No. 4 Seed Virginia Stifles No. 2 Seed North Carolina, 16-6, to Capture ACC Title

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No. 4 seed Virginia (10-6) scored 12 unanswered goals in the first half on the way to capturing the program’s 20^th ACC championship in a 16-6 win over No. 2 seed North Carolina (12-4) Sunday afternoon (May 3) at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The win also marked UVA’s eighth overall in the ACC Tournament championship game and first since 2019.

Virginia goaltender Jake Marek was named the ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after finishing with a season-high 16 saves. He also had 12 stops in UVA’s 15-10 semifinal win over Notre Dame on Friday. The accolade marked the second consecutive year in which Marek took home conference tournament MVP honors; he also did so as an Air Force senior at the 2025 ASUN Tournament.

Joining Marek on the all-tournament team from UVA were attackmen Brendan Millon (2a), McCabe Millon (4g, 2a) and Truitt Sunderland (4g, 1a), midfielder Joey Terenzi (1g, 1a), and defenseman John Schroter (3gb, 2ct).

UVA’s faceoff unit combined to win 13 of the game’s 25 draws, primarily against Carolina’s Brady Wambach (11-20 FO), who entered Sunday’s game with the third-best faceoff win percentage among all Division I players (67.4%).

The Cavaliers await their postseason fate, which will be unveiled during the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Selection Show on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After UNC scored the game’s first two goals, Virginia closed out the first half on a 12-0 run. With the help of 10 saves in the first half, Marek and the Cavaliers’ defense held the Tar Heels off the scoreboard for nearly 30 minutes. Six Cavaliers found the back of the net in the first half, including McCabe Millon and Sunderland, who led all players at the break with five points each. UVA also received a critical lift from its midfield, with goals from Terenzi, Ryan Duenkel (2g), Hudson Hausmann (2g) and Will Inderlied (1g).

The Tar Heels broke up the UVA scoring spree nearly five minutes into the third. Carolina only managed to score back-to-back goals once the rest of the way. UVA mixed in its reserves in the fourth quarter, including netminder Kyle Morris, who made two stops in the final 5:23 of play. Cavalier attackman Burke McFarlane came off the bench to score UVA’s final goal – also his second in the last three games – on a physical dodge from below the goal line to put an exclamation point on the win. UVA’s defense limited UNC’s pair of All-ACC attackmen, Owen Duffy (1g) and Dominic Pietramala (1g, 1a), to only three points combined.

WITH THE WIN…

• UVA tallied its 20th overall ACC championship and its first since 2022. The Cavaliers shared the title with Notre Dame that year, when the league's champion was determined by regular-season finish.
• UVA claimed its eighth ACC Tournament crown and first since 2019, when it defeated Notre Dame 10-4 at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers have now won ACC Tournament titles in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2019 and 2026.
• The Wahoos improved their all-time ACC Tournament record to 25-21, dating back to the event's inception in 1989. In 45 tournament games played, UVA has scored 508 goals, while its opponents have totaled 489.
• UVA earned its first-ever victory over North Carolina in the ACC championship game. The Cavaliers had dropped all four previously contested title games against the Tar Heels, in 1990, 1994, 1996 and 2013.
• Virginia notched its seventh 10-win season under Lars Tiffany, who is in his 10th season as Cavalier head coach.
• UVA improved to 60-34 in the all-time series with Carolina, which began in 1938. The Cavaliers’ 60 wins are their most against any opponent in program history (followed by 51 against Duke).

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Cavaliers recorded their fourth straight game scoring at least 15 goals.
• Virginia, which entered Saturday’s contest as the nation’s leader in assists per game (9.67), assisted on 10 of its 16 goals scored.
• The Cavaliers also improved to 9-0 this season when recording more assists than their opponent.
• Starting goaltender Jake Marek finished with a season-high 16 saves. UVA improved to 8-2 this season when Marek records double-digit saves.
• Senior Ryan Colsey extended his goal streak to 30 games dating back to last year’s season opener, a span in which he’s totaled 63 goals.
• With two assists, Brendan Millon is only one shy of tying Connor Shellenberger’s freshman assists record (42) and five points shy of Shellenberger’s freshman points record (79).

2026 All-Tournament Team
Jake Marek, Virginia (MVP)
Brendan Millon, Virginia
McCabe Millon, Virginia
John Schroter, Virginia
Truitt Sunderland, Virginia
Joey Terenzi, Virginia
Owen Duffy, North Carolina
Peter Thomann, North Carolina
Brady Wambach, North Carolina
Josh Yago, Notre Dame
Luke Rhoa, Syracuse