Virginia dominated the faceoff X and the defense did just enough to lift the No. 4 Cavaliers past No. 1 Syracuse, 11-10, Friday in the semifinals of the ACC men’s lacrosse tournament.
The Cavaliers return to Klockner Stadium at noon on Sunday for the championship game against Notre Dame, which upset Duke, 14-11, in Friday’s first semifinal.
Syracuse cut the lead to one three times in the fourth quarter. UVa freshman Matt Moore answered the first with his team-high fourth goal of the day.
Senior Mike D’Amario answered the second for a 11-9 Virginia lead with 1:36 to play. Syracuse’s Seth Delisle scored to cut the lead to 11-10 with 1:27 left, but that’s as close as the Orange would get.
Michael Kraus finished with two goals and three assists for Virginia. Dox Aitken added two goals and two assists.
Faceoff man Justin Schwenk went 16-for-23 on the X.
After trailing by one goal at the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers held the Orange scoreless in the second. Virginia, meanwhile, put a couple of goals on the board to go into halftime with 5-4 lead.
Kraus took part of both second-quarter goals. He scored his 40th of the season to tie the game at four with less than 10 minutes left in the half.
With a Syracuse defender in the penalty box, Kraus found Dox Aitken, who whipped a sidearm shot into the net for a 5-4 lead with 3:12 left in the half.
The Cavaliers and Orange traded goals in the third. Freshman Matt Moore spun away from a defender to score the quarter’s first goal. He ended the frame with a sidearm shot, which sent Virginia into the fourth with a 9-7 advantage.
Tucker Dordevic and Stephen Rehfuss led Syracuse with two goals each.