Taking a look at the Virginia men’s lacrosse 2021 schedule

With the 2021 men’s lacrosse season kicking off on Saturday with a home tilt against Towson, Virginia finally released the full season schedule on Wednesday, February 3. It features 14 games spanning the next 13 weeks, and boasts eight games against teams ranked in the preseason USILA Coaches Poll. The Cavaliers, who won the NCAA tournament in 2019, enter the season ranked No. 5.

The Hoos played just six games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, going 4-2. They return key pieces at each position group, including All Americans Dox Aitken and Jared Conners.

As mentioned, Virginia opens at Towson at 4pm on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network. It’s the first time since 2013 that Virginia has opened against a team other than Loyola, although fans only have to wait two weeks to see the Greyhounds as the Hoos will play their second game of the season in Baltimore at 5pm on February 20.

The ACC slate starts out with a bang as Virginia faces Syracuse for the first of two regular season matchups of the season on February 27th. Each ACC team is playing two conference opponents both home and away this season in an effort to increase game opportunities during the pandemic. Virginia will face Syracuse and North Carolina twice.

Games in Charlottesville against High Point and Air Force lead into the Hoos’ hosting North Carolina for a Thursday night game on March 11. Robert Morris comes to town on March 20 before a brutal stretch of four-straight ranked opponents. Virginia heads to South Bend to face Notre Dame on March 27, hosts Richmond on April 3, travels to UNC on April 10, and hosts No. 1 Duke on April 15 (another Thursday).

The regular season closes with home games against Utah and Syracuse, and the Cavaliers have a date scheduled at Navy on May 1. That final game of the season against the Midshipmen will only happen if both teams don’t have to make up other games.

Here’s the full 2021 schedule with times and broadcast channel (if available):

February 6 - vs Towson, 4pm, ACCN

February 20 - @ Loyola, 5pm

February 27 - @ Syracuse, 6pm, ACCN

March 3 - vs High Point, 4pm

March 6 - vs Air Force, 4pm

March 11 - vs North Carolina, 7pm

March 20 - vs Robert Morris, 3pm

March 27 - @ Notre Dame

April 3 - vs Richmond, 5pm

April 10 - @ North Carolina

April 15 - vs Duke, 7pm

April 17 - vs Utah

April 24 - vs Syracuse

May 1 - @ Navy