NCAA Lacrosse Championship Weekend Recap

At the beginning of the season I was adamant that Duke and North Carolina would be the two teams left standing on Memorial Day 2021. Their rosters were loaded with talent both from recruiting and transfers, and it seemed like nobody could stop them-until this weekend. Enter Virginia and Maryland. Let’s break down what went wrong for the favorites and what went right for the underdogs.

UNC vs Virginia

That first half from UNC was brutal. They just couldn’t find many clean looks against this tough UVA defense, and man did Virginia’s Petey LaSalla crush the faceoff battle. He won all 9 faceoffs in the 2nd quarter, contributing to his teams 7-1 run in that quarter alone. As we would soon find to be a common theme this weekend, UNC’s first half offense just looked like it had no chemistry. There was no creativity on that side of the ball, and Virginia’s offense was slowly starting to pull the game away from the Tar Heels. Thankfully there were a lot of half-time adjustments, and the team actually started to look like they could come back.

The 4th quarter was as intense as any game I’ve watched this season, and despite the loss, UNC has a lot to be proud of. William Perry played with a huge chip on his shoulder and almost single handedly won his team the game. On a day where Virginia goalie Alex Rode had 15 saves, Perry was the guy who had his number, even checking Rode for a crucial caused turnover in the final 20 seconds of the game, giving UNC one more possession. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, Virginia just wanted it more. I know this happened just before they turned the ball over, but the diving play by Grayson Sallade to gain possession for Virginia off a missed shot by Chris Gray with 46 seconds left are the kind of plays that championship teams make. He just wanted it more. That’s what a Lars Tiffany team does. They come in ready to fight until the final whistle. They will out-hustle you until they collapse from exhaustion. In the end, UNC just didn’t play all 60 minutes to the best of their ability, and that was the difference.

DUKE vs MARYLAND

This was one of the most surprising games I have ever watched. Almost everybody predicted a close game between two powerhouse offenses and elite defenses on both sides. Instead we got to see an absolute clinic put on by Maryland. This had the feel of a high school sending out their varsity squad in a scrimmage against the JV team. Duke never got into a rhythm on offense or defense, but what was most surprising was their lack of adjustments. Nearly the entire game, the Duke defense was incredibly compact. This allowed UMD to start their offense much more inside than usual, as there was barely any press by the Duke defenders. On the other hand, the Maryland defense was forcing Duke to the outside, and Duke simply could not find the right cuts to get to the inside. Look at the difference in defensive sets here:

Notice how Duke is playing much more on the outside around the arc than Maryland, whose players are having their way inside. While this can somewhat be attributed to differences in defensive philosophy, it also is a testament to how much hungrier UMD’s offense was than Duke’s. On countless occasions in the second half, Duke’s attackmen were standing there, motionless, while Michael Sowers operated from X. I’m not sure if this was a result of fatigue from their competitive ACC play in the regular season or from the OT thriller against Loyola the week before, but Duke was simply uninspired on offense. UMD, on the other hand, was able to push up closer to the goal as they were not being pressed very high. This meant that Duke was constantly sliding and as a result, left too many Terps open around the crease. Goalie Mike Adler tried his best to keep the Blue Devils in the game with some early saves, but too often the UMD attack was able to get inside that clump of Duke defensemen and have great 1v1 matchups with Adler resulting in goals. This was what was most impressive to me in this game. UMD never let up on the gas. They played their game and controlled their tempo the entire time. While this was made easier due to the fact that Duke made absolutely 0 adjustments the entire game, it still is a testament to how much UMD wanted it, and shows how much they had to prove after going undefeated and only getting the 3rd seed.

So where does Duke go from here? For starters, they graduate an incredible amount of talent. Next year’s team is going to have to learn some grit. Brennan O’Neill is an exceptional player, and if there were odds on it I would take him to win the Tewaaraton in 2024, but he is an off-ball attack and loses one of the best passers the game has ever seen. After Mac O’Keefe lost Grant Ament, he went from 78 goals in 18 games to 57 in his last 18. I’m not saying he will completely fall off, but it is important to note that this attack unit will not be the same after losing Michael Sowers. The defense is also losing one of the best to ever do it in JT Giles-Harris. You should never count out a Danowski coached team, but they went all in this year to get a championship, so there will be a lot of regression next year.

UVA vs MARYLAND

Turns out the game that almost nobody predicted is the one that ended up being the best. Right from the start, the game was physical and extremely intense. It became clear that the pace of the game would decide the outcome. If the game was fast, Virginia would easily win in transition and take the game. If the game was able to be slowed down, UMD’s offense would have time to get in the right sets and could sneak out a win. The game was back in forth in the early going, but Virginia started to pull ahead thanks once again to the great faceoff play from Petey LaSalla. Virginia kept getting possessions and Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger kept capitalizing. Unfortunately for the Terps, goalie Logan McNaney just wasn’t seeing the ball well in this game. It seemed like he was just a split second too late on every shot.

Virginia’s hustle cannot be understated. Plays like this caused turnover from attackman Ian Laviano and this incredible do-it-all-yourself play from future Archers LC LSM Jared Conners shifted the momentum of the game entirely. In a game where every groundball and every possession is so valuable, Virginia did everything right.

There was an interesting coaching decision at the end of the game that I disagreed with from Terps head coach John Tillman. At the end of the game up 2 with just about 2 minutes left in the game, Virginia was flagged for a technical foul. Maryland took the ball down the field and failed to score on a free possession, although the stoppage of play meant they were able to go a man up, why not roll the ball out of bounds immediately as the foul occurred? It was only a technical foul, so a goal scored would’ve wiped the penalty anyways. They wasted so much valuable time 6 on 6 when they could have thrown the ball out of bounds and gotten a 6 on 5 to decrease the deficit to 1 with much more time on the clock. I was practically screaming at the TV for them to just get their man up advantage, and I am surprised they didn’t take it.

My biggest takeaway from this game was chemistry. Both teams just played so well together, and their offenses were so crisp and clean. I think in this last year the lacrosse world valued talent over fit. It makes sense, the loss of the Ivy League meant there was just so much talent to go after in the transfer portal, but as we saw with UNC and Duke, it just wasn’t enough. Without a clear understanding about where your teammates are on the field, their ideal positioning, and how your game compliments theirs, there is not a lot of room for error in today’s game. My other takeaway? Conor Shellenberger is that guy. He will pass Fields for 4th on the all-time points list easily, and if Virginia can keep going back to the final weekend, we just might have the 2nd member of the 400 club.