Virginia Lacrosse: Five Keys to Saturday's Semifinal Matchup vs. Maryland

Aidan Baller | May 24, 2024

Virginia and Maryland players shake hands after the Cavaliers defeated the Terrapins 14-10 at College Park / Virginia Athletics

Championship Weekend is familiar territory for Virginia and Maryland, with a combined 60 appearances in the final four and eleven NCAA national championships between the two former ACC foes. 

Virginia’s last two national championships, back in 2021 and 2019, involved defeating the Terrapins in the NCAA tournament. Now, to reach the top of the mountain for the eighth time, the Cavaliers will need to once again knock off their rivals. 

One advantage is that Virginia has seen Maryland before, defeating the Terrapins 14-10 on the road in March. The Cavaliers thoroughly controlled the game throughout, allowing them to achieve a resume-building victory that ended up being their best win of the regular season. 

Ahead of Saturday’s game: here are five keys to Virginia vs. Maryland in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. 

The Goalie Battle (Morris or Nunes?? Vs. McNaney) 

In Virginia’s last five games at Championship Weekend, the Hoos’ have averaged 15 saves per game. To add, the Cavaliers have won the goalie battle in their last five appearances at Championship Weekend, lifting them to a 4-1 record, with their one loss coming in overtime to Notre Dame last season. 

With that, whoever is in net, whether it be Kyle Morris, who stepped in for Matthew Nunes last week, or Nunes, who has been Virginia’s goalie all season, it will be key they rise to the occasion and deliver an outstanding performance not just in the cage, but also when clearing the ball, valuing every possession and not turning the ball over. 

It is even more important the Cavaliers' goalie play is stout, as Virginia will face off against Maryland’s Logan McNaney. McNaney is one of the best goalkeepers in college lacrosse and is capable of performing when the lights are at their brightest. En route to Maryland’s National Championship in 2022, McNaney had 36 saves in their final two games, a crucial part of their title run. 

The Faceoff Battle (Ghobriel vs Wierman) 

In the first matchup between Virginia and Maryland, Luke Wierman was 16/28 from the stripe, while Anthony Ghobriel was 11/22 for the Cavaliers. Despite the results, that game was Wierman's first game back from injury and may not have been a complete indicator of his talent at the stripe. 

In the last three games, Wierman has been a combined 71% at the x and in his best form of the season. Ghobriel and Thomas Colucci will need to prevent Wierman from giving Maryland a massive boost in the possession battle. 

Luckily for the committee of Ghobriel and Colucci, they have Ben Wayer on the wing, who leads all non-faceoff specialists with 92 ground balls this season, 18 of which have come in the postseason. It will be crucial that Ghobriel and Colucci tie up Wierman long enough to get the Wayer involved. If Wierman begins to dominate, one solution may be to double pole the wings to cut fast breaks and disrupt Wierman. 

Valuing Possessions 

Last week, Johns Hopkins had 25 turnovers, awarding Virginia plenty of opportunities to get back into the game. On the other hand, the Cavaliers had 19, their third-most this season. 

With possible challenges at the faceoff x, it will be critical that Virginia values every possession, which starts with leaders such as Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, and Griffin Schutz, who have played on this stage before, keeping the offense calm and in rhythm throughout the game. 

Furthermore, valuing possessions will allow the Virginia defense time to rest during what is usually the hottest weekend of the college lacrosse season. 

No. 1 vs. No. 1 (Shellenberger vs. Zappitello) 

The No. 2 and No. 3 picks in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) Draft will once again square off. Back in March, Shellenberger got the better of the matchup, registering two goals and an assist using picks to get free of Zappitello. The last time they met in the postseason, back in 2022, Zappitello held Shellenberger to 0 points. 

Shellenberger is coming off an outstanding performance that saw him score the game-winner against Johns Hopkins to complete his hat-trick. On Saturday, with a win and dominance in a matchup against the only unanimous first-team Inside Lacrosse All-American in Zappitello, Shellenberger could secure the Tewaaraton. 

Shellenberger is the lifeblood of the Virginia offense, so this matchup will be one to watch and a deciding factor in this semifinal matchup. No. 1 in the orange and blue has two options against Zappitello, dodge on him directly or use picks to switch him to a more favorable matchup, something that worked well back in March. 

Short Stick Defensive Midfielders (SSDMs)

Against Duke last week, Maryland, placed a heavy emphasis on dodging on SSDMs, with Ryan Siracusa, Daniel Maltz, and Eric Spanos all dodging, aggressively when matched up on a short stick defensive mid. With that, it will be integral for Virginia’s defensive midfield unit of Chase Yager, Noah Chizmar, Joey Terenzi, and Will Erdmann to replicate their outstanding performances against Johns Hopkins. 

Against the Blue Jays, the unit was crucial to the defense, holding Johns Hopkins to ten goals. To add, Chase Yager registered a turnover that set up the game-winning goal by Shellenberger. The unit was also essential to Virginia’s clearing game, helping Kyle Morris navigate the Johns Hopkins ride. 

No. 6 Virginia (12-5) and No. 7 Maryland (10-5) are set to play on Saturday at 2:30 pm at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. The game will be televised on ESPN 2.