Cavaliers Now

No. 3 Virginia Earns Momentous Victory Over No. 1 Notre Dame in Finale

Matthew Nunes registered a career-high 19 saves to limit the third-highest-scoring offense in the country to just eight goals

Aidan Baller

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Since 2019, Virginia has defeated Notre Dame in all six meetings and has held the Irish to at most 11 goals in each of those six games. It is fair to say the Cavaliers have had Notre Dame's number over the past few years. Despite the Fighting Irish averaging 16.4 goals a game this season, the Virginia defense held them to less than half of that on the last day of April with postseason lacrosse on the horizon.

In Virginia’s regular-season finale, the Cavaliers took down Notre Dame for the second time this season on senior day to enter the postseason with momentum and confidence. Matthew Nunes was the star for Virginia, picking up a career-high 19 saves and a staggering 70.4 save percentage to lift the Cavaliers past the Fighting Irish. After a 4-4 score at halftime, No. 3 Virginia pulled away with a 6-1 run to surge past No. 1 Notre Dame 12-8 on Sunday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.

Offensively, Xander Dickson led the way with four goals and an assist, another massive performance after not being named as a Tewaaraton nominee. Since the Tewaaraton nominees announcement, Dickson has had 15 goals and seven assists in the last three games. With his fourth goal of the game on Sunday, he tied Virginia’s single-season goals record of 56.

Since the game was Senior Day, the starting lineup saw some new faces to start, featuring David Roselle, Will Cory, Drew Brennfleck, John Izlar, Peter Garno, Michael Bienkowski, and Mitchell Whalen. Despite the big game, Coach Tiffany stuck to tradition and honored his seniors, even having Brennfleck start as a short-stick on defense.

Despite some new faces, Connor Shellenberger went right to work, scoring for Virginia 30 seconds into the game after Petey LaSalla won the opening faceoff. Immediately after Shellenberger's goal, the regular starters for Virginia took the field. After that, both teams struggled offensively as Notre Dame was scoreless until Brian Tevlin broke the deadlock with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. Between the two goals, the Cavaliers struggled to find a rhythm offensively. On the defensive side, Matthew Nunes picked up five early saves to keep the Fighting Irish at bay.

The performance of the defense in the first quarter persisted throughout and was Virginia’s best defensive showing of the season.

To begin the second quarter, Dickson found the back of the net after Payton Cormier forced a turnover on the Notre Dame clear to make it 2-1. Minutes later, Jake Taylor netted a goal, sparking a series of up-and-down scoring, with Shellenberger finding Dickson on the doorstep on the next possession.

In response, the former Cavalier Jack Simmons scored before Thomas McConvey extended his point streak, lasting 66 games, to make it 4-3. With 41 seconds left, Notre Dame was awarded a man-up opportunity which Jake Taylor capitalized on to tie the game at the half.

The low-scoring start was attributed to strong defense from both sides, with Nunes making nine saves and Liam Entennman making seven. Virginia had ten first-half turnovers to Notre Dame’s three, as the Cavaliers struggled to combat the ride led by the Kavanagh brothers. On the positive side, Petey LaSalla went 8/11 in the first half from the x.

To open the second half, Ben Ramsey gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game after Virginia failed to clear the ball. In response, Jeff Conner found Griffin Schutz on the doorstep before the Kavanagh brothers combined for a goal to make it 6-5.

The goal, scored by Pat Kavanagh, would be the only goal between the brothers Chris and Pat for the day, a testament to the impressive defensive performances by Cole Kastner and Cade Saustad. The two combined for four caused turnovers and six ground balls.

“Cade [Saustad] and Cole [Kastner], what those two can do to the Kavanagh brothers, nobody can do that,” said UVA head coach Lars Tiffany. “They are simply some of the best cover defenders in the game.”

Minutes later, defenseman Griffin Kology found Dickson for a goal in transition, sparking a four-goal run for the Cavaliers. The goal came after Noah Chizmar took a massive hit while attempting to clear the ball, making the goal even more meaningful for the Cavaliers. Despite appearing shaken up, Chizmar returned to the game minutes later.

“It created a tempo that we like,” said Coach Tiffany. “It sparked us.”

On the ensuing possession, Grayson Sallade rocketed home a goal causing Klöckner Stadium to erupt in excitement as Virginia retook the lead. Minutes later, Dickson netted his fourth goal of the game before Shellenberger found McConvey for another goal to make it 9-6.

To open the fourth quarter, Colin Hagstrom, after winning the faceoff, scored to stop the bleeding for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame continued to keep up the pressure but was denied by Nunes on three occasions, stifling any chance at a comeback.

Minutes later, Notre Dame earned a man-up off of a Kastner hold. The 30-second penalty was then killed by Virginia. Once the penalty was released, the defense relaxed and got out of position. In the middle of the confusion, Pat Kavanagh fired on a wide-open step-down shot which was miraculously saved by Nunes. After making the save, Nunes quickly made an outlet pass to Evan Zinn, who ran down the field and scored to give Virginia a 10-7 lead, igniting another three-goal run. To add, Nunes was awarded the assist for the goal, his third of the season.

A few possessions later, Conner found McConvey on the crease, and with a defender on his back, scored a backhanded goal. On the ensuing clear, Noah Chizmar scored a goal from the midline to make it 12-7 and strengthen the Virginia advantage.

With less than three minutes remaining, Griffin Westlin netted a behind-the-back goal to cut the lead to four, but it was too little, too late as Virginia ran down the clock to solidify a 12-8 victory.

Petey LaSalla finished 15/25 from the faceoff x, while Xander Dickson led the way on offense with four goals and one assist. Connor Shellenberger also had a productive game with one goal and three assists. Thomas McConvey scored three goals.

In the Cavaliers' final game of the regular season, they certainly made a statement for the selection committee to decide where they should be seeded for the tournament. Virginia finishes the regular season 11-3 overall and 4-2 in ACC play. UVA will learn its NCAA Tournament draw on Sunday, May 7th, during the Selection Show on ESPNU at 9:30pm. While it is not confirmed, the Cavaliers are expected to host their first round game at Klöckner Stadium. 

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Aidan Baller
AIDAN BALLER

Aidan has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since January of 2023 and covers UVA football, basketball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse. He is from New York and is currently in his fourth year at the University of Virginia, enrolled in the M.S. in Accounting program.

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