Virginia Men’s Lacrosse: Hoos place four players on All-ACC team

Four Virginia men’s lacrosse players were named to the 2021 All-ACC Team on Wednesday afternoon. Senior defenseman Jared Conners, senior attackman Matt Moore, junior face off specialist Petey LaSalla, and redshirt freshman midfielder Connor Shellenberger all got the nod for the Hoos.

North Carolina’s Chris Gray was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year, while UNC head coach Joe Breschi earned ACC Coach of the Year for leading the Tar Heels to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Brennan O’Neill of the Blue Devils is the ACC Freshman of the Year, and Notre Dame’s Jack Kielty is ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Moore continues to be one of the best players in the country, scoring 25 goals and dishing 29 assists this season so far for 54 points. This is his second time being named to the All-ACC team, and he became the fifth Virginia player with 100+ goals and 100+ assists his career.

Shellenberger is one of two freshmen on the All-ACC team, and leads the Hoos in both assists (32) and points (55). He redshirted last season and has been a welcome addition on attack for the Cavaliers this season. His 3.93 points per game were best in the ACC for a freshman.

Defensively, long stick midfielder Jared Conners has been the gold standard. Conners’s 70 ground balls are the most among non-face off specialists in conference play, and he’s fifth in the ACC with 19 caused turnovers.

LaSalla led the ACC with a 64.1% win percentage at the face off X. He is tied for first in the conference with 110 ground balls, and he’s 22 face off wins away from setting a single-season win record for Virginia. In addition, LaSalla has seven goals and six assists.

Both Duke and North Carolina had five players each, followed by Virginia with four and Notre Dame with three. Syracuse had two players selected. Selections for the team are made by the five league head coaches.

Here is the full awardee list:

2021 Men’s Lacrosse All-ACC Team

A - Chris Gray, Sr., North Carolina
A - Pat Kavanagh, So., Notre Dame
A - Michael Sowers, Gr., Duke
A - Stephen Rehfuss, Gr., Syracuse
A - Brennan O’Neill, Fr., Duke
A - Matt Moore, Sr., Virginia
M - Justin Anderson, Gr., North Carolina
M - Nakeie Montgomery, Sr., Duke
M - Connor Shellenberger, R-Fr., Virginia
D - Jack Kielty, Gr., Notre Dame
D - Will Bowen, R-So., North Carolina
D - JT Giles-Harris, Gr., Duke
FO - Petey LaSalla, Jr., Virginia
SSM - Connor Maher, Jr., North Carolina
LSM - Jared Conners, Gr., Virginia
LSM - Matt Wright, So., North Carolina
LSM - Brett Kennedy, R-Jr., Syracuse
G - Liam Entenmann, So., Notre Dame
G - Mike Adler, Gr., Duke

Offensive Player of the Year: Chris Gray, Sr., A, North Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Kielty, Gr, D, Notre Dame
Freshman of the Year: Brennan O’Neill, A, Duke
Coach of the Year: Joe Breschi, North Carolina