No. 5 UVA and No. 1 Maryland Meet on Monday for the NCAA Title
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers (13-4) and the Maryland Terrapins (15-0) meet on Monday in the final round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. UVA is ranked No. 5 in this week’s USILA coaches poll and Inside Lacrosse media poll. Maryland is No. 1 in the coaches poll and No. 2 in the media poll.
UVA, an at-large selection, is the No. 4 national seed. The Cavaliers advanced to their 11th NCAA title game with a 12-11 win against North Carolina in the semifinal round. Maryland earned the automatic bid as champions of the Big Ten Conference and is the No. 3 national seed. The Terrapins advanced to the finals after defeating No. 2 seed Duke, 14-5.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. Anish Shroff will call the play-by-play, while Paul Carcaterra and Quint Kessenich will provide analysis. ESPN2 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
• UVA is No. 13 in the nation in caused turnovers per game (8.88), No. 3 in the nation in opponent clearing percentage (.793) and No. 1 in the nation in ground balls per game (42.24)
• FO Petey LaSalla is No. 9 in the nation with 7.41 ground balls per game and No. 10 in faceoff winning percentage with a 62.9 percent success rate.
• Payton Cormier leads UVA with 43 goals in 17 games. He had 12 goals in UVA’s six games in 2020. Cormier also has at least two goals in 16 of his 23 career games. Cormier is No. 7 in the nation with 43 goals.
• Connor Shellenberger leads the nation’s freshmen with 73 points, which ranks No. 4 in the country overall. Shellenberger is also No. 5 in the nation with 40 assists.
• Kyle Kology is No. 8 in the nation with 23 caused turnovers.
UVA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• UVA is 55-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• UVA is 6-4 all-time in the final round of the NCAA Tournament.
• UVA is making its 40th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fourth as the No. 4 seed.
• UVA is 7-4 all-time as the tournament’s No. 4 seed, including reaching Championship Weekend in 2005.
• UVA is 4-3 against MARYLAND in the NCAA Tournament, including winning three in a row.
• Virginia is 7-4 against teams in the 2021 NCAA Tournament field.
SERIES INFO
• Monday is the 93rd all-time meeting between UVA and former ACC foe Maryland. The Terrapins hold a narrow 47-45 edge in an all-time series that started in 1926.
• UVA and Maryland met 65-straight seasons from 1950-2014. The series went on hiatus after Maryland moved to the Big Ten. UVA and Maryland met in the 2019 NCAA Quarterfinal round, the first meeting since the Terps moved to the Big Ten.
• UVA and Maryland were supposed to meet March 14, 2020, but the season was canceled two days before due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Virginia has won 14 of the last 19 meetings, including the 2011 NCAA title game, 9-7, at M&T Bank Stadium.
MARYLAND
• John Tillman is in his 11th season at Maryland and is coming off a 5-1 season in 2020 before the pandemic shutdown everything. Tillman led Maryland to the 2021 Big Ten championship and has the Terps at 15-0 on the season.
• Jared Bernhardt leads Maryland with 94 points on 69 goals and 25 assists. Logan Wisnauskas is No. 2 on the team with 36 goals and 66 points, while leading Maryland with 30 assists.
• Daniel Maltz has 38 goals and 48 points, while Anthony DeMaio (22-18) and Kyle Long (15-25) round out the top scorers with 40 points each.
• Logan McNaney is saving 53.4 percent of shots between the pipes and posting a 9.40 goals against average.