No. 4 UVA and No. 3 UNC Meet Saturday for a Rematch in Chapel Hill
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers (8-2, 1-2 ACC) return to ACC play on Saturday against the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1, 1-1 ACC) at Dorrance Field. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. UVA is ranked No. 4 in this week’s USILA coaches poll and No. 6 in the Inside Lacrosse media poll. UNC is No. 3 in both the coaches and media polls.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The game will be televised live on ESPNU. Anish Shroff will call the play-by-play, while Matt Ward will provide analysis. ESPNU will also simulcast the broadcast on the WatchESPN app, or by logging onto ESPN.com/watch. There will be a live radio broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA 1070 AM and 98.9 FM. Luke Neer will provide the play-by-play and Doug Tarring will add analysis.
CAVALIER TIDBITS
• Matt Moore needs eight assists to become the fifth player in program history to join the 100-goal/100-assist career club.
• UVA is No. 9 in the nation in caused turnovers per game (9.20), No. 1 in the nation in opponent clearing percentage (.736) and No. 2 in the nation in ground balls per game (43.50)
• FO Petey LaSalla is No. 7 in the nation with 8.00 ground balls per game and No. 9 in faceoff winning percentage with a 65.5 percent success rate.
• Payton Cormier leads UVA with 30 goals in just nine games. He had 12 goals in UVA’s six games in 2020. Cormier also has at least a hat-trick in 10 of his 16 career games. Cormier is No. 5 in the nation with 30 goals.
• Connor Shellenberger leads the nation’s freshmen with 44 points, which ranks No. 6 in the country overall. Shellenberger is also No. 4 in the nation with 26 assists.
• Kyle Kology is No. 6 in the nation with 18 caused turnovers.
SERIES INFO
• Thursday marks the 86th all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and Tar Heels, a series the Cavaliers own a 53-32 advantage in since 1938. UVA faced the Tar Heels every year from 1964-2019 until the pandemic shutdown the 2020 season.
• After winning 19-of-21 meetings dating back to 1997, UVA dropped four straight against UNC until beating them 13-11 at the ACC Showcase Game in April 2014. UNC’s four-game winning streak was the longest in the series for the Tar Heels since winning four straight during the 1990-92 seasons.
• After losing seven of eight meetings with the Tar Heels, UVA has won the three of the past four games with UNC. The last meeting was on March 11 at Klöckner Stadium when then-No. 1 UNC won, 16-13.
NORTH CAROLINA
• Joe Breschi is in his 13th season at UNC and is coming off a 7-0 season in 2020 before the pandemic shutdown everything.
• Chris Gray leads UNC with 56 points on 32 goals and 24 assists. Nicky Solomon is next with 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points. Tanner Cook rounds out the top point scorers with 27 on 18 goals and nine assists. William Perry also has 18 goals, while Justin Anderson has 14 scores.
• Collin Krieg is saving 53.1 percent of shots between the pipes and posting a 9.86 goals against average.
UP NEXT
UVA returns to action on Thurs., April 15 when the Cavaliers return home to host No. 1 Duke. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on ACC Network.