Virginia Travels to No. 9 Notre Dame Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (5-6, 0-2 ACC) plays its second and final ACC road game Saturday (April 12), when the Cavaliers travel to No. 9 Notre Dame (5-3, 1-1 ACC). Opening faceoff from Arlotta Stadium is set for 5 p.m. on ESPNU. 

SERIES HISTORY 

• The all-time series between Virginia and Notre Dame, which began during the 1993 NCAA Tournament, is tied 11-11. 
• After UVA won six consecutive games from 2019-23, the Fighting Irish enter Saturday’s contest on a three-game win streak over the Cavaliers. 
• UND won both meetings last year: 11-9 in the regular season at Klöckner Stadium and 18-9 in the ACC Tournament semifinal at American Legion Memorial Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.). The Fighting Irish went on to capture both ACC and NCAA Tournament titles. 
• The last time the two teams met at Arlotta Stadium was during the 2023 regular season, when the then-No. 3 Cavaliers knocked off the top-ranked Irish, 15-10. UVA’s starting attack, consisting of Connor Shellenberger (2g, 5a), Xander Dickson (6g, 1a) and Payton Cormier (2g, 2a), combined for 18 points in the win. 
• In the 2019 ACC Tournament championship game, Virginia knocked off the Irish, 10-4, at Klöckner Stadium after holding UND scoreless for 42:12 of game time. 
• The two teams have squared off in the NCAA Tournament five times (’93, ’94, ’06, ’12, ’23) with the Cavaliers leading 3-2 in such contests. 
• At Championship Weekend in 2023, UND scored four of the game’s last five goals, including the game-winner in overtime, at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.). Shellenberger (3g, 3a) led all players with six points. 
• The first-ever meeting on May 15, 1993, was an NCAA Tournament game that UVA won 19-9 at Klöckner Stadium in the facility’s inaugural season. 
• In 2006, Virginia defeated the Irish 20-8 in the quarterfinals before capturing the program’s fourth NCAA title, in a 15-7 decision over UMass at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa). 
• In the 2012 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals at PPL Park (Chester, Pa.), both teams were tied 6-6 heading into the fourth quarter before the Irish outscored UVA 6-4 in the final period. 
• Notre Dame attackman and Charlottesville native Max Pfeifer (Western Albemarle HS) recorded his first hat trick of the season. The Irish were eliminated by eventual-champion Loyola in the semifinals. 
• The loss marked the final career game for UVA All-Americans Steele Stanwick, Colin Briggs, Chris Bocklet, Matt Lovejoy and Rob Fortunato. 

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH 

• The two-time reigning national champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish are ranked in No. 9 in both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse weekly polls. 
• Virginia and Notre Dame are the only two programs to win back-to-back national championships since 2014. 
• The Irish are led by UVA alum Kevin Corrigan, who was member of the Cavalier men’s lacrosse roster from 1978-80. Corrigan is in his 37th season as Notre Dame head coach. 
• Offensively, Notre Dame is led by attackman Chris Kavanagh, who has scored at least one goal in 51 of his 53 career games. 
• Including Kavangh, the Irish have seven midseason All-Americans according to Inside Lacrosse. 
• Will Angrick (midfield), Will Lynch (faceoff), Will Donovan (LSM), Shawn Lyght (defense) and Kavanagh were name second-team midseason All-Americans, while Ben Ramsey (SSDM) and Jake Taylor (attack) were named to the third team and honorable mention list, respectively. 
• For the third straight week, the Cavaliers will face another top-10 faceoff specialist in Lynch. A true senior, Lynch is currently tenth among all DI faceoff specialists with a 61.4 faceoff win percentage. 
• Notre Dame is coming off its third and most lopsided loss of the season, a 14-9 decision at Syracuse last Saturday (April 5). 
• UND’s only other two defeats this season have been by one score: 11-10 to Maryland and 10-9 to Ohio State. The Terps were ranked No. 2 at the time and Ohio State – which is receiving first-place votes in this week’s USILA and Inside Lacrosse polls – has since solidified itself as one of the nation’s top teams. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• In last week’s ACC road opener, Virginia fell behind early and was out-performed in the second half as then-No. 9 North Carolina cruised to an 18-9 victory in warm, bright conditions at Dorrance Field.  
• UNC attackman Dominic Pietramala scored a game-high four goals, all of which came in the first half.  
• The Tar Heels held UVA scoreless for the final 24:24, its second-longest scoring drought of the season and a span in which UNC scored six straight. 
• The Cavaliers were led by McCabe Millon, who scored two goals and logged two assists. Midfielder Will Inderlied also notched a pair of goals to record the first multi-goal effort of his career.   
• Both UVA faceoff specialists Andrew Greenspan (1g) and Henry Metz (1g) scored off draws. 

VIRGINIA’S STINGY MAN-DOWN UNIT 

• Virginia’s man-down defense is much improved from last year to this. 
• Through their first 10 games this season, the Cavaliers have only surrendered six goals on 41 opponent extra-man opportunities, a clip of 85.4 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 fifth nationally in ground balls (36.00/gm), 10th in man-up offense (.484) and 15th in caused turnovers (9.45/gm). 
• Among all DI players, McCabe Millon is 21st in assists (2.00/gm). Fellow attackmen Ryan Colsey (4) and Truitt Sunderland (4) are tied for 23rd in man-up goals. 

MILLON STARTING TO FIND HIS STRIDE DOWN THE STRETCH 

• McCabe Millon has been highly productive in Virginia’s last four games against UAlbany (March 18), Utah (March 22), Syracuse (March 29) and at North Carolina (March 5). 
• Millon has led UVA in goals (10), assists (10) and points (20) in three of its last four games. 

ON THE HORIZON 

• Next Saturday (April 19), the Cavaliers return to Klöckner Stadium to host Lafayette (7-4) for Senior Day.
• Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.