Virginia won the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship on Monday with a 13-9 victory over Yale. Below are scores, news and the complete bracket.
Schedule, Scores
Virginia's Petey LaSalla wins the faceoff, sprints ahead, then fires in another goal for the Cavaliers.
National Championship -- May 25 and 27 on ESPN2
Lincoln Financial Field -- Philadelphia
Semifinals, May 25
Virginia 13, Duke 12 (2OT)
Yale 21, Penn State 17
Championship, May 27
Opening round, first round, quarters -- May 8-19
Championship predictions
Paul Carcaterra breaks down the final four teams
Penn State: They have one of the best offenses I've ever seen. I compare it to the 1990 Syracuse team that was widely regarded as the best offense of all-time. Penn State is putting themselves in that conversation.
And their two headline players ... Grant Ament broke the record for assists in a single season. Mac O'Keefe is the nation's leading goal scorer. With a big individual effort in championship weekend, he could break the NCAA single-season goal-scoring record. So you have a one-two punch in Ament and O'Keefe. A passer and a shooter. And two of the best to ever do it in a single season in NCAA history. Their offense is scary and a very difficult group to game plan for because of how quick they move the ball and how unselfish they are.
Yale: It has an X factor in TD Ierlan. Last year as a sophomore at Albany, he statistically had the most dominant face-off season in NCAA history, and he's repeating those type of numbers this year. He can keep the ball away from the Penn State offense. That's why it's a decent matchup for Yale -- the team that creates the biggest headaches for Penn State in the final four.
I think defensively Yale has had some holes down the stretch. They'll have their hands full against Penn State. But I think their offense is one of the better ones in the country. They have a lot of pieces -- guys like Jackson Morrill, Matt Gaudet, Matt Brandau and Jack Tigh are four big-time players who can step up in moments, and they all do different things for the Yale offense, so they're a tough team to scout.
Virginia: They have the most versatile player in the country in Ryan Conrad. This guy literally does everything -- ground balls, wins faceoffs, scores goals, never gets tired. He's the ultimate Swiss Army knife with so many different ways that he can be a factor in the game. He's the one difference maker for Virginia in the past four or five games.
Duke: You look at John Danowski, he has been in so many of these championship weekends, he's won three national titles. But this might be his best defensive team, headlined by JT Giles-Harris, who won ACC defensive player of the year, and then Cade Van Raaphorst, who was a first team All-American last year. Those guys are seasoned vets who can control one-on-one matchups and are great communicators and leaders. A lot of the teams that Danowski has had in the past, their offense was the headline. This year it's their defense.
Prediction
Any of the four teams could win, but if things go accordingly and teams play their best, I'd have to favor Penn State. The big key is the quick turnaround. If things flush out the way they should, Penn State is the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason.
-- Paul Carcaterra