No. 6 Seed Virginia Hosts St. Joe’s in NCAA Tournament First Round

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the second straight year, Virginia hosts an NCAA Tournament First Round game on Saturday (May 11), when the Cavaliers (10-5) welcome Atlantic-10 champion Saint Joseph’s (12-3). Opening faceoff from Klöckner Stadium is set for noon as Anish Shroff (play-by-play) and Quint Kessenich (analyst) will have the call on ESPNU.

TICKETS & PARKING INFORMATION
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for reserved seating and can be purchased at UVAtix.com. Fans may also purchase tickets at the Klöckner Stadium box office beginning at 11 a .m. on Saturday.

Parking is available in the John Paul Jones South and West Lots for $10 per space if purchased in advance. Parking can also be purchased upon arrival for $15 per space (subject to availability). Parking passes must be purchased using a valid credit/debit card; cash will not be accepted on site. Spots are first come, first served. Free parking is also available at the UVA Emmett/Ivy Garage.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

8 – Payton Cormier (214g) only needs eight goals to shatter Mac O’Keefe’s NCAA Division I goals record.

43 – This year marks Virginia’s 43rd NCAA Tournament berth since the tournament’s inception in 1971. There have been 53 NCAA Tournaments all-time.

86 – Virginia’s current roster has combined for 86 NCAA Tournament games played. Connor Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and Cole Kastner have all appeared in nine career NCAA Tournament contests each dating back to 2021.

VIRGINIA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• Virginia’s upcoming contest against St. Joe’s marks the program’s 43rd all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 95th NCAA Tournament game.
• Only Johns Hopkins (49) and Maryland (46) have been to the tournament more times than UVA.
• The Cavaliers are 59-35 (.628) all-time in NCAA Tournament games, and 11-2 dating back to 2019.
• Only Johns Hopkins (72), Maryland (70) and Syracuse (65) have more NCAA Tournament wins than Virginia.
• Seven of the Cavaliers’ nine national championships have come in NCAA Tournament (’72, ’99, ’03, ’06, ’11, ’19 & ’21), which debuted in 1971.
• Since Lars Tiffany was hired as UVA head coach in 2017, the Hoos have qualified for six out of seven possible NCAA Tournaments. Under Tiffany, Virginia 11-3 all-time in the tournament.
• Lars Tiffany is 4-0 all-time against St. Joe’s, having gone head-to-head with the Hawks four years in a row from (2010-13) while he was head coach at Brown.

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD…

• Snap a four-game UVA losing skid, its first since 2013.
• Tally Virginia’s fifth consecutive season with a win the NCAA Tournament.
• Be the program’s 60th all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Give the Hoos their 12th victory out of their last 14 NCAA Tournament games.
• Snap St. Joe’s 12-game win streak, which is currently the longest among all Division I programs.

SERIES HISTORY

• Virginia leads the all-time series against St. Joe’s, which began in 2015, 2-0.
• Both games were held at Klöckner Stadium during the regular season in back-to-back years (2015-16).
• Saturday’s game marks the first between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament.
• In the two meetings, UVA has combined to outscore the Hawks by only three goals (1.5/game).
• In the inaugural matchup in 2015, the Hawks led 14-13 with under 3.5 minutes to play, but Zed Williams assisted goals by Greg Coholan and Ryan Lukacovic to successfully mount a late comeback.
• With four goals and five assists, Lukacovic recorded nine points in the win.
• In 2016, the Cavaliers trailed 6-4 heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored St. Joe’s 5-1 in the final period to fend off the Hawks once again.
• Lars Tiffany is 4-0 all-time against St. Joe’s, having gone head-to-head with the Hawks four years in a row from (2010-13) while he was head coach at Brown.

LAST TIME OUT

• In the ACC Tournament semifinals, Virginia suffered its fourth consecutive loss – a first since 2013 – after falling 18-9 to No. seed 1 Notre Dame at American Legion Memorial Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.) last Friday (May 3).
• The Irish scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back. Notre Dame went on to defeat Duke in the ACC finals to capture the title.
• Payton Cormier (3g, 1a) and Connor Shellenberger (2a) became the ACC’s all-time career leaders in goals and assists, respectively.
• Now with 214 career goals, Cormier shattered Justin Guterding’s ACC record of 212 goals. Shellenberger, who now has 185 career assists, broke Matt Danowski’s record of 183 assists, which stood since 2008.
• Notre Dame goalie Liam Entenmann posted a season-high 18 saves and only allowed six goals in 54:49 of action. Irish midfielder Devon McLane notched a game-high four goals, while Chris Kavanagh (1g, 3a), Pat Kavanagh (1g, 3a) and Jordan Faison (1g, 3a) also totaled four points each.

CAVALIERS AMONG THE NATION’S STATISTICAL LEADERS

• For games played through May 8, the Cavaliers lead the nation in caused turnovers (11.53) and ground balls (38.07).
• Virginia is third in clearing (.916) and man-up offense (.538), sixth in assists (9.00), eighth in points (23.27) and ninth in scoring (14.27).
• Payton Cormier leads all Division I players in goals (3.67) and is 17th in points (4.47). Connor Shellenberger is third in assists (3.00) and ninth in points (4.73) and Cole Kastner is 13th in caused turnovers (1.87).

THREE-TIME TEWAARATON AWARD FINALIST CONNOR SHELLENBERGER:

• On May 9, Virginia attackman Connor Shellenberger was named one of five Tewaaraton Award Finalists for the third consecutive year (2022-24).
• Shellenberger is UVA’s first three-time Tewaaraton Award Finalist and one of eight among all collegiate programs since the inception of the award in 2001.
• With 185 career assists, he is the ACC’s all-time assists record holder, and currently leads all active Division I players.
• In 2023, Shellenberger guided the Hoos to Championship Weekend last season after leading the nation in assists (3.38/gm).
• Shellenberger is one of just two Cavaliers to garner USILA First Team All-America honors, the other being former defenseman Ken Clausen.
• In addition to being a Tewaaraton Finalist in 2023, Shellenberger garnered NCAA All-Tournament honors after combining for 11 goals and 11 assists in the Cavaliers’ three tournament games last season.
• Shellenberger was also the 2021 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading the Hoos to their seventh NCAA championship, also the program’s ninth national championship overall.

ON THE HORIZON

• The winner of Virginia-St. Joe’s takes on the winner of No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins (10-4) and Lehigh (9-6) on Sunday (May 19) at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium.
• Quarterfinals start times will be announced later this weekend.