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24 CAVALIER CORNER BY PATRICK BOLING T here's the typical NCAA Division I student-athlete experience, and then there's Virginia men's lacrosse attackman Matt Moore's career, which has been anything but typical. Moore, a native of Garnet Valley, Pa., was one of the nation's most coveted re- cruits in his class. Moore came to Virginia as the No. 4 prospect in the country and first among midfielders, where he used to wreak havoc on opposing defenses. Since his arrival on Grounds in 2018, Moore has been named ACC Freshman of the Year (2018), an NCAA All-Tournament selection (2019), a second-team All-Amer- ican (2020), a USILA Scholar All-American (2021) and a Tewaaraton Award Watch List selection (2022). All those individual accolades are in addition to Moore leading Virginia to back- to-back national titles in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 campaign was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic), a first in program history. Now in 2022, Moore and the Hoos are poised to become just the third NCAA Division I men's team in history to capture three straight national championships. "There was a shift from my freshman year to my sophomore year," Moore said. "There was a shift in overall trust and buy- in of the team. We really focused on not who's the best, but the best leader. "Guys like Dave Smith — I think he single-handedly changed this program with the way he led the team." Part of that buy-in included Moore demonstrating his willingness to accept a request made by Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany, who approached him about moving from the midfield to attack after Payton Cormier suffered a season-ending injury in the fall of 2018. Ever since switching posi- tions, Moore has been a starting attack- man for the Cavaliers. It's fair to say that Moore's transition from midfield to attack is a microcosm of his entire tenure at UVA — both on and off the field. It wasn't easy at first, but after trusting the process and those charged with guiding him, the angst of the unknown gave way to a wealth of knowledge, experi- ence and reward that otherwise would not have been encountered. For Moore, it's been the life lessons that the game of lacrosse has to offer and the academic setting at UVA that have helped shape him as a student, an athlete and a man. "UVA really helped with my leadership skills. I know coming in it made me feel uncomfortable in certain scenarios: in class, speaking up, working with others. I know I've done a lot of working with others being in sports, but translating that into the classroom is a hard thing to do." Moore, who has already secured a job at Northrop Grumman upon comple- tion of his master's degree this spring, was recently named a candidate for this year's Senior CLASS Award, which honors student-athletes in their final year of eligi- bility who have significant achievements in the community, classroom, character, and competition. Despite all of his academic achieve- ments, Moore has been adamant to change the stereotypes associated with men's lacrosse players in the classroom by virtue of his actions. "I personally wanted to shape the la- crosse team," he said. "Like the stigma around it, saying, 'They sit in the back of the class, they don't speak up' — that stigma is what I really want to change. Because when you say you're a lacrosse player, usually people roll their eyes. So, I took that kind of stigma, and I really wanted to be proud to wear a UVA sweat- shirt to class. "At first, I wouldn't wear anything be- cause people would judge me or say, 'You're only here for lacrosse' and stuff like that. And I think that helped me kind of grow as a person and be more confident in myself — in that imposter syndrome, where there's so many smart people at UVA, so many gifted individuals, where you kind of feel that you're in the back, but you're re- ally not. "You're up there with them. And it's really taught me to just believe in yourself. That you're as smart as these people. You're go- ing to be working with these people when you're older, and you fit in here." Upon moving to the Cavaliers' attack unit in 2019, it was Moore who was imposing his will on the field, a reinforcement that he belonged among even the most elite of his peers. As a second-year player, Moore led the ACC with 43 assists and 89 points dur- ing the Cavaliers' championship run. His 89 points are still a single-season program record. In addition to his 43 as- sists, Moore's 46 goals made him the first player to record at least 40 goals and 40 assists in a single season. Moore and the Cavaliers were understand- ably on cloud nine after capturing the 2019 title. They were in the driver's seat to make another championship run with a handful of players set to return in 2020 combined with one of the best recruiting classes in the na- tion. But ultimately, the onset of COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season just six games in. After losing its final regular-season game of 2021 to Syracuse, Virginia won four straight NCAA Tournament games to claim its second consecutive national title in as many tries. Now in 2022, the Cavaliers got off to their best start (6-0) since 2014, and Moore was on pace to pass Steele Stanwick on Virginia's all-time career points list. But for Moore, it's never been about the individual accolades or records. He came back to play lacrosse at Virginia in 2022 to win his third national title and earn his second degree. Everything else is just gravy. "Winning another national championship would mean everything. I have the rings right here," he said. "I can't stop looking at them. I just think this team is special and we have a good group of upperclassman leadership and underclassmen." A PERFECT FIT UVA Brings Out The Best In Matt Moore — Both On And Off The Lacrosse Field Moore began the 2022 season needing just 41 points to be- come the all-time leading scorer at Virginia. Through March 20, he had already tallied 24 points (14 goals and 10 assists) in six games played. (Photo by Matt Riley/courtesy UVA)