2024-05-06 08:36:07
Friday’s rematch once morest the no. 1-seeded Notre Dame defeated the no. 5-seeded Virginia given a chance to bounce back and improve on her performance from last weekend — one riddled with small mistakes from the Cavaliers (10-5, 1-3 ACC) as the Fighting Irish (11-1, 4-0 ACC) rallied late in the game to win 11-9. Instead, Notre Dame put on a performance, scoring six goals in the first quarter and holding onto the lead all game en route to an 18-9 victory in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Charlotte, NC’s American Legion Memorial Stadium .
Virginia’s mistakes last week were in the 51-26 ground ball deficit and in a succession of failed fairways. The Cavaliers fared better in both departments on Friday, holding the ground ball margin of defeat to 30-25, going 24 of 25 and committing just 12 turnovers.
On a lighter note, graduated offensive lineman Connor Shellenberger and graduated offensive lineman Payton Cormier both broke ACC records. Shellenberger became the all-time conference assists leader with 185 career assists, dishing out two assists despite being held scoreless. Cormier became the all-time goal leader with 214 career goals, finishing the day with three goals and one assist.
In the first quarter, Notre Dame set a precedent for the entire game with four straight goals in less than six minutes. Midway through the quarter, Cormier put Virginia on the scoreboard with an unassisted shot, his 53rd goal of the season. The Fighting Irish scored two more in the quarter, and the remaining time was spent battling back and forth. Notre Dame led 6-1 at the end of the quarter.
“Definitely not how you want to start any lacrosse game,” graduate midfielder Chase Yager said. “We played so well once morest them last weekend. And going into this weekend, we tried to recreate some of that. They responded well to that.”
After winning the opening drive in the second quarter, the Cavaliers continued to look for opportunities. Graduate attackman Jack Boyden got the rebound of his own shot and passed it to Cormier, who fed sophomore center fielder Joey Terenzi for the score. Later, freshman forward McCabe Millon scored his 34th goal of the season. However, for every goal Virginia made, the Fighting Irish scored two. The half ended with the Cavaliers trailing 10-3.
To open the second half, Cormier scored early and established himself as the all-time leading scorer. Notre Dame went on to score four more as Virginia struggled for the remainder of the quarter, ending at 14-4.
Junior midfielder Griffin Schutz was the first to score in the fourth quarter, but the Fighting Irish responded with three goals. In the final five minutes of the game, Virginia outscored its opponent 3-1, with goals from Millon, sophomore forward Ryan Colsey and junior forward Thomas Mencke. However, this effort was not enough as the game ended 18-9 and Notre Dame went on to the ACC Tournament final.
From start to finish, the Fighting Irish were in control of the game. Coach Lars Tiffany noted Notre Dame graduate goalkeeper Liam Entenmann’s standout performance, saying he was “lights out,” while also talking regarding his team’s performance.
“We just mightn’t take away what they tried to do,” Tiffany said. “We had a very poor defensive effort. What we were able to do this past Saturday in Charlottesville, we just mightn’t repeat here.”
In the end, Tiffany and his team want to keep playing. With veterans like Shellenberger, Cormier, Boyden and graduated defenseman Mitchell Whalen, this will be their last run in collegiate lacrosse.
“I just want to keep playing,” Tiffany said. “If the RPI says we are [at] house and the committee want to make us [play] at home we will be very grateful to play in front of our faithful. We have the best fans in the country and that’s why I want to apologize to our fans. That’s not what they should expect from Virginia lacrosse.”
Looking ahead, this loss puts Virginia’s NCAA Tournament seed up in the air, clouding the question of whether the Cavaliers will be able to play at home. The Cavaliers’ fate will be decided during the Division I men’s lacrosse selection show Sunday at 9:30pm on ESPN2.
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