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Virginia to Host Lafayette on Senior Night

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 4 Virginia (10-3) rounds out its 2022 regular-season slate when it hosts Lafayette (4-10) on Thursday (April 28) at Klöckner Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.

Virginia will honor 14 of its fourth and fifth-year student-athletes prior to Thursday’s game. Under the leadership of UVA’s fourth and fifth-years, the Cavaliers have won two national championships and two ACC titles.

LACROSSE THE NATIONS (LtN) DAY

  • Thursday’s game is Lacrosse the Nations (LtN) Day at UVA. LtN is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia and was founded by UVA lacrosse alum Brett Hughes (’04).
  • LtN uses lacrosse and other physical activities to teach important life skills and provide positive outlets for spots and play.
  • Internationally, over 350 students participate weekly in after school lacrosse programs in Colombia, Nicaragua and Panama.
  • At halftime of Thursday’s game, LtN participants will compete in a friendly scrimmage at Klöckner Stadium.

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).

7.  Graduate attackman Matt Moore needs just seven points to become the all-time points leader in program history. Moore currently has 263 career points (138 goals & 125 assists). Steele Stanwick currently holds the program record. with 269 career points.

8.  A win over the Leopards on Thursday would give Virginia a perfect 8-0 record in home games during the 2022 regular season. The last time UVA went undefeated at home during the regular season was in 2009.

VIRGINIA VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

  • Thursday’s contest marks the first-ever meeting between the fourth-ranked Cavaliers and Lafayette, which are members of the Patriot League.
  • Virginia has a chance to even the all-time series against current members of the Patriot League as UVA is 48-49 (.495) all-time against its current membership.
  • Virginia is 4-10 against Army, 3-0 against Bucknell, 4-0 against Colgate, 2-0 against Lehigh, 17-8 against Loyola (Md.) and 18-31 against Navy all-time.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Virginia clinched a share of the program’s 19th ACC title with its 21-15 win at Syracuse (April 23).
  • Jeff Conner (4g, 3a) & Matt Moore (3g, 4a) posted seven points each in the win at the Carrier Dome.
  • Virginia’s 21 goals scored tied for the most by a Syracuse opponent inside the Carrier Dome since it opened in 1980.
  • The Cavaliers’ 21 goals scored also tied its season high, and for the second consecutive game 10 UVA players registered at least one goal.
  • With the win, Virginia also evened the all-time series against the Orange, 20-20.

A WIN OVER THE LEOPARDS WOULD…

  • Improve Virginia’s overall record to 11-3, including 8-0 at home.
  • The last time UVA went undefeated in a season at home was in 2009 when the Cavaliers went 9-0.

2022 ACC CHAMPIONS

  • With its win at Syracuse (April 23), Virginia now has 19 ACC championships, including two (2019 & 2022) under Lars Tiffany.
  • The Cavaliers won 11 titles (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986) prior the ACC establishing a tournament from 1989-2019 to determine the champion.
  • Virginia has won seven ACC Tournament championships: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2019.
  • In the last ACC Tournament, which was held in 2019, UVA defeated Notre Dame 10-4 in the finals at Klöckner Stadium.
  • From 1989-2019, Virginia won 14 regular-season titles (1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2019), more than any other ACC School.

VIRGINIA IS UNDEFEATED WHEN…

  • The Cavaliers are 10-0 when leading after three quarters. UVA has combined to out-score its opponents 169-108 in the first three periods this season, which is an average lead of 4.7 goals entering the fourth period.
  • The Cavaliers are 9-0 this season when leading at halftime.
  • Virginia is 10-0 when dishing out more assists than its opponent. In the Cavaliers’ ten wins this season, UVA has 95 assists compared to its opponents’ 45.

JEFF CONNER NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

  • Midfielder Jeff Conner was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week (April 26) for his seven-point performance at Syracuse (April 23).
  • The honor was Conner’s first of his career.
  • His seven points on four goals and three assists is a career best as is his four goals scored.
  • Conner’s performance helped UVA lock up the program’s 19th ACC title.

CONNOR SHELLENBERGER IS ELITE

  • Connor Shellenberger is currently fifth in the nation and leads the ACC in assists (2.92/gm). He is 13th nationally in points (5.08/gm), good for second in the ACC.
  • Shellenberger has posted at least one point in all 31 career games and has recorded multiple assists 30 career games, including 11 of UVA’s 13 games in 2022.
  • Shellenberger has dished out at least one assist in 30 of his 31 career games.
  • Shellenberger had a streak of at least five points in 12 consecutive games, over the course of 383 calendar days. He had his 12-game streak with at least five points snapped at Richmond (April 2).
  • Shellenberger, Chris Gray (UNC), Pat Kavanagh (Notre Dame) and Asher Nolting (High Point) are the only active Division-I players averaging at least 2.1 goals per game and 2.6 assists per game for their careers.

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS

  • Virginia is currently second in the nation ground balls (38.15/gm), third in opponent clear percentage (.757), fifth in scoring offense (15.54/gm), sixth in points (24.31/gm) and winning percentage (.769), seventh in turnovers (14.31/gm), eighth in assists (8.77/gm), man-up offense (.480) and shot percentage (.326), 11th in scoring margin (+3.77) and 12th in caused turnovers (9.46/gm).
  • In addition to Shellenberger (see above), Cole Kastner is sixth in caused turnovers (2.15/gm). Petey LaSalla is ninth in faceoff winning percentage (.601) and 25th in ground balls (6.31/gm). Matthew Nunes is 25th in goals-against average (11.12).

VIRGINIA IS A GROUND BALL MACHINE

  • The Cavaliers are currently second in the nation in ground balls (37.15/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

  • 4 Virginia will look to take advantage of two weekends off before the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • There will be eight First Round games conducted at predetermined sites between Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15.
  • The winning team from each game will advance to the Quarterfinals.
  • The 2022 NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse tournament brackets will be announced during the NCAA’s selection show on Sunday May, 8 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

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