No. 11 Virginia Hosts No. 3 North Carolina with ACC Regular-Season Title at Stake

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — No. 11 Virginia (7-5, 2-1 ACC) welcomes No. 3 North Carolina (10-2, 1-1 ACC) to Klöckner Stadium Saturday (April 18) for the Cavaliers' fourth and final ACC regular-season contest. 

The game is part of Virginia's annual Alumni Weekend. Highlighted by an on-field recognition at halftime, UVA will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its 1986 ACC championship team and the 20th anniversary of its 2006 ACC and national championship team.

Of the seven @UVAMensLax teams that have won NCAA titles, only one finished unbeaten. Virginia went 17-0 in 2006 with an average margin of victory of 8.2 goals. “For a full four quarters, no one could hang with us,” recalled @Tewaaraton winner Matt Ward.https://t.co/TJ8NLJUx1S

— Jeff White (@JeffWhiteUVa) April 16, 2026

Saturday's game is also dedicated to Morgan's Message, a non-profit organization whose mission strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics. 

PARKING INFORMATION 

• With multiple events taking place in the athletics precinct on Saturday, lacrosse fans should plan to arrive early and expect heavier traffic. 

• Free parking is available in all surrounding JPJ lots, with overflow parking in the Emmet-Ivy Garage. 

• UVA Athletics will provide a complimentary shuttle for fans beginning at 11 a.m.  until 5 p.m. 

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD... 

• Assure UVA of at least a share of the ACC regular-season title and a spot in the four-team ACC Tournament (May 1-3). 

• Mark their first clinch of an ACC regular-season title since 2022, when UVA and Notre Dame both finished the regular season 5-1. 

• Be UVA's first season with an ACC winning record since 2023, when the Cavaliers finished 4-2. 

• Be the 60th of the series against North Carolina. UVA's 59 all-time wins in the series are its most against any opponent in program history. 

• Mark UVA's third ranked win in its last four games, including second over a top-3 opponent. 

SERIES HISTORY 

• UVA owns a 59-33 advantage since the series began in 1938. 

• The 59 wins are UVA’s most against any opponent in program history (followed by 51 against Duke). 

• In Chapel Hill last year, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 18-9, snapping UVA's six-game series win streak. 

• UVA has won nine of the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2018. 

• The Hoos have won the last two meetings with Carolina at Klöckner Stadium, 11-4 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2024. 

• The Tar Heels' four goals in 2022 marked the fewest goals in a game under Joe Breschi, who was named UNC's head coach in 2006. 

• The last time the Tar Heels knocked off the Cavaliers at Klöckner was a 16-13 decision during the first of three games between the two teams in 2021. 

• Later that year, UVA claimed back-to-back meetings against the Heels, including in the NCAA semifinals on the way to capturing the 2021 national title over Maryland. 

• The Cavaliers are 3-2 against Carolina in the NCAA Tournament all-time. 

• In the 1986 NCAA championship game against Virginia, Carolina's Gary Seivld scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Tar Heels won their 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. 

• Dating back to 1964, UVA has faced UNC every year except for 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season before conference play began. 

LAST TIME THEY MEY 

• 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 on March 29, 2025. 

• The Orange outscored the Cavaliers 8-4 in the second half, including 3-0 in the final 11:38 of play. 

• Despite a strong outing from UVA faceoff specialist Andrew Greenspan (13-18 FO) against John Mullen, who had the nation's third-best faceoff win percentage at the time, Cuse outscored UVA 8-4 in the second half to pull away. 

• Greenspan's 13 faceoff wins were his career high at the time. 

• Both team’s starting goalies stood out in the dramatic showdown. UVA's Matthew Nunes finished with a season-high 16 saves, while Syracuse’s Jimmy McCool made 17 saves, including six in the third quarter. 

• For the second straight matchup between the two teams, Virginia defenseman John Schroter held his primary matchup, Cuse star attackman Joey Spallina, scoreless and limited him to only one assist.  

• With three goals and three assists, attackman McCabe Millon (3g, 3a) led the UVA offense and reached the 100-career-point milestone in just his 28th career game. It was also the 11th hat trick of Millon's career. 

• In honor of the Cavaliers' Military/First Responder Appreciation game, two U.S. Navy jets performed a ceremonial flyover above Klöckner Stadium during the national anthem.   

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS 

• North Carolina is coming off just its second setback of the season, a 10-5 loss at Notre Dame last Saturday (April 11). The loss snapped the Tar Heels' five-game win streak, which included four wins over ranked opponents. 

• Carolina trailed by only one goal [6-5] late in the third quarter, but was shut out for nearly the final 20 minutes of play, a span in which the Fighting Irish scored the final four goals of the game. 

• UNC boasts the nation's top faceoff unit, a group that is led by Brady Wambach, who is winning draws at a clip of 69.4%. Wambach leads all Division I players in ground balls (11.08/gm), while his faceoff win percentage leads the ACC and is good for third nationally. Last year, Wambach became the first Tar Heel since 2012 to be named a USILA First Team All-American. 

• UNC also returned its top-2 offensive players, Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala. Duffy is fourth among all ACC players in points (4.17/gm) and Pietramala is second in goals (2.28/gm). 
• The Tar Heels are led by Joe Breschi, who is in his 18th season as UNC head coach. While Breschi guided the Tar Heels to a national championship in 2016 and another Championship Weekend appearance in 2021, where they fell 12-11 to UVA, Carolina has not won an NCAA Tournament game since the 2021 quarterfinals, a 12-11 overtime triumph over Rutgers. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• No. 5 Syracuse took the lead midway through the first quarter and did not look back as the Orange defeated No. 13 Virginia 14-9 at the JMA Wireless Dome last Saturday afternoon (April 11). Cuse snapped UVA’s four-game win streak and improved to 6-0 in home games this season. 

• Despite recording double-digit shots in each quarter, the Cavaliers tied their lowest scoring output of the season after shooting just 19.6%. 

• Virginia attackman McCabe Millon (1g, 4a) tied for a game-high five points alongside Cuse attackman Joey Spallina (2g, 3a). In addition to Millon, Truitt Sunderland (2g, 1a) also contributed three points for the Hoos. 

• The trio of Andrew Greenspan (9-17 FO), Henry Metz (4-5 FO), and Griff Meyer (4-5 FO) provided a spark for the Cavaliers at the faceoff X, but UVA struggled to convert in transition on the offensive end. 

• UVA was shut out for two stretches of over 18 minutes in both halves. 

• UVA goaltender Jake Marek only managed four saves, while Cuse netminder Jimmy McCool finished with 18 saves, the most in any game this year by an ACC goaltender. 

MILLON BROTHERS ARE NATION'S BEST TANDEM 

• Brothers Brendan Millon and McCabe Millon are perhaps the nation's best 1-2 punch in all of Division I men's lacrosse. 

• For games played through April 14, McCabe Millon leads the ACC in both assists (3.17) and points (4.92), good for second and seventh among all Division I players.  

• McCabe's younger brother Brendan Millon is third in assists (2.58) and second points (4.67). Brendan Millon also leads all Division I freshmen in both assists and points. 

• McCabe Millon has notched at least four points in all but two games this season. He achieved career highs in both points (9) and assists (5) in UVA's season opener, a 19-14 win over Colgate (Feb. 8). 

• McCabe Millon was named a Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List selection – along with teammate John Schroter – in February. 

• During UVA's most recent four-game win streak, which began with its 16-11 victory over Utah (March 31), Brendan Millon averaged 6.0 points per game, including 4.0 assists per game. 

• Brendan Millon has tallied at least five assists in three games this year, all of which were UVA wins. He had five helpers in his collegiate debut against Colgate (Feb. 8) and on the road against then-No. 7 Duke (April 4). 

• Against Dartmouth, he tallied a whopping 10 points on four goals and a career-high six assists. He's the only Division I freshmen to tally at least 10 points in a game this season and one of only eight players overall (for games played through April 14). 

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS 

• For games played through April 14, UVA is second nationally in assists (9.50/gm), fourth in caused turnovers (11.33/gm), ground balls (37.42/gm) and points (23.33/gm), eighth in scoring offense (13.83/gm), and 10th in shooting percentage (.327). 

• Truitt Sunderland (2.83/gm) is 17th in goals and tied for 24th in man-up goals (3). 

ON THE HORIZON 

• The Cavaliers return to Klöckner Stadium Friday (April 24) for their regular-season finale against Drexel (8-4). Opening faceoff is set for 2:30 pm. 

• The Dragons travel to Stony Brook on Saturday (April 18) for a 3 p.m. opening faceoff. 

• Virginia will honor its fourth-years and graduate students in a Senior Day ceremony prior to the start of Friday's game.