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16 CAVALIER CORNER BY PATRICK BOLING O ne thousand, ninety-two days — that's how long the two-time reigning national champion Virginia men's lacrosse team was indeed just that, reigning national champions. The Cavaliers won back-to-back national titles in 2019 and 2021 (the latter half of the 2020 season was canceled due to the onset of COVID-19). UVA began its 2022 season as the preseason favorites to repeat as national champs for the third season in a row. The Cavaliers went on to clinch a share of the program's 19th ACC title with a record of 5-1 in league play. Virginia (12-4) also achieved its sixth consecutive winning sea- son, but ultimately did not live up to its own self-imposed lofty expectations. That's because the Cavaliers' tenure as reigning national champions came to a close with an 18-9 defeat in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of former ACC foe and No. 1 overall seed Maryland, which went on to win the national champion- ship to cap an undefeated season (18-0). "I coach great men," UVA head coach Lars Tiffany said after his team's loss to the Terps. "I'm very fortunate to coach warriors. And that's why this hurts, because the ride's over. We've been fortunate — in the last two full seasons in '19 and '21 — to finish our sea- sons holding up the national championship trophy, and so it's hard to not have the Final Four be a part of the Virginia lacrosse season. "But there's a reason it's ended and it's because we just faced — in my opinion — the best team in the last 16 years." Despite the feeling of disappointment, which naturally follows the loss of a high- stakes game, the list of the team's achieve- ments is seemingly endless. In addition to capturing a share of the ACC championship (UVA's second under Tiffany) and making its fourth NCAA Tourna- ment appearance, the Cavaliers went a per- fect 8-0 at Klöckner Stadium this season. Virginia's success at home, which included victories over lacrosse powerhouses such as Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame and North Carolina, helped the program secure its 41st appearance in the Big Dance. In a year where there seemed to be much parity in Division I men's lacrosse, UVA was the only ACC team to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, which marks the first time since 1975 that only one ACC team qualified for the postseason tournament. Despite its ACC champion status and top-10 RPI finish, the Cavaliers were un- seeded for just the third time out of the school's 41 total NCAA Tournament appear- ances. As such, the Hoos were sent to play at eighth-seeded Brown — Tiffany's alma mater and former post as head coach — in the first round of the tournament. What turned out to be UVA's signature performance of the season saw one of the most physical back-and-forth matchups in recent memory for the Cavaliers. After UVA had 15 days of rest before its first-round matchup with the Bears, the two teams found themselves knotted 7-7 at the half, but the Hoos capitalized on an 8-0 second-half run to seal a 17-10 win. It marked Virginia's ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament victory — a program record — all of which came under Tiffany's direction. Second-year attackman Connor Shel- lenberger's eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) against the Bears tied his career high and demonstrated why he was worthy of being named a Tewaaraton Award finalist and USILA first-team All-American. Third-year at- tack Payton Cormier, who finished the 2022 season with 50 goals, tallied a game-high five scores in the Cavaliers' first-round win. "I think a theme of ours this season has been 'pressure is a privilege,'" Shellenberger said after the win. "When you go into an en- REIGN OVER The UVA Men's Lacrosse Team Put Together Another Strong Season, But Its Bid For A Three-Peat Was Denied Second-year attackman Connor Shellenberger earned first-team All-America honors for the second straight year and became the Cava- liers' first Tewaaraton Award finalist since 2012. (Photo by Brian Foley/courtesy UVA)