The Virginia men’s lacrosse team hasn’t faced an Ivy League team in more than two years. That’s set to change Saturday when UVA travels to Brown for an NCAA Tournament showdown.

Starting the tourney on the road will be a different experience for the Cavaliers, who last opened NCAA Tournament play away from Charlottesville in the 2018 event. With RPI metrics playing a heavy role in seeding, the Hoos expected a road trip but still held out hope for a seed and the right to host. There’s always a little disappointment to miss out on another game at Klockner Stadium, but Virginia is excited to be in the field and ready to chase another National Championship.

“If there was any vibe, I think there was probably a bit of disappointment not to be home,” Cavalier coach Lars Tiffany said. “In terms of the matchup, [it was] we’ll see who we get and we’re excited to play, but yeah I think there was some hope because we love playing here in Charlottesville, we love Klockner, the iconic lacrosse, grass stadium to play the game of lacrosse in Division I. So I think there was a little bit of a letdown there but then excited to see our name pop up.”

The Hoos’ name popped up with No. 8 seed Brown. Coincidentally, that was the last Ivy League opponent and location for Virginia as well. The two programs dueled at Stevenson-Pincince Field in 2020 in their final game before the pandemic shutdown. The Ivy League did not play in 2021 and with scheduling done in advance, UVA did not include any Ivy teams this season.

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