Matthew Nunes Raising the Bar for Virginia Entering the NCAA Tournament

Once a question mark in between the pipes earlier in the season, Matthew Nunes has become an exclamation point just in time for postseason play

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

For a team with virtually no weaknesses - from its explosive offense to its experienced defense, the iron man Petey LaSalla at the faceoff X and a roster that scraps for ground balls from top to bottom - the only question mark for the Virginia men's lacrosse team was goalkeeping. 

Matthew Nunes, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, was not playing to his standard through the first half of his sophomore campaign. Even as UVA won six out of the first seven games, Nunes saved well below 50% of the shots on goal he faced in three of those contests and he was just below 50% overall at the midway point of the season. 

Something changed between Virginia's 14-13 overtime loss to Maryland on March 18th to the following week's game at No. 1 Notre Dame. Nunes tallied 14 saves versus just 10 goals allowed to lead a stifling defensive effort from the Cavaliers, who stymied the Fighting Irish 15-10 on their home turf at Arlotta Stadium. Since that game, Nunes has flipped a switch, dipping below 50% in only one of his last seven games and posting 99 saves versus 80 goals against for a 55.3% save percentage over that stretch, a massive improvement on his numbers through the first half of the season. 

Even in a 15-14 loss at Duke on April 15th, the Cavaliers nearly erased a seven-goal deficit thanks to a brilliant performance in between the pipes from Nunes, who stood on his head with a career-high 17 saves to keep Virginia in the game until the bitter end. 

Then, in the regular season finale and a rematch against No. 1 Notre Dame last Sunday, the Cavaliers once again smothered the Irish offense behind an otherworldly game from Matthew Nunes, who set a new career-high again with 19 saves versus just eight goals allowed for a staggering 70.3% save percentage. 

For his performances in the final week of the season, which also included a 13-save game at Lafayette on Tuesday, Nunes was recognized with a remarkable and well-deserved haul of weekly awards, including ACC Defensive Player of the Week, USA Lacrosse Magazine Division I Men's Player of the Week, a spot on the USILA Division I Team of the Week, and The Lacrosse Network Player of the Week. 

Matthew Nunes was LOCKED IN against the Irish 🔒😤 @UVAMensLax pic.twitter.com/4matiCIbVX

— TLN 🥍 (@LacrosseNetwork) May 1, 2023

“It's really impressive what [Matthew Nunes] is doing," UVA head coach Lars Tiffany said after Sunday's win over Notre Dame. "His run has really started [since] the first time we played Notre Dame. Going into the Notre Dame game, we were a little unsure. Since then, he is seeing the ball really well. Kip Turner is doing a fantastic job with him. But to me, it’s certainly the defense – what we did in front. We were physical. We were chippy. There weren’t a lot of hands-free step-down shots."

Nunes agreed with his head coach that some of the credit for his stellar play in cage goes to the Virginia defense for hounding opposing offenses, and most notably the Notre Dame offense featuring the dynamic brothers Pat and Chris Kavanagh, forcing low-percentage shots that make for easier saves. 

"Yeah I mean just coming out trying to make some saves right away to get our team going, but also our defense played really well in the first quarter, seeing the shots that I want to see - low angle, their hands tied up," Nunes said on Sunday. "So a lot of the credit goes out to our short-stick d middies, - Noah [Chizmar], Grayson [Sallade], [Evan] Zinn, Jeff [Conner] - and our poles just making them take the shots that I want to see."

While Virginia's defense has certainly improved as the season has progressed, improvement doesn't quite convey the extent to which Nunes has elevated his own play after a subpar start to the season. He is seeing the ball extremely well, saving the shots he is supposed to save, but is also managing to pull off 'miraculous' doorstep denials to prevent easy goals for the opposing team multiple times each game. Those are the types of saves that prove to be the difference in the NCAA Tournament. 

Nunes has delivered those big game-changing saves against top-tier competition, as he has posted these incredible numbers over a stretch that featured two games against Duke, two games against Notre Dame, and games against North Carolina and Syracuse. Entering postseason play, Nunes has turned that question mark into an exclamation point as he and the UVA defensive unit have become a strength of this Cavalier team.  

With Virginia's potent offense still firing on all cylinders, UVA's defense starting to come together, and Matthew Nunes playing the best lacrosse of his career going into May, the Hoos are going to be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament as they begin their quest for their third national title in the last five years. 

Virginia will learn its seeding and draw for the NCAA Tournament during the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Selection Show on Sunday, May 7th at 9:30pm on ESPNU. 

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