Virginia Attackman Payton Cormier Returning for Fifth and Final Season

Cormier has scored 159 goals in 55 games over the last four seasons at Virginia

Payton Cormier is officially coming back. The star attackman for the Virginia men's lacrosse team is utilizing his additional COVID-19 year to come back for his fifth and final season playing for the Cavaliers, Cormier confirmed in a social media post on Thursday. Including the 2019 season, which he redshirted due to injury, Cormier will spend six years at the University of Virginia. 

Cormier was named an All-American honorable mention for the third-consecutive season in 2023 after tallying 64 points on 52 goals and 12 assists in 15 games. His 3.47 goals per game and .481 shooting percentage both ranked sixth in the country. Cormier was a pivotal piece of UVA's run to Championship Weekend, scoring six goals against Richmond in the first round and two goals and an assist against Georgetown in the quarterfinals. 

Cormier's return is a big lift for the Cavaliers, who suffered significant roster losses at the end of the season with the departures of Xander Dickson, Thomas McConvey, Cade Saustad, Grayson Sallade, Petey LaSalla, Jeff Conner, Evan Zinn, and others. Now, Virginia can expect to run an attack line of Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, and either rising sophomore Truitt Sunderland, who saw some time on attack as a true freshman, incoming freshman McCabe Millon, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, or Tufts transfer Jack Boyden, a two-time All-American and the Division III National Player of the Year in 2023. 

There isn't a bad choice in that group, which will give Kevin Cassese, the former Lehigh head coach who was hired to replace Sean Kirwan as UVA's offensive coordinator, plenty of pieces to work with for Virginia's offense in 2024. 

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