikin, GS, Notre Dame

SSM – Drew Schantz, Jr., Notre Dame

LSM – Jack Rowlett, Jr., North Carolina

LSM – John Sexton, Sr., Notre Dame

F/O – Joe Stein, Fr., Duke

G – Danny Fowler, GS, Duke