Virginia won its 20th Atlantic Coast Conference men’s lacrosse championship on May 3 with a 16-6 victory over North Carolina at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The Cavaliers, seeded fourth, scored 12 unanswered goals in the first half and claimed their eighth ACC Tournament title and first since 2019.
Goaltender Jake Marek was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after making a season-high 16 saves in the final. Marek also recorded 12 saves in Virginia’s semifinal win over Notre Dame. This is his second consecutive conference tournament MVP honor; he previously earned the award as an Air Force senior at the ASUN Tournament in 2025.
Several Virginia players joined Marek on the all-tournament team, including attackmen Brendan Millon, McCabe Millon, Truitt Sunderland, midfielder Joey Terenzi, and defenseman John Schroter. The Cavaliers’ faceoff unit won more than half of the game’s draws against North Carolina’s Brady Wambach, who entered with one of the top faceoff percentages nationally.
After falling behind by two early goals, Virginia went on a dominant run that lasted nearly thirty minutes without allowing a goal. Six different Cavaliers scored during this stretch. In total, Virginia assisted on ten of its sixteen goals and improved to an undefeated record this season when recording more assists than its opponent.
The victory marked several milestones for Virginia: it was their first-ever win over North Carolina in an ACC championship game after four previous losses; it secured their seventh ten-win season under head coach Lars Tiffany; and it extended senior Ryan Colsey’s goal streak to thirty games dating back to last year’s opener. With two assists in this game, Brendan Millon is now close to breaking school freshman records for both assists and points.
Virginia will learn its NCAA postseason fate during the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Selection Show scheduled for Sunday night.
