PHILADELPHIA — Virginia got another maestro performance from Connor Shellenberger. It received a stellar game from goalie Matthew Nunes. And it held a late two-goal lead.
Virginia
Virginia doesn’t have final say, gets bounced by Notre Dame from NCAAs
“When two of the best teams in the country are competing at a high level, you can’t ever take your foot off the gas,” Nunes said. “They kept their foot on the gas, and if that was 10 seconds or 60 seconds into a possession, you always felt their pressure.”
Shellenberger had three goals and three assists and Nunes made 17 saves for Virginia (13-4), which won the national title in 2019 and 2021.
Notre Dame (13-2) will face top-seeded Duke (16-2) in Monday’s final. The Blue Devils defeated fifth-seeded Penn State, 16-15, on Garrett Leadmon’s winner 65 seconds into overtime. Replays showed Leadmon stepped on the edge of the crease, but the play couldn’t be reviewed under the sport’s rules.
Eric Dobson had four goals and an assist for the Irish, who had lost their past six meetings with Virginia — including their only two setbacks this season.
The Cavaliers appeared on their way to making it 3 for 3 when they carried an 11-9 lead into the final three minutes. But Notre Dame made the most of its timeouts, slicing up a Virginia defense done in partially by an unexpected imbalance in possession time and some injuries that forced regulars into even greater responsibilities.
The Irish needed 14 seconds out of a timeout for Chris Kavanagh to score on the doorstep off a Dobson feed. The Irish tied it moments later when Dobson charged down the middle of the Cavaliers’ defense with 2:07 to go.
Virginia briefly reclaimed the lead on Thomas McConvey’s goal off Shellenberger’s assist from behind the goal. But Notre Dame won the ensuing faceoff, called a timeout and needed just 10 seconds for Jake Taylor to deposit a Tevlin pass for the equalizer with 32.2 seconds remaining.
Overtime unfolded similarly. The Irish’s Will Lynch — who was 13 for 22 on faceoffs against tireless Virginia fifth-year senior Petey LaSalla — claimed the draw and Notre Dame again took a timeout. Tevlin then charged past Grayson Sallade and beat Nunes for the winner a mere nine seconds after the stoppage.
“I didn’t do my job at the end as a defensive coach because giving up goals that quickly, it’s on me,” Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany said.
Sallade, a fifth-year defensive midfielder who played prominent roles on the two national title teams, logged extra time in the second half with Jeff Conner cramping. And defenseman Cole Kastner, tasked with defending Tewaaraton finalist Pat Kavanagh (two goals, one assist), was bumped up to play long pole at times and used on faceoff wings after long stick midfielder Scott Bower was hurt.
Still, any defensive weariness didn’t show up until late thanks largely to Nunes, who arguably saved his best for the Irish this season. The sophomore made 50 saves and allowed 31 goals in three games against Notre Dame, good for a .617 save percentage against one of the nation’s best offenses.
“Overall, our team defensive slide scheme didn’t have a great day,” Tiffany said. “Matt Nunes bailed us out. Multiple times in that first half and the third quarter as well, it felt like, ‘Oh, boy, someone’s wide open — oh, he made a save again.’ ”
For much of the day, it appeared Shellenberger — the most outstanding player of the tournament two years ago — would do enough to carry the Cavaliers to Memorial Day. The redshirt junior dealt with nagging injuries all season, even missing a game early last month, but finally got fully healthy in time for the postseason.
He rattled off 11 goals and 11 assists in three tournament games, three points shy of matching an NCAA tournament record and two points shy of his output over four games in 2021.
Shellenberger might have surpassed both marks Monday had the Cavaliers advanced. Instead, Virginia is left to reckon with a jarring finish — particularly the large class of fifth-year seniors that includes LaSalla, Sallade and attackman Xander Dickson and was seeking to bookend their careers in Charlottesville with NCAA titles.
“We didn’t win the national championship, and that’s just the standard we’ve created,” Dickson said. “We’re not trying to be arrogant about that, but that’s what we want. This is Virginia lacrosse. This is the best of the best, the blue bloods. We want national titles, and in that essence, yes, we didn’t reach our goals. But it’s definitely not a failure. We had so much fun along the way, and it was such a crazy ride.”