Carolina Set To Take On Virginia In NCAA Semis

Saturday, May 29

East Hartford, Conn.

Noon

North Carolina

Virginia (NCAA Semifinals)

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Photo by: Lee Weissman/Hofstra

May 29, 2021 | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes 2021 NCAA Bracket

By: UNC Athletic Communications

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – North Carolina will face a familiar opponent on new turf Saturday when the Tar Heels take on Virginia in the 2021 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament semifinals. After playing home-and-home during the season, the third meeting of the spring between the Tar Heels (13-2) and Cavaliers (12-4) is set for noon at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field.

Duke and Maryland meet at 2:30 in the second semifinal and the winners advance to face off Monday at 1 p.m. for the 2021 NCAA Championship. All three games air live on ESPN2.

Watch online here and listen to the Westwood One radio broadcast here.

Check out game notes and stats here.

Notes on the Rivalry
Saturday's game is the 81st meeting between North Carolina and Virginia since the Tar Heels became a varsity program in 1949. The Cavaliers lead the series 52-28.
• The teams split this year's regular-season meetings, with UNC winning 16-13 in Charlottesville on March 11 and Virginia winning 18-16 in Chapel Hill (Dorrance Field) on April 10.
• The two have met twice in a season on numerous occasions, but this only the second season in which they've met three times. The first was 1994: Virginia won in the regular season (16-6 in Chapel Hill), UNC won in the ACC Championship game (15-7 in Charlottesville) and Virginia won in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals (12-10 in Chapel Hill).
• The two have met four times in NCAA Tournament play, with each team winning twice. The most recent meeting was in 1994, when Virginia won 12-10 in an NCAA Quarterfinals game in Chapel Hill.
• In the UNC win in Charlottesville, freshman goalkeeper Collin Krieg made a career-high 20 saves. His performance earned him ACC Defensive Player of the Week and National Player of the Week honors.
• Nine different UNC players scored in the 16-13 win in Charlottesville. Chris Gray led the way with four goals.
• In the home loss, senior William Perry had a career-high six points on four goals (equal to his career best) and two assists.
• The loss to the Cavaliers was UNC's only one at home this season. The Tar Heels were 4-1 at Dorrance Field and 5-0 at Kenan Stadium.

NCAA Tournament Notes
• The win over Monmouth was UNC's first in NCAA play since the Tar Heels beat Maryland in OT to win the 2016 NCAA championship. Carolina made the field in 2017 but lost in the first round.
• UNC's 12-point margin of victory vs. Monmouth (16-4) was the program's largest in NCAA Tournament play since 1990, when UNC beat Harvard 18-3.
• UNC is making its 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance and is now 35-27 overall in NCAA Tournament play.
• UNC is playing in the NCAA semifinals for the 14th time. The Tar Heels are 6-7 all-time in semifinal games. (They've won the national championship in five of the six times they've gotten past the semis.)
• Carolina reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2016 (the last time UNC won the NCAA Championship) and the 26th time overall. The Tar Heels are now 14-12 in NCAA quarterfinals games and had lost eight in a row before winning in 2016, 13-9 over Notre Dame in Columbus, Ohio.
• UNC is the No. 1 overall seed for the fourth time in program history and first since 1993. That year the Tar Heels fell 13-12 to Syracuse in the NCAA Championship.