Previewing Virginia’s 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Virginia Cavaliers are the 65th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the third team from the ACC. Virginia finished 17-3 overall in 2019 and 3-1 in ACC play. The Cavaliers defeated Notre Dame to win the ACC Championship before beating Robert Morris, Maryland, Duke, and Yale en route to their first national championship since 2011.

Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:

Who’s In?

• Air Force Falcons (3/1)
• Maryland Terrapins (3/14)

Who’s Out?

• Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (16-11 W)
• Marist Red Foxes (22-6 W)

Circle These Dates

• 2/15 vs. Lehigh: In last year’s early season matchup in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers trailed by two goals at the half after a slow start. They allowed Lehigh, who were without two of their best offensive players due to injuries, to go on a 5-0 in the half. But Virginia outscored the Mountain Hawks 7-2 in the second half en route to a three-goal win led by four goals from Michael Kraus. Lehigh should still be competitive even though they lose a good number of contributors. But they do bring back Andrew Pettit, one of their key offensive players who missed all of last season with an injury.
• 2/22 vs. Princeton: A tightly-contested matchup throughout, Virginia needed overtime to beat Princeton off an Ian Laviano goal in last year’s meeting. Patrick Burkinshaw made 24 stops in his first career start, but he transferred to Penn over the summer, meaning that Alex Rode will be the likely starter in goal. Three Cavaliers had at least four points in the game, including five from Matt Moore, but gave up a pair of four-goal outings from Michael Sowers and Charlie Durbin.
• 3/14 at Maryland: Maryland is the notable addition to the schedule. But the notable departure is Johns Hopkins, who Virginia has played against every year since 1948. Along with the Cavaliers, the Terrapins look to be a national championship contender in 2020 and nearly went back to Championship Weekend last year if it wasn’t for Virginia. The Cavaliers scored six straight goals to beat Maryland, including Kraus’ game-tying tally that hit the outside of the crossbar but was called a goal by the referees.
• 4/9 vs. Duke: ACC play is never easy for anybody. All five teams in the conference have the capability to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and all five teams have made the NCAA Tournament in a single season. Virginia’s first of two home conference showdowns is against Duke, a team that has dominated the Cavaliers for the past decade. But despite losing in the regular season, the Wahoos defeated the Blue Devils in overtime in the national semifinals en route to their first national championship since 2011. They scored 10 times in the second half compared to two in the first 30 minutes and were able to tie the game with two tallies in the final 45 seconds from Kraus and Laviano.
• 4/18 vs. Syracuse: What is typically Virginia’s ACC opener in early March, this game is now their regular season conference finale in mid-April. Both teams should be in high-gear as they prepare for the ACC Tournament the following week. The Cavaliers needed a pair of three-goal runs in the final quarter and overtime to come from behind and beat the Orange last year in the Carrier Dome. Kraus finished with a hat-trick and three assists, while Dox Aitken also recorded a hat-trick.