The Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse team represents the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

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(NCAA) Division I men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. The Cavaliers compete in the

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(ACC) and plays home games at Klöckner Stadium, or occasionally Turf Field or Scott Stadium, in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

. The team is coached by Lars Tiffany, who led the team to back-to-back national titles in the 2019 NCAA Lacrosse Championship and 2021 NCAA Lacrosse Championship (the 2020 tournament being canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

). Winning seven NCAA Championships and nine national titles overall, Virginia is one of the all-time great collegiate lacrosse programs. Virginia's 2006 team was one of the greatest in the history of the sport, finishing 17–0 out of a very competitive ACC, and winning 16 of its 17 games by four or more goals. Each former Virginia head coach in the NCAA era of men's lacrosse ( Dom Starsia, "Ace" Adams, and Glenn Thiel) is among the top 25 of all-time lacrosse coaching wins. Both Tiffany and Starsia coincidentally moved into the Virginia position after they first achieved success as head coaches at their ''alma mater''

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Virginia's historic rivalries have extended to the championship matches of six different NCAA Tournaments, with the Cavaliers winning five of those six—defeating Syracuse in 1999, defeating Maryland in 2011 and in 2021, and defeating Johns Hopkins in 1972 and in 2003—while losing just one, in double-overtime, to Hopkins in 1980.

History

University records show that Virginia fielded lacrosse teams from 1904 to 1907, although no further information from that period is available.''Virginia Men's Lacrosse Media Guide''
, University of Virginia. After a hiatus, lacrosse returned to Charlottesville in 1925 though the team struggled in the ensuing years. Through 1932, the Cavaliers won only one game, while they lost 30 and tied four. Virginia along with Duke, UNC, and Washington & Lee played in the Dixie Lacrosse League from 1938 to 1942 with the Cavaliers winning the championship in the inaugural season. The team was disbanded after the 1932 season and would play sporadically until lacrosse returned for good in 1947. Two years later, Virginia won more games than it lost for the first time in school history when it posted a 7–4 record. The Cavaliers then posted an 8–3 mark in 1950 and 7–2 in 1951. The following season, they recorded an identical tally and the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) named Virginia the 1952 co-national champions. Virginia-UVA-Johns-Hopkins-lacrosse

In 1970, Virginia finished the season with an 8–2 record and the USILA again awarded them as co-champions with Navy and Johns Hopkins. The following season, the NCAA instituted a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

to determine the national championship, and the Cavaliers made an appearance but were eliminated by

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in the first round. In 1972, Virginia again secured a tournament berth, and beat in succession

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, Cortland State, and

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

for their first NCAA national championship. In 1978, former Army coach Jim "Ace" Adams took over as head coach, and from that season onward, Virginia has been a regular participant in the NCAA tournament. Since then, the Cavaliers have never failed to qualify in two consecutive seasons. Virginia advanced to the championship game in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, 1986,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, each time falling to the eventual champion by one goal. In 1993, Dom Starsia became head coach, leading the Cavaliers to national titles in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Since the establishment of an ACC tournament in 1989, Virginia has won the regular-season championship ten times, more than any of the other three teams in the league. Virginia's 2006 season was remarkable as the Cavaliers became the first team in NCAA history to finish the season with a 17–0 record en route to the program's third national championship in eight years. The team won its games by an average of more than eight goals per game and drew comparisons to some of the best lacrosse teams of all time. The Virginia offense led the nation in scoring (15.28), while the defense ranked 10th, allowing fewer than eight goals per game. Eight Cavaliers were named

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

s, the most in program history, and senior attackman Matt Ward received the Tewaaraton Trophy as the best player in the nation. In 2011, the Cavaliers posted a 9–5 regular-season record before entering the NCAA tournament, where they defeated Bucknell, Cornell,

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, and finally

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

9–7 to win their fifth NCAA championship. During the tournament, head coach Dom Starsia became the all-time wins leader in Division I men's lacrosse history, breaking Jack Emmer's previous mark of 326 wins. Five Cavaliers were named USILA All-Americans. Following the tournament, third-year attackman Steele Stanwick won the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation's top player. Starsia left the program at the conclusion of the 2016 season after a poor run of four seasons that included two losing records – only the program's third and fourth since the NCAA championship era began in 1971.

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head coach Lars Tiffany, who had played for Starsia at the college, was named as his replacement on June 21, 2016. In his third season, Tiffany led the Cavaliers to an 17–3 season record, an ACC championship, and back to the 2019 National Championship Game where they defeated

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, 13–9, to claim their eighth title. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, Tiffany led the 2021 team to a 14–4 season record and the 2021 National Championship Game where they defeated Maryland, 17–16, to retain their title.

Rivalries

Virginia–Syracuse has been an extremely evenly matched series between two lacrosse titans. Virginia has gained the upper hand in the Johns Hopkins and Maryland rivalries since the 1980s and 1990s, but trails in those all-time series (especially to Johns Hopkins) as a "late blooming" national power. * Virginia–Syracuse lacrosse rivalry, Syracuse leads 20–18, but Virginia has a 7–3 edge in NCAA Tournaments. * Virginia–Johns Hopkins lacrosse rivalry, Virginia leads 20–13 since 1994 but trails the overall series 61–32–1. * Virginia–Maryland lacrosse rivalry, Virginia leads 38–18 since 1980 but trails the overall series 47–46.

Season results

The following is a list of Virginia's results by season as an NCAA Division I program: {, class="wikitable" , - align="center" †NCAA canceled spring 2020 collegiate sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alumni in the Premier Lacrosse League (10)

{, class="wikitable" , - align="center" , 2011 , Adam Ghitelman , Goalie , 5'9 , 180 , Denver Outlaws (MLL) , 8th round (45th overall) , Archers LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2011 , Thomas Kelly , Faceoff , 6'0 , 215 , Undrafted , Undrafted , Chaos LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2017 , Zed Williams , Attack , 6'2 , 230 , Georgia Storm (NLL) , 1st round (4th overall) , Whipsnakes LC , 2x All Star ('20,'21) , 1x MVP ('20), 1x McEneaney ('20) , - align="center" , 2018 , Scott Hooper , Defense , 6'1 , 180 , Charlotte Hounds (MLL) , 4th round (28th overall) , Cannons LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2019 , Ryan Conrad , Midfield , 6'0 , 190 , Atlas LC , 1st round (2nd overall) , Waterdogs LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2021 , Jared Conners , LSM , 6'5 , 215 , Archers LC , 1st round (5th overall) , Archers LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2021 , Dox Aitken , Midfield , 6'2 , 210 , Atlas LC , 1st round (8th overall) , Atlas LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2021 , Charlie Bertrand , Midfield , 6'3 , 220 , Redwoods LC , 3rd round (24th overall) , Redwoods LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2022 , Matt Moore , Attack , 6'2 , 195 , Archers LC , 1st round (4th overall) , Archers LC , None , None , - align="center" , 2022 , Chris Merle , D Midfield , 6'1 , 200 , Undrafted , Undrafted , Archers LC , None , None

References

External links

* {{Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse navbox NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams 1904 establishments in Virginia Lacrosse clubs established in 1904