Virginia, Hopkins Set For 17th NCAA Tournament Meeting

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 6 seed Virginia (11-5) and third-seeded Johns Hopkins (11-4) meet in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time on Sunday (May 19) in the quarterfinals on the campus of Towson University.  Opening faceoff from Johnny Unitas Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. as Anish Shroff (play-by-play) and Quint Kessenich (analyst) will have the call on ESPNU.

The two teams previously clashed earlier this season on March 2 at Klöckner Stadium as the Blue Jays edged UVA, 16-14, to reclaim the Doyle Smith Cup.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

17 – Sunday’s contest between Johns Hopkins and Virginia marks the 17th meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament. No two teams have gone head-to-head in the tournament more than UVA and Hopkins.

31 – On Sunday, Virginia makes its 31st appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

117 – The Cavaliers’ current roster has combined for 117 NCAA Tournament career games. Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Cole Kastner have all appeared in 10 career NCAA Tournament contests dating back to 2021.

VIRGINIA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• This year, the Cavaliers earned the program’s 43rd all-time berth in the NCAA Tournament.
• Sunday’s contest against the Blue Jays marks UVA’s 96th tournament game all-time as the Hoos boast a 60-35 (.632) record in NCAA postseason, including 12-2 dating back to 2019.
• Only Johns Hopkins (73), Maryland (71) and Syracuse (66) have more NCAA Tournament wins than Virginia.
• Seven of the Cavaliers’ nine national championships have come in NCAA Tournament (’72, ’99, ’03, ’06, ’11, ’19, ’21), which debuted in 1971.
• Since Lars Tiffany was hired as UVA head coach in 2017, the Hoos have qualified for six out of seven possible NCAA Tournaments. Under Tiffany, Virginia is 12-3 in the tournament.
• The Cavaliers have advanced to three (2019, 2021, 2023) of the last four Championship Weekends. UVA and Duke are the only two Division I teams to have accomplished that feat.
• Last year, Virginia lost 13-12 in overtime to eventual-national champion Notre Dame in the NCAA semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.).

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD…

• Send the Hoos to the NCAA semifinals for the 26th time in school history.
• Improve Virginia’s record to 13-2 in its last 15 tournament contests dating back to 2019.
• Mark UVA’s first win over Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament since 2009.
• Be Virginia’s fifth upset in the tournament (based on seeding) since 2019.

SERIES HISTORY

• Dating back to 1904, Sunday’s matchup marks the 98th all-time meeting between the UVA and Hopkins.
• The Blue Jays lead the all-time series over UVA, 62-34-1.
• 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.
• Five of the last 13 matchups have gone to overtime. UVA is 3-2 in such contests.
• Each year that the Hoos and Hopkins go head-to-head in the regular season, the two teams vie for possession of the Doyle Smith Cup. The first Smith Cup was contested in 2006, but Sunday’s quarterfinal will not count towards the Smith Cup standings.

VIRGINIA-HOPKINS: THE NCAA TOURNAMENT’S RECURRING MATCHUP

• Virginia and Johns Hopkins will square off in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time on Sunday.
• The 17 meetings between the UVA and the Blue Jays are the most by any two teams in NCAA Tournament history.
• The Cavaliers are 6-10 all-time in tournament against Hopkins, but two of UVA’s wins were for national titles (1972 & 2003).
• Sunday’s game marks the first meeting between the two teams in the tournament since 2015.
• The Hoos are 2-1 all-time against Hopkins in the quarterfinals and 1-0 since the tournament moved to a 16-plus team format in 2003, also the same year the Cavaliers defeated Hopkins in the championship game.
• In the 1988 quarterfinals, unseeded Virginia defeated the second-seeded Blue Jays in overtime, 11-10, at Homewood Field after Chase Monroe tallied his fifth goal of the game and Peter Sheehan recorded 25 saves. Hopkins had won 14 of the previous 16 matchups entering the 1988 quarterfinals.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BLUE JAYS

• Johns Hopkins scored three goals on the first three possessions of the fourth quarter to take the lead and held on to win 16-14 over the Cavaliers at Klöckner Stadium on March 2.
• With the win, Hopkins reclaimed the Doyle E. Smith Cup and snapped UVA’s three-game win streak in the series.
• Virginia attackman Connor Shellenberger (4g, 2a) notched a game-high six points. Defensively, the Hoos were led by Ben Wayer (5gb, 3ct).
• Blue Jay goalie Chayse Ierlan notched a game-high 16 saves, and midfielders Matt Collison (4g, 1a) and Jonathan Peshko (4g, 1a) tallied five points each.
• Without Anthony Ghobriel (injury), Virginia struggled at the faceoff X, finishing 14-34.

LAST TIME OUT

• Payton Cormier scored eight goals and Connor Shellenberger (2g, 5a) recorded seven points to propel the Hoos to a 17-11 first round victory over Saint Joseph’s at Klöckner Stadium last Saturday (May 11).
• In the win, Cormier set the NCAA Division I all-time goals record, along with the program’s single-season goals record, single-game goals record in the NCAA Tournament, and tied for the all-time single-game record.
• Shellenberger passed Steele Stanwick on UVA’s career points list in the NCAA Tournament.
• The win snapped UVA’s four-game losing skid, its first since 2013.
• Cavalier LSM Ben Wayer tied his career-high of eight ground balls and added two assists. Anthony Ghobriel (12-23) and Thomas Colucci (5-8) helped UVA finish 17 for 31 at the faceoff X.

CAVALIERS AMONG THE NATION’S STATISTICAL LEADERS

• For games played through May 12, the Cavaliers lead the nation in caused turnovers (11.75) and ground balls (38.19).
• Virginia is second in man-up offense (.586), sixth in assists (9.06), clearing (.899) and points (23.50), eighth in scoring offense (14.44), 11th in shot percentage (.321) and 14th in opponent clear percentage (.827).
• Payton Cormier leads all Division I players in goals (3.94) and is 11th in points (4.69) and 14th in man-up goals (6). Connor Shellenberger is third in assists (3.13) and seventh in points (4.88), and Cole Kastner is 16th in caused turnovers (1.81).

ON THE HORIZON

• The winner of Virginia-Johns Hopkins advances to Championship Weekend and takes on the winner of No. 2 seed Duke (13-5) and No. 7 seed Maryland (9-5) on Saturday (May 25) at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.).
• Semifinals start times will be announced upon the conclusion of Sunday’s quarterfinal between the Cavaliers and Hopkins.