After a five-year hiatus, the ACC Men's Lacrosse Tournament will make its return this weekend in Charlotte. The last time this event was played? May of 2019, when Virginia took down Notre Dame 10-4 to claim the title in the midst of an eight-game winning streak to win the national championship.
The Cavaliers are hoping for a similar outcome against the same opponent, as they draw the No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish in the semifinals on Friday, just six days after falling to Notre Dame 11-9 in the regular season finale last Saturday in Charlottesville.
The Hoos and the Irish have become quite familiar with each other in the last 14 months. This will be the fifth meeting between these two teams in that span, with Virginia and Notre Dame battling twice in the regular season in 2023 and then again in the Final Four, an overtime win for the eventual national champion Fighting Irish.
But while revenge is certainly on the minds of the Hoos heading into this quick rematch, as is the goal of winning what would be the program's 20th ACC Championship, Virginia's main priority is just to win a game, which would snap the team's first three-game losing streak since 2014 and more importantly, build some positive momentum and confidence going into next week's NCAA Tournament.
"I've been here for four and a half years now and I've never had back-to-back losses, much less three-straight losses," said graduate defenseman Mitchell Whalen. "And I know deep down that we still have this, like we still have a great team. But we need everyone to feel that, to believe that going in. It's hard to just flip a switch in May... We just need to feel that momentum, we need to feel that win, that confidence boost. I know deep down I think a lot of us have that sense of belief, but to see it out there, to see it come to fruition with a couple of wins would be huge."
Virginia hadn't lost two games in a row since 2017, going 20-0 in games immediately following a loss over that span until the Cavaliers followed up their 18-12 loss at Duke on April 14th with an 18-17 heartbreaker at Syracuse the next week. Then came the 11-9 defeat to Notre Dame, a game that the Cavaliers let slip through their fingers by failing eight clears, committing 27 turnovers, and taking only two shots in the entire fourth quarter.
Thus, Virginia enters the weekend not hyper-focused on a conference title or on thoughts of revenge, but simply needing a win to get things back on track before beginning its push for the team's ultimate goal of winning a national title.
"I think it's more about the confidence," said Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany. "To me, it's really about the victory. We're fortunate to be doing less of, you know, absolutely positively must win the tournament to move on. We're lucky that we don't have that. Let's find that winning way again, let's find that winning edge."
Though the Cavaliers are essentially a lock to make the NCAA Tournament win or lose, what is in jeopardy is whether they will get to host their first round game as a top eight seed.
"We're in a position where this is really more about building confidence," Tiffany said. "And also if we [can get] another home game, you know? Can we earn another home game for Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, Cole Kastner and the rest of them?"
Virginia will take on Notre Dame in the first semifinal of the 2024 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship on Friday at 5pm (ACCN) at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. The other semifinal will feature the other two teams who defeated the Cavaliers during their losing streak, as Syracuse battles Duke at 8pm on Friday night. The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Sunday at noon to play for the ACC Championship.
"You can talk about it being a revenge tour because the other three teams in it we lost to," said Tiffany. "But it's really about, for most of us, 'Look, on our home field, 6,400 people there, we lost to this team. Now, we get a second chance."
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