Nine Cavaliers named to USILA All-America teams

The Virginia men’s lacrosse team landed a program-best nine players on the 2021 USILA All-America teams, led by two First Team selections in long stick midfielder Jared Conners and midfielder Connor Shellenberger. Conners also received the Lt. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Outstanding Midfielder of the Year award, making him the first Cavalier to earn the honor.

Virginia has had eight players on the All-America team nine times previously (1953, 1973, 1980, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2012) with the most recent being 2012. Shellenberger has had an outstanding first season in Charlottesville after he redshirted the COVID-19 canceled 2020 season. He is fifth in the ACC with 2.25 assists per game and fifth in the league with 4.19 points per game. Shellenberger leads the Cavaliers in points (67) and assists (36) and is second in goals with 31.

Conners, a redshirt senior, returned for one more season with the Hoos and has made the most of it. He has the most ground balls (77) of any non-face off specialist and has 21 caused turnovers on the season. When the ball is on the ground, Conners is a lock to vacuum it up, and he’s a threat on the offensive end with two goals and six assists on the season.

Face off specialist Petey LaSalla earned Second Team honors, with attackman Matt Moore and defender Kyle Kology getting the nod on the Third Team. Attackman Payton Cormier, midfielder Dox Aitken, defender Cade Saustad, and goalie Alex Rode all earned Honorable Mention.

This is the first honor for Shellenberger, Cormier, Rode, Kology, and LaSalla, the second for

Virginia will face North Carolina on Saturday at noon for a spot in the National Championship game.

Here are the full teams:

First Team

Attack - Jared Bernhardt, Maryland / Chris Gray, North Carolina / Michael Sowers, Duke
Midfield - Connor Shellenberger, UVA / Nakeie Montgomery, Duke / Jack Hannah,Denver
SS Midfield - Danny Logan, Denver
LS Midfield - Jared Conners, UVA
Defense - JT Giles-Harris, Duke / Will Bowen, North Carolina / Jack Kielty, Notre Dame
Goalkeeper - Owen McElroy, Georgetown
Faceoff - Mike Sisselberger, Lehigh

Second Team

Attack - Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame / Jake Carraway, Georgetown / Ryan Tierney, Hofstra
Midfield - Graham Bundy Jr., Georgetown / Tanner Cook, North Carolina / Kyle Long, Maryland / Justin Anderson, North Carolina
SS Midfield - Connor Maher, North Carolina
LS Midfield - Ryan McNulty, Loyola
Defense - Brett Makar, Maryland / Nick Grill, Maryland / Gibson Smith, Georgetown / Marcus Hudgins, Army
Goalkeeper - Liam Entenmann, Notre Dame
Faceoff - Petey LaSalla, UVA

Third Team

Attack - Connor Kirst, Rutgers / Brendan Nichtern, Army / Mac O’Keefe, Penn State / Asher Nolting, High Point / Logan Wisnauskas, Maryland / Matt Moore, UVA
Midfield - Tucker Dordevic, Syracuse / William Perry, North Carolina / Matt Campbell, Villanova / Kevin Rogers, High Point
SS Midfield - Ryan Terefenko, Ohio State / Roman Puglise, Maryland
LS Midfield - Tyler Carpenter, Duke
Defense - Arden Cohen, Notre Dame / Colin Squires, Denver / Kyle Kology, UVA / Cam Wyers, Loyola
Goalkeeper - Mike Adler, Duke / Colin Kirst, Rutgers
Faceoff - Zach Cole, Saint Joseph’s

Honorable Mention

Attack - Ethan Walker, Denver / Keegan Khan, Villanova / Jackson Morrill, Denver / Joe Robertson, Duke / Adam Charalambides, Rutgers / Stephen Rehfuss, Syracuse / Ryan Smith, Robert Morris / Payton Cormier, UVA / Brennan O’Neill, Duke / Charlie Kitchen, Delaware / Kevin Lindley, Loyola / Reid Bowering, Drexel / Owen Hiltz, Syracuse / Ryan Lanchbury, Richmond

Midfield - Dox Aitken, UVA / Brendan Curry, Syracuse / Dylan Hess, Georgetown / Anthony DeMaio, Maryland / Jamie Trimboli, Syracuse / Thomas McConvey, Vermont / Bubba Fairman, Maryland / Peter Swindell, Loyola / Jeff Trainor, Massachusetts / Shane Knobloch, Rutgers / David Sprock, Rutgers

SS Midfield - Peter Dearth, Syracuse / Zachary Geddes, Georgetown / Ryan Hallenbeck, Notre Dame / Matt Higgins, Loyola

LS Midfield - Matt Wright, North Carolina / Alex Mazzone, Georgetown / Brett Kennedy, Syracuse / Ethan Rall, Rutgers

Defense - Cade Saustad, UVA / Kyle Thornton, Notre Dame / Koby Smith, Towson / Owen Grant, Delaware / James Donaldson, Georgetown / Mason Woodward, Marquette / Patrick Kennedy, Villanova / Jaryd Jean-Felix, Rutgers

Goalkeeper - Collin Krieg, North Carolina / James Spence, Lehigh / Spencer Rees, Navy / Logan McNaney, Maryland / Alex Rode, UVA

Faceoff - TD Ierlan, Denver / Jake Naso, Duke