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JUNE 2022 17 vironment like this, it's hostile. As Coach [Tif- fany] said, we have our fans but most of the crowd was against us and they're yelling stuff at us. And it makes it that much more fun. "When you grow up playing this game, those are kind of the environments that you look forward to and hope to play in and especially in the tournament when your season could be over, or you could have another week with the team." Joining Shellenberger with USILA All- America honors were second-year defense- man Cole Kastner (second team); graduate student attackman Matt Moore (third team); fourth-year midfielders Petey LaSalla (third team), Jeff Conner (honorable mention) and Grayson Sallade (honorable mention); red- shirt third-year defenseman Cade Saustad (honorable mention) and Cormier (honor- able mention). Virginia's eight All-America selections were third most among all pro- grams nationally. Additionally, the Cavaliers dominated the ACC postseason awards. Kastner was crowned the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year. Goalie Matthew Nunes was tabbed the ACC Freshman of the Year and Tiffany was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Virginia also had a league- best five All-ACC selections in Shellenberger, Moore, Kastner, LaSalla and Conner. Kastner, UVA's first defensive player to garner player-of-the-year honors since Mark Koontz in 2002, led the league and finished sixth nationally in caused turnovers per game (2.00). Nunes, who finished 2022 with a record of 11-4 in net, went on to post arguably the most impressive season for a rookie goalie in UVA his- tory. In his 15 appearances, Nunes totaled 159 saves, which is a Virginia first-year record. Nunes and Tillman Johnson are the only two goalies in program history to tally at least 150 saves in their first-year season. Shellenberger earned first-team All-America honors for the second straight year and became Virginia's first Tewaaraton Award (nation's top player) finalist since Steele Stanwick in 2012 (and winner in 2011). After being crowned the 2021 NCAA Tour- nament Most Outstanding Player, he led the Cavaliers in points (76) and assists (44) plus finished second in goals (32). He recorded multiple points in 15 games this season. LaSalla became UVA's all-time leader in career faceoff wins (781) and ground balls (390) midway through the 2022 season. He also led the conference and finished eighth in the nation in faceoff percentage (.597) this season. His 215 faceoff wins are also good for fourth all-time on UVA's single- season list. After winning their first six contests of 2022, the Cavaliers were red-hot heading into their biggest regular-season game of the year, a 2021 national championship re- match against Maryland. Not only that, but the game was held at Audi Field in down- town Washington, D.C. There were 10,480 fans in attendance to watch the Terrapins top UVA 23-12 in the inaugural Capitol Classic Lacrosse Tournament. After the loss, Virginia traded wins with its next five opponents, a span in which Moore and LaSalla suffered injuries that contrib- uted to the Cavaliers' loss at Richmond. Even as the mid-late season injuries mounted, Virginia got back on track by winning its final three regular-season contests, including a 20-10 victory over Lafayette on Senior Night. That game was headlined by Moore shat- tering Stanwick's all-time points record (269 between 2009-12). With the addition of two NCAA Tournament games, Moore concluded his career with 277 points (143 goals, 134 assists). Not only will Moore go down as one of the best lacrosse players to ever don the orange and blue, but also one of the most admirable leaders the program has ever witnessed. On May 27, he was named the recipient of the 2022 Senior CLASS Award, which is bestowed to one graduating Divi- sion I men's lacrosse player nationally that had notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, charac- ter and competition. Moore, who was voted team captain by his teammates in the summer of 2021, is also set to earn his second degree from UVA with a master's in public policy. "We are especially impressed with Matt departing UVA with an impactful master's degree from our Batten School along with many, many lacrosse accolades," Tiffany said of Moore becoming UVA's third-ever recipient of the Senior CLASS Award. "Matt will be a force to reckon with in both his professional endeavors with Northrop Grumman and the PLL because of the tenacity he has harnessed to attack his studies, lacrosse, and community service, among other areas. "It's hard to imagine Matt not being with us in the locker room or on the field at Klöckner Stadium next year as he has been an exceptional teammate and captain." With the departure of the program's most accomplished classes, there is no doubt that Tiffany and Cavaliers will re-evaluate ev- ery aspect of the program this offsea- son in order to vie for its third national championship in the last four seasons in 2023. But perhaps the season- ending loss and a new wave of talent — set to join the program this fall — to compete for playing time will be just what the Cavaliers need next spring. When asked if the quarterfinals loss to Maryland would linger in the offsea- son, Kastner immediately interjected that it would. "I think it's just going to be such a huge motivator going into this sum- mer," Kastner noted. "Getting back into working out. Addressing the issues that we just talked about that we need to improve on. And the abilities that, you know, Maryland has and [us] try- ing to emulate those as a team. "So, it's definitely going to be driv- ing us and I think this feeling is going to stick with me and for the rest of the guys for a while." Fourth-year midfielder Petey LaSalla, who became UVA's all-time leader in career faceoff wins (781) and ground balls (390), was among Virginia's eight All-America selections in 2022. (Photo by Brian Foley/courtesy UVA)