No. 2 Virginia Set for Doyle Smith Cup Showdown With No. 7 Johns Hopkins

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 2 Virginia (3-0) hosts No. 7 Johns Hopkins (4-1) in the 97th all-time meeting between the two teams on Saturday (March 2) at Klöckner Stadium.

A win for the Cavaliers would give UVA four consecutive over ranked opponents to start the season, a first since 1996. Saturday’s game also marks the 20th all-time clash for the Doyle Smith Cup. Virginia enters the game 12-7 since it was established in 2006.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

12 – Connor Shellenberger needs just 12 points to break Tim Whiteley’s school record of 159 career assists.

20 – Saturday’s matchup marks the 20th meeting for the Doyle Smith Cup (est. 2006) between Virginia and Johns Hopkins.

27 – A win for the Cavaliers would mark the first time in 27 years (since 1996) in which UVA knocked off four ranked opponents in as many games to start the season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Dating back to 1904, Saturday’s matchup marks the 97th all-time meeting between the UVA and Hopkins.
• The Blue Jays lead the all-time series over UVA, 61-34-1.
• The two teams met at least once every season from 1948-2019.
• Virginia has not faced any other opponent more than Hopkins in program history.
• The two teams have gone head-to-head a whopping 15 times in the NCAA Tournament all-time. UVA is 5-10 in such meetings.
• Four of the last 10 clashes have gone to overtime. UVA is 3-1 in such contests.
• Notable wins over Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament include the: 1972 championship game (13-12, College Park, Md.), 1988 semifinals when the unseeded UVA toppled the two-seed Blue Jays in overtime (11-10, Baltimore, Md.), 1996 semifinals (16-10, College Park, Md.), 1999 semifinals (16-11, College Park, Md.), 2003 national championship (9-7, Baltimore, Md.), and 2009 semifinals (19-8, Annapolis, Md.).

DOYLE SMITH CUP (EST. 2006)

• Upon the Doyle Smith Cup’s inaugural matchup in 2006, Virginia and Johns Hopkins joined together to honor Edward “Doyle” Smith Jr., for his lifetime of contributions to the lacrosse programs at both schools and on the national level with the annual winner laying claim to the cup.
• Smith served as team manager and statistician for Johns Hopkins under coach Bob Scott from 1963-68.
• He enrolled at UVA to pursue a doctorate degree in the fall of 1968, and became the University’s first full-time assistant sports information director, a position he held for 31 years until his retirement in 1999.
• He is credited with writing the original manuscript that later became the framework for the current NCAA men’s lacrosse statisticians’ manual.
• As the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) information director from 1973-95, Smith compiled the weekly rankings and statistics for the organization.
• In 2000, he was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame and is believed to be the only inductee who never played or coached the game at any level.
• Smith passed away in June 2004, not long after the national championship game.
• With last year’s 18-13 win at Homewood Field, Virginia retained possession of the Doyle Smith Cup and improved to 10-6 in games held in Baltimore, dating back to the inaugural matchup in 2006.
• Following the conclusion of Saturday’s game, there will be a brief presentation of the cup to the winning team.

LAST TIME OUT

• McCabe Millon (3g, 3a), Connor Shellenberger (2g, 3a) and Matthew Nunes (17 saves) led the Cavaliers to their third consecutive victory in a 14-8 decision over No. 20 Ohio State at Klöckner Stadium last Sunday (Feb. 25).
• Nunes and the UVA defense shutout the Buckeyes’ offense in the second quarter, which helped the Cavaliers cling to a 10-3 lead at the half.
• Shellenberger’s three assists elevated him to No. 2 on UVA’s career assists list.
• Ohio State goalkeeper Caleb Fyock also made 17 saves.

HOOS AMONG THE NATION’S STATISTICAL LEADERS

• For games played through Feb. 27, Virginia is second in the nation in clear percentage (.973), fourth in the nation in assists (10.7/gm) and turnovers (12.3/gm), seventh in saves (15.0/gm) and scoring margin (6.0/gm), eighth in ground balls (36.7), points (26.3/gm) and scoring offense (15.7/gm), and ninth in opponent clear percentage (.786).
• Virginia is currently one of nine unbeaten Division I teams.
• Matthew Nunes is seventh in save percentage (.609), 10th in saves (14.0/gm) and 17th in goals against (9.5/gm). Anthony Ghobriel is eighth in faceoff win percentage (.655). Connor Shellenberger is 16th in assists (2.7/gm) and Payton Cormier and McCabe Millon are both tied in goals (3.3/gm).

NUNES TABBED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• For his performance in last Sunday’s win over the Buckeyes, Matthew Nunes was named the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Week.
• The announcement marked Nunes’ fourth career ACC weekly honor. He is also the first goalie to be named ACC Defensive Player of the Week this season.
• In addition to his 17 saves, which are the most by an ACC goalie this year, Nunes only surrendered seven goals against OSU.

ON THE HORIZON

• The Cavaliers return to Klöckner Stadium on Tuesday (March 5) to host Robert Morris (1-2).
• Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. on ACCNX.