Virginia Men’s Lacrosse made a strong case this weekend for their No. 1 ranking back, as the Cavaliers won the 2010 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship earlier this afternoon in College Park, Maryland, defeating the host Terrapins 10-6. This is the program’s sixth ACC Championship crown since the tournament’s inception in 1989, and the first since 2006, the year in which they went on to win the national championship. Adam Ghitelman put on a goalie’s clinic, recording 16 saves on the day on his way to earning Tournament MVP honors.
"I was pleased with our guys’ performance today," said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. "Maryland’s good defensively, but I think the key today was us limiting their offense."
Like Friday night’s game against Duke, Virginia started off sluggish, opening the game with a quick 0-3 deficit in the first eight minutes. But a 4-0 rampage by the Cavaliers gave them the slight advantage, and the Hoos went into intermission being up 5-4.
Maryland failed to come out of the locker room for the second half of the contest. Two minutes into the third quarter, the Terps fired out an unassisted equalizer, a goal that would be their last until the final 11 seconds. During that time, Virginia made use of a 5-0 scoring run that proved too much for the Terrapins.
"To come back this weekend and win the ACC title shows what this Virginia team is made of," Ghitelman said. "It means a lot [to win the MVP] coming in a title game and particularly against Maryland since I have so many friends on their team and admire their program very much. Plus, it is my 21st birthday today so that makes it extra special."Virginia’s goals came from Steele Stanwick, Rhamel Bratton, and Brian Carroll, each with two goals, as well as a goal each from Matt White, Shamel Bratton, Chris Bocklet, and Mikey Thompson.
Freshman Matt White, sophomore Steele Stanwick, juniors R. Bratton, S. Bratton, and A. Ghitelman and seniors Ken Clausen and Brian McDermott were named to the 2010 All-Tournament Team. Virginia’s seven compares to Maryland’s three and North Carolina and Duke’s one.
Virginia concludes its regular season next Saturday against Robert Morris on senior night in Klockner Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.