UVA Opens NCAA Play at No. 6 Seed Loyola on Saturday Night

May 10, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– The Virginia (12-5) men’s lacrosse team opens NCAA Tournament play in the first round on the road against the No. 6 seeded Loyola Greyhounds (12-3) on Saturday night, at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore. Faceoff is set for 7:15 p.m.

This week Virginia is ranked No. 9 in the USILA coaches poll and No. 10 in the Inside Lacrosse/Maverik media poll. Loyola is ranked No. 6 in both the coaches and media poll.

Live stats of Saturday’s game will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU. Anish Shroff will bring the play-by-play and Quint Kessenich 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 Doug Tarring will provide the analysis.

This is Virginia’s 38th tournament appearance overall, third behind Johns Hopkins (46) and Maryland (41). Virginia has won five NCAA titles. The only other season UVA was unseeded while receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament was 30 years ago in 1988. That season UVA went 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament, winning at No. 7 seed Yale in double overtime and at No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins in overtime.

Saturday marks the 22nd all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and the Greyhounds, and the first meeting in the NCAA Tournament, in a series that began in 1938. The series took a 23-year hiatus before being rekindled for the 2014 season. Saturday marks the sixth time since 2014 that these teams have met. Virginia leads the all-time series with a 15-6 margin.

Michael Kraus leads UVA with 43 goals, 37 assists and 80 points. He needs three assists to become the first Cavalier to amass at least 40 goals and 40 assists in the same season. Dox Aitken is next on the team with 47 points, while he and Ian Laviano are tied for No. 2 on the team with 35 goals. Mike D’Amario rounds out the top scorers with 31 goals and 34 points. Justin Schwenk is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 13 in the nation with a 60.1 percent faceoff winning mark. He also leads the ACC with 93 ground balls. Griffin Thompson is saving 46.9 percent of shots he has seen between the pipes and is posting a 10.85 goals against average. Alex Rode is saving 49.8 percent of shots and is posting an 11.36 goals against average.

Loyola head coach Charley Toomey is in his 13th season at the helm of his alma mater and has led the Greyhounds to their third straight Patriot League title. Tewaarton Trophy hopeful Pat Spencer leads Loyola with 55 assists and 86 points, while adding 31 goals. Jay Drapeau leads the Greyhounds with 39 goals and is No. 2 on the team with 48 points. Kevin Lindley and Aidan Olmstead are tied for No. 3 on the team with 37 points. Lindley’s 33 goals are No. 2 on the team. Bailey Savio and Mike Orefice share faceoff duties for the Greyhounds. Savio is winning 44.8 percent of draws and Orefice is winning 41.5 percent of draws. Jacob Stover is saving 52.8 percent of shots between the pipes and posting an 8.34 goals against average.

The winner of this game faces the winner of Saturday’s game between Yale (No. 3 seed) and UMass in the quarterfinals at James M. Shuart Stadium, in Hempstead, N.Y., on Saturday (May 19). The quarterfinals will be televised on ESPNU. The game start time will be either noon or 2:30 p.m.