Virginia Hosts North Carolina in Rematch Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7 Virginia (7-2, 3-0 ACC) hosts No. 15/16 North Carolina (7-3, 0-2 ACC) in a regular-season rematch – presented by UVA Health – at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday (April 9). Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The two teams previously met in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on March 10 as UVA got the best of the Tar Heels, 15-11.

At halftime, Virginia will honor its 1972 and 2011 national championship-winning teams. The 1972 team is celebrating its 50^th anniversary of its championship run, which was also UVA’s first NCAA championship (third overall). The 2011 team, which won the program’s fifth NCAA Tournament (seventh overall), was originally slated to be honored last season, but was unable to due to COVID-19 protocols.

PARKING

• Fans planning to attend Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game should park in the JPJ South Lot as normal. Parking is also available in the Emmet/Ivy Garage.
• The JPJ Garage, West Lot and East Lot are not open to men’s lacrosse attendees on Saturday.

PROMOTIONS

• The Gus Bus, the official food truck of The Spot, will be on site serving the famous “Gus Burgers”.
• Fans are invited to stick around after the conclusion of Saturday’s game for an autograph session with the team.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

3.  Virginia is seeking to become just the third NCAA men’s lacrosse program to win three consecutive national titles in 2022, which would put itself in a category with Princeton (1996-98) and Johns Hopkins (1978-80).

14.  Virginia has won its last 14 games coming off a loss in the same season. UVA is 18-2 under Lars Tiffany following a loss. Virginia’s only pair of back-to-back losses were in 2017, Tiffany’s first year at UVA.

16.  Graduate attackman Matt Moore needs just 16 points to become the all-time points leader in program history. Moore currently has 254 career points (133 goals & 121 assists). Steele Stanwick currently holds the program record with 269 career points.

THE SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA

• Saturday’s contest marks the 89^th all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and North Carolina.
• Virginia leads the all-time series over the Tar Heels, 56-32.
• The Cavaliers’ 56 wins over UNC are the most by UVA over any other program all-time.
• Virginia has won six of the last seven meetings, including the last three.
• The two teams squared off three times last season with Virginia winning 2-of-3, including in the NCAA Tournament semifinals, which the Cavaliers won 12-11 on May 29, 2021.
• Despite five unanswered UNC goals in the first period in a span of 3:38, Virginia limited the Tar Heels to just one goal in the second half as the Cavaliers held on to win 15-11 in the most recent meeting between the two teams on March 10, 2022 in Chapel Hill.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cavaliers fell 17-13 at Richmond last Saturday (April 2).
• Virginia was led by attackmen Payton Cormier (5g) and Connor Shellenberger (1g, 3a).
• Petey LaSalla won the first seven faceoffs and finished 9-of-10 before exiting the game with an upper-extremity injury late in the first quarter.
• The win was the Spiders’ first over UVA in series history. The Cavaliers lead UR in the all-time series, 7-1.

UVA ON THE GREEN GRASS OF KLÖCKNER STADIUM

• Virginia owns a 163-43 (.791) all-time record at Klöckner Stadium, including a 5-0 mark in 2022 and are winners of 21 of the last 25 games played in the historic edifice. UVA is also 13-3 all-time at Klöckner Stadium in NCAA Tournament games.
• Virginia is 37-11 all-time at Klöckner Stadium under head coach Lars Tiffany.
• Lacrosse debuted in Klöckner Stadium in 1993.

VIRGINIA’S 7-2 START TO THE SEASON

• Prior its second loss of the season, which was at Richmond (April 2), Virginia was off to its best start since 2012.
• Virginia, now 7-2, also won seven of its first nine games in 2018, 2019 and 2021. In 2019 and 2021, UVA went on to win its eighth and ninth national championships, respectively.

LARS-TIFFANY-COACHED TEAMS RESPOND AFTER A LOSS

• Virginia is 18-2 under Lars Tiffany in games following a loss (in the same season).
• Tiffany and the Cavaliers are also winners of their last 14 games following a loss (same season), a streak that began on March 6, 2018.
• Tiffany’s only pair back-to-back losses in the same season were in his first year as head coach in 2017.

CONNOR SHELLENBERGER IS ELITE

• Connor Shellenberger is currently third in the nation in assists (3.56/gm) and points (6.00/gm).
• Shellenberger, who has posted at least one point in all 27 career games, saw his 12-game streak with at least five points come to an end after posting four points (1g, 3a) at Richmond (April 2).
• Shellenberger has recorded multiple assists in 22 of his 27 career games, including in all nine of UVA’s games so far this season.
• Shellenberger has dished out at least one assist in 26 of his 27 career games.
• He is the only player in Division-I averaging at least 2.4 goals per game and 3.6 assists per game.
• Shellenberger and North Carolina attackman Chris Gray are the only two active Division-I players averaging at least 2.2 goals per game and 2.7 assists per game for their careers.

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS

• Virginia is currently second in the nation ground balls (38.44/gm) and opponent clear percentage (.749), fourth in points (24.56/gm) and scoring offense (15.67/gm), fifth in shot percentage (.337), seventh in assists (8.89/gm) and tenth in winning percentage (.778).
• In addition to Shellenberger (see above), Cole Kastner is third in caused turnovers (2.78/gm). Payton Cormier is ninth in goals (3.33/gm) and Petey LaSalla is 10^th in faceoff winning percentage (.601).

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia travels to Duke on Thursday, April 14 for its second ACC road contest of the season.
• Opening faceoff from Koskinen Stadium is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.