UVA Sweeps 2021 VASID Men's Lacrosse University Division Awards
Coming off its second straight NCAA Championship, the University of Virginia swept all the individual awards in the 2021 Virginia Sports Information Directors All-State University Division Men’s Lacrosse team announced today.
Connor Shellenberger was named Player and Rookie of the Year, while Petey LaSalla earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Lars Tiffany earned Coach of the Year accolades. Additionally, the Cavaliers held 11 of the places on the 12-player All-State team.
Shellenberger was a first-team USILA and USA Lacrosse All-American while earning second-team honors from Inside Lacrosse. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament as he broke the UVA single-NCAA Tournament record for points (24) with 14 goals and 10 assists. He tallied at least one point in every game and shattered the UVA freshman records for assists (42) and points (79) in a season.
LaSalla was a second-team All-American by USILA after setting a UVA record for ground balls in a season with 137. He was tops nationally with 277 face-off wins which also broke a UVA single-season record. LaSalla is the only player in UVA’s history with 200 face-off wins in a season at a success rate of 60 percent or higher (62.4 percent).
Tiffany took home the Coach of the Year honors after leading UVA to consecutive NCAA titles for the first time in program history. The Cavaliers scored 56 goals in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and led the nation in ground balls for the fifth-straight season.
VaSID names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year, as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a university or conference in the state of Virginia.
2021 VASID Men’s Lacrosse University Division All-State Team
Player of the Year: Connor Shellenberger – Virginia
Defensive Player of the Year: Petey LaSalla – Virginia
Rookie of the Year: Connor Shellenberger – Virginia
Coach of the Year: Lars Tiffany – Virginia
Attack
- Payton Cormier – Virginia
- Matt Moore – Virginia
- Connor Shellenberger- Virginia
Midfield
- Dox Aitken – Virginia
- Jeff Conner – Virginia
- Peter Garno – Virginia
Defense
- Kyle Kology – Virginia
- Jason Reynolds – Richmond
- Cade Saustad – Virginia
Goalie
- Alex Rode – Virginia
Long Stick Mid
- Jared Conners – Virginia
Face Off
- Petey LaSalla – Virginia