It’s been eight months since the Virginia men’s lacrosse team fell to Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals. Surely it felt much longer for coach Lars Tiffany and his team as the Cavaliers were just 52 seconds away from reaching a third National Championship Game in 5 years. As a new season dawns, lofty expectations remain for the Hoos, who enter the year ranked No. 3 in the preseason.

Those expectations make sense. With stars like Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier, and Cole Kastner all returning for Virginia, it’s hard for fans not to get excited about this team and its potential. Coach Tiffany enters his eighth season with the Cavaliers, and with two National Titles (2019, 2021) already under his belt, he’ll be hunting for a third.

As mentioned earlier, the 2023 season was an extremely successful one for the Wahoos. The team finished with a record of 13-4, making it all the way to Championship Weekend. A 12-11 lead with 0:52 left in the game wasn’t enough, as the Fighting Irish were able to come back and eventually win the game in overtime. UVA’s four losses came by a combined 5 goals. Virginia set a program record for total assists with 195. Shellenberger was responsible for a little more than a quarter of those, and his excellent play was recognized nationally, as he was one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award. Finally, Virginia had a national-best 9 USILA All-Americans (Cade Saustad – First Team, Connor Shellenberger – First Team, Thomas McConvey – First Team, Xander Dickson – Second Team, Petey LaSalla – Third Team, Evan Zinn – Honorable Mention, Grayson Sallade – Honorable Mention, Payton Cormier – Honorable Mention, Cole Kastner – Honorable Mention).

Six of those nine names listed above are not returning for Virginia in 2024. Other key players from last year’s team like Jeff Connor, Peter Garno, and Quentin Matsui also will not be back for the Hoos. This will force younger players and transfers into more pivotal roles right from the beginning of the season. Recruiting has been a strength of Coach Tiffany and his staff. Virginia has landed the No. 1 overall recruit in four of the last seven recruiting classes (Connor Shellenberger – 2019, Griffin Schutz – 2021, McCabe Millon – 2023, Brendan Millon – 2025). While younger brother Brendan won’t arrive on Grounds until 2025, older brother McCabe will be joining fellow No. 1 overall recruits Shellenberger and Schutz this season, and could be asked to play a big role early on.

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