Cavaliers Ready for First ACC Road Test at No. 8 North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (5-5, 0-1 ACC) plays its second consecutive top-10 foe Saturday (April 5), when the Cavaliers travel to No. 8 North Carolina (7-2, 0-0 ACC) for their ACC road opener. 

Opening faceoff from Dorrance Field is set for 4 p.m. on ACC Network and WINA (1070 AM/98.9 FM). 

SERIES HISTORY 

• Saturday’s game marks the 92nd all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and North Carolina, a series UVA owns a 59-32 advantage in since 1938. 
• The Cavaliers’ 59 wins places the Tar Heels on UVA’s list of most beaten opponents (UVA has defeated Duke 50 times). 
• After dropping seven of its previous eight contests to UNC from 2012-17, the Cavaliers have won nine of the series’ previous 10 games, including the last six. 
• The Hoos’ most recent loss to UNC was at Klöckner Stadium during the 2021 regular season, when the Tar Heels won 16-13. 
• Later that year, UVA claimed back-to-back meetings against the Heels, including in the NCAA semifinals on the way to capturing 2021 national title over Maryland. 
• The last time the Cavaliers and UNC squared off at Dorrance Field was in wet and rainy conditions for the 2023 regular-season meeting, which UVA won, 19-12. UNC entered the contest as the nation’s No. 3 scoring defense, averaging 8.50 goals-against per game at the time. UVA’s 19 goals scored are still the most by a Tar Heel opponent since 2023. Former UVA attackman Payton Cormier, the NCAA Division I all-time goals recorder holder, finished with five goals and two assists. 
• Virginia is 4-0 since the opening of Dorrance Field in 2019, which replaced Fetzer Field (1935-2017).  
• At Klöckner Stadium in 2022, UVA held the Tar Heels to just four goals [11-4], the fewest goals scored by UNC in a single game since Joe Breschi was named the program’s head coach in 2006. 
• UVA faced the Tar Heels every year from 1964-2019 until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 season. 
• Virginia and North Carolina are charter members of the ACC, which held its inaugural regular season in 1954. Duke and Maryland are the only other two original members, but the Terrapins exited the league for the Big Ten following the 2014 season. 
• The Cavaliers are 3-2 against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament all-time. Most recently, UVA defeated the Tar Heels in the 2021 semifinals, 12-11. 
• In the 1986 championship game against Virginia, Carolina’s Gary Seivld scored the game-winning goal in overtime as UNC won its third national championship. UVA’s Will Rosebro had tied the game at nine with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter. 
• The 1986 tournament was notable because for the first time in nine seasons Johns Hopkins was not in the championship game, having been upset in overtime by UNC in the semifinals. 

LAST TIME THEY MET 

• Virginia outscored North Carolina in each quarter, including 6-1 in the first, to cruise to a convincing 14-6 win in the 2024 ACC opener at Klöckner Stadium. 
• UVA’s eight-goal margin of victory tied for its largest in the series with UNC since 2006. 
• The Tar Heels’ six goals scored is tied for their lowest scoring output in their last 34 games. 
• Matthew Nunes and the rest of the Cavalier defense held Carolina scoreless for 26:43 in the second half. 
• The Tar Heels committed 23 turnovers, including six while clearing. Ten Cavaliers found the back of the net, five of which are members of the 2025 roster. 

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS 

• With an overall record of 7-2, UNC is tied for its best start since 2022. 
• Among all Division I teams, North Carolina is currently third in ground balls (36.56/gm), faceoff win percentage (.667) and scoring defense (8.11/gm), seventh in scoring margin (6.22), eighth in scoring offense (14.33) and opponent clear percentage, ninth in shot percentage (.325), 10th in clearing percentage (.889) and 11th in points (21.78/gm). 
• The Tar Heels have won the faceoff battle in eight of their first nine games played this season. 
• After facing the nation’s No. 3 faceoff specialist in John Mullen (Syracuse) last week, UVA will jostle with UNC’s Brady Wambach, a first-team midseason All-American according to Inside Lacrosse, who is fourth nationally in faceoff win percentage (.668). Among all active Division I players, Wambach is second in career faceoff win percentage (.638) and third in career ground balls per game (7.26). 
• Offensively, the Tar Heels are led by attackmen Owen Duffy (26g, 16a) and Dominic Pietramala (30g, 2a), and midfielder Ty English (16g, 2a). 
• On Feb. 7, 2025, Carolina announced that preseason All-ACC defenseman Peter Thomann will miss the 2025 season with a lower-body injury. 
• The Har Heels are led by head coach Joe Breschi, who is in his 17th season at North Carolina and 28th of his career. UVA is 14-8 against Breschi all-time. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Virginia’s offense scored five of the game’s first six goals, but only managed five more the rest of the way as No. 8 Syracuse mounted a second-half comeback to win 12-10 at Klöckner Stadium last Saturday (March 29). 
• Cavalier faceoff specialist Andrew Greenspan, who entered Saturday’s contest having won 50 percent of his draws on the season, finished 13 for 18 at the stripe, primarily against Syracuse’s John Mullen. Entering the game, Mullen had the nation’s third-best faceoff win percentage among all Division I players. Both team’s starting goalies stood out in Saturday’s dramatic showdown. Virginia’s Matthew Nunes (3-2) finished with a season-high 16 saves, also his most in a single game he made 17 stops at Harvard last year.   

• For the second straight matchup with the Orange, Virginia defenseman John Schroter held Cuse star attackman Joey Spallina scoreless, and limited him to only one assist. Offensively, Virginia was led by McCabe Millon (3g, 3a), who recorded a game-high six points. 
• Syracuse took 52 shots, a season-high for UVA opponents, and only committed eight turnovers. 

VIRGINIA’S STINGY MAN-DOWN UNIT 

• Virginia’s man-down defense is much improved from last year to this. 
• Through their first nine games this season, the Cavaliers have only surrendered five goals on 38 opponent extra-man opportunities, a clip of 86.8 percent, which leads the ACC and is good for third nationally. 
• Last year, UVA opponents scored on 50.9 percent (28-55) of their EMO chances. 
• UVA’s man-down unit is coached by assistant coach and former UVA close defenseman Logan Greco ’19. 

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS 

• In addition to being No. 3 among all Division I teams in man-down defense, Virginia is fourth nationally in ground balls (36.50/gm), 12th in man-up offense (.467), 13th in caused turnovers (9.70/gm) and 18th in opponent clear percentage (.820). 
• Among all DI players, Ryan Colsey and Truitt Sunderland are tied for 16th in man-up goals (4). Sunderland is also 20th in points (4.30/gm), and McCabe Millon is 21st in assists (2.00/gm). 

ON THE HORIZON 

• Next Saturday (April 12), the Cavaliers continue their two-game ACC road swing at Notre Dame (5-2, 1-0 ACC), which is ranked No. 5 in this week’s edition of the USILA poll. 
• Opening faceoff from Arlotta Stadium is set for 5 p.m. on ESPNU and WINA (1070 AM/98.9 FM). 
• The Fighting Irish, who defeated Duke 14-7 in their ACC opener last Saturday, travel to Syracuse this Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt on ACC Network.