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Virginia Ranked No. 1 in Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20

UVA begins the 2023 men's lacrosse season ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Lacrosse Magazine

Matt Newton

Lars Tiffany's Cavalier roster is stacked for the 2023 season and the lacrosse world is taking notice. The Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Top 20 was released by USA Lacrosse Magazine on Tuesday and Virginia was ranked the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. 

Although Virginia lost Matt Moore, who ended his five-year career as UVA's all-time program leader in points, the Cavaliers return virtually every other starter and they bring in the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the country and three quality additions from the transfer portal: Thomas McConvey (Vermont), Griffin Kology (Richmond), and Ricky Miezan (Stanford). UVA returns Tewaaraton finalist Connor Shellenberger, who will be joined on offense by Payton Cormier, Griffin Schutz, Xander Dickson, Jeff Conner, Peter Garno and more. Virginia's defense will once again feature Cade Saustad, Cole Kasnter, Grayson Sallade, and Quentin Matsui. The 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year Matthew Nunes is back in cage, as is UVA's all-time faceoff leader in Peter LaSalla. 

Four of the five ACC teams are ranked in the Preseason Top 20, as No. 1 Virginia is joined by No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Duke, and No. 17 North Carolina. UVA was the conference's sole representation in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. 

See the full preseason rankings below:

Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Top 20

1. Virginia
2. Maryland
3. Georgetown
4. Cornell
5. Princeton
6. Notre Dame
7. Duke
8. Yale
9. Penn
10. Rutgers
11. Ohio State
12. Brown
13. Denver
14. Delaware
15. Harvard
16. Boston University
17. North Carolina
18. Jacksonville
19. Navy
20. Saint Joseph’s

The schedule for the 2023 Virginia men's lacrosse season is expected to be released within the next few days. 

See more Virginia men's lacrosse news and content: Virginia Men's Lacrosse on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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