Thursday’s Game at Duke Moved to 1 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Due to forecasted thunderstorms in the Durham area, Thursday’s game between No. 6 Virginia (8-2, 4-0) and No. 13/14 Duke (9-5, 1-2 ACC) at Koskinen Stadium has been moved up to 1 p.m. The game was originally slated for a 6 p.m. start.

Chris Cotter (play-by-play) and Paul Carcaterra (analyst) will have the call on ACC Network.

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 is seeking its first regular-season win over the Blue Devils in its last 14 meetings. UVA’s last regular-season win over Duke was on April 17, 2004.

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. DUKE

• Thursday’s game marks the 86th all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and Duke with UVA leading the all-time series 50-35.
• UVA’s 50 victories over the Blue Devils are second most over any other opponent in program history.
• The Cavaliers have dropped their last 14 regular-season meetings against Duke. UVA’s last regular-season win over the Blue Devils was a 13-4 victory on April 17, 2004.
• Before falling in the lone matchup in 2021, UVA defeated the Blue Devils in double-overtime on an Ian Laviano game-winning goal in the 2019 NCAA Tournament semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field.
• UVA and Duke have different all-time series records due to the fluidity of when a program was a “varsity” sport up until the conclusion of WWII. UVA lists its “varsity only” record against Duke above.

LAST TIME OUT

• Virginia defeated then-No. 15/16 North Carolina (April 9), 11-4, marking the fewest goals scored by UNC in a single game since 2006.
• Reigning ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week and first-year goalie Matthew Nunes made 14 saves. Offensively, Payton Cormier scored four goals and had one assist. Jeff Conner also chipped in one goal and three assists.
• The Virginia defense held UNC scoreless for two separate stretches of 19:52 and 18:05 of game time.

VIRGINIA’S 8-2 START TO THE SEASON

• The Cavaliers are off to an 8-2 start through their first 10 games this season, tying its best start since 2014.
• With an ACC record of 4-0, Virginia is the only undefeated ACC team in league games and in sole possession of first of the ACC standings.

LARS-TIFFANY-COACHED TEAMS RESPOND AFTER A LOSS

• After suffering its second loss of the season at Richmond (April 2), UVA won its 15th straight game following a loss (in the same season), a streak that began on March 6, 2018.
• Virginia is 19-2 under Lars Tiffany in games following a loss (in the same season).
• Tiffany’s only pair back-to-back losses in the same season were in his first year as head coach in 2017.

VIRGINIA IS UNDEFEATED WHEN…

• The Cavaliers are 8-0 when leading after three quarters. UVA has combined to out-score its opponents 127-80 in the first three periods this season, which is an average lead of 4.7 goals entering the fourth period.
• The Cavaliers are 7-0 when leading at halftime.
• Virginia is 8-0 when dishing out more assists than its opponent. In the Cavaliers’ eight wins this season, UVA has 71 assists compared to its opponents’ 35.

NUNES, SAUSTAD GARNER WEEKLY HONORS

• On April 12, Virginia goalie Matthew Nunes (14 saves) was named the ACC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week and defenseman Cade Saustad (2 GBs, 2 CTs) was named to USILA’s Team of the Week.
• Both Nunes (14 saves) and Saustad helped hold North Carolina to just four goals in UVA’s second win over the Tar Heels (April 9).
• Nunes’ award marked his third ACC weekly recognition of the season, the most among any player in the ACC.

CONNOR SHELLENBERGER IS ELITE

• Connor Shellenberger is currently third in the nation in assists (3.30/gm) and points (5.60/gm).
• Shellenberger has posted at least one point in all 28 career games and has recorded multiple assists 22 career games, including nine of UVA’s 10 games in 2022.
• Shellenberger has dished out at least one assist in 27 of his 28 career games.
• Shellenberger had a streak of at least five points in 12 consecutive games, over the course of 383 calendar days. Shellenberger (1g, 3a) had his 12-game streak with at least five points snapped at Richmond (April 2).
• Shellenberger, Chris Gray (UNC) and Asher Nolting (High Point) are the only three active Division-I players averaging at least 2.1 goals per game and 2.7 assists per game for their careers.

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS

• Virginia is currently third in the nation ground balls (37.40/gm) and opponent clear percentage (.753), fifth in scoring offense (15.20), sixth in points (23.80/gm), seventh in assists (8.60) and shot percentage (.330), eighth in scoring margin (4.00) and winning percentage (.800), and ninth in turnovers (14.80/gm).
• Connor Shellenberger is third nationally in assists (3.30/gm) and fifth in points (5.60/gm). Cole Kastner is fourth in caused turnovers (2.70/gm). Payton Cormier is fifth in goals (3.40/gm). Petey LaSalla is 11th in faceoff winning percentage (.597) and Matthew Nunes is 16th in goals-against (10.45/gm) and save percentage (.540).

VIRGINIA IS A GROUND BALL MACHINE

• The Cavaliers are currently third in the nation in ground balls (37.40/gm).
• In 2021, Virginia led the nation with 41.94 ground balls per game.
• Entering 2022, UVA has led the nation in ground balls eight of the last 13 years, including the last five seasons under Lars Tiffany.
• UVA is the only school in the nation to finish in the top-5 nationally in ground balls per game 12 times over the last 13 seasons.
• The only school in 2016 to finish with more ground balls per game was UVA head coach Lars Tiffany’s 2016 Brown team.
• Lars-Tiffany-coached teams have led the nation in ground balls in seven straight seasons, including the 2015 and 2016 seasons at Brown.

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia has a quick turnaround as it hosts Quinnipiac at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday (April 16).
• Opening faceoff is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network.