The 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was the 50th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national championship for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse. Because the Ivy League did not participate in lacrosse this season, no play-in game was required. This was the first tournament played since 2019 due to the 2020 tournament being cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sixteen teams competed in the tournament based upon their performance during the regular season. For eight teams, entry into the tournament was by means of a conference tournament automatic qualifier and/or play in, while for the remaining eight teams at-large selection was determined by the NCAA selection committee.
Tournament overview Virginia took control over an undefeated Maryland team in the Championship Game, at one point leading 16–11. Maryland closed the gap in the fourth quarter scoring a goal with 10.8 seconds left to cut Virginia's lead to 17-16. Terps had an open shot on goal to tie the game with two seconds left off a Luke Weirman face off win, but a save by Alex Rode won the title for UVA. This was Virginia's seventh NCAA lacrosse title and second in the prior two NCAA tournaments (the 2020 NCAA tournament had been cancelled due to covid).
Teams Seed School Conference Berth Type RPI Record1 North Carolina Tar Heels ACC At-large 1 11–22 Duke Blue Devils ACC At-large 3 12–23 Maryland Terrapins Big Ten Automatic 2 12–04 Virginia Cavaliers ACC At-large 5 10–45 Georgetown Hoyas Big East Automatic 6 12–26 Notre Dame Fighting Irish ACC At-large 4 7–37 Denver Pioneers Big East At-large 7 12–48 Lehigh Mountain Hawks Patriot League Automatic 8 10–1 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Big Ten At-large 9 8–3 Syracuse Orange ACC At-large 10 7–5 Drexel Dragons CAA Automatic 12 10–2 Loyola Greyhounds Patriot League At-large 12 9–5 Vermont Catamounts America East Automatic 15 8–4 High Point Panthers Southern Automatic 16 8–5 Bryant Bulldogs Northeast Automatic 19 9–3 Monmouth Hawks MAAC Automatic 8–2
Bracket
* Overtime
Tournament boxscores
Tournament Finals (5/31/2021 at East Hartford, Conn. Pratt & Whitney Stadium)
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 4 5 5 3 17 Maryland (15–1) 4 3 4 5 16 Virginia scoring – Connor Shellenberger 4, Matt Moore 4, Jeff Conner 3, Payton Cormier 2, Dox Aitken, Petey LaSalla, Jared Conners, Peter Garno Maryland scoring – Logan Wisnauskas 5, Jared Bernhardt 2, Anthony DeMaio 2, Daniel Maltz 2, Kyle Long, Bubba Fairman, Griffin Brown, Roman Puglise, Joshua Coffman Shots: Maryland 49, Virginia 39 Saves: Virginia Alex Rode 12, Maryland Logan McNaney 11 Attendance: 14,816
Tournament Semi-Finals Team 1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 2 7 3 0 12 North Carolina 3 1 4 3 11 Virginia scoring – Payton Cormier 3, Connor Shellenberger 2, Charlie Bertrand 2, Matt Moore, Ian Laviano, Peter Garno, Jared Conners, Jeff Conner North Carolina scoring – William Perry 5, Chris Gray 3, Connor McCarthy, Lance Tillman, Alex Trippi Shots: North Carolina 49, Virginia 39 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Maryland 2 6 3 3 14 Duke 1 2 1 1 5 Maryland scoring – Jared Bernhardt 5, Logan Wisnauskas 2, Anthony DeMaio 2, Bubba Fairman, Justin Shockey, Eric Holden, Roman Puglise, Griffin Brown Duke scoring – Michael Sowers 2, Dyson Williams 2, Brennan O'Neill Shots: Maryland 32, Duke 32 Attendance: 13,707
Tournament Quarterfinals Team 1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 4 6 4 0 14 Georgetown 1 0 1 1 3 Virginia scoring – Connor Shellenberger 6, Ian Laviano 2, Matt Moore, Payton Cormier, Dox Aitken, Petey LaSalla, Charlie Bertrand, Xander Dickson Georgetown scoring – Dylan Watson, Declan Mcdermott, Gibson Smith Shots: Virginia 45, Georgetown 27 Team 1 2 3 4 OT Total Maryland 5 2 2 4 1 14 Notre Dame 1 6 4 2 0 13 Maryland scoring – Jared Bernhardt 5, Logan Wisnauskas 3, Griffin Brown 2, Bubba Fairman, Anthony DeMaio, Kyle Long, Daniel Maltz Notre Dame scoring – Wheaton Jackoboice 4, Eric Dobson 2, Sean Leahey 2, Will Yorke 2, Griffin Westlin, Pat Kavanagh, David Lipka Shots: Maryland 42, Notre Dame 40 Team 1 2 3 4 OT Total North Carolina 1 2 4 4 1 12 Rutgers 1 2 4 4 0 11 North Carolina scoring – Lance Tillman 4, Justin Anderson 3, Connor McCarthy 2, Alex Trippi, Zac Tucci, Nicky Solomon Rutgers scoring – Adam Charalambides 4, David Sprock 2, Connor Kirst 2, Ross Scott 2, Shane Knobloch Shots: North Carolina 41, Rutgers 38 Team 1 2 3 4 OT Total Duke 2 3 1 3 1 10 Loyola 3 0 2 4 0 9 Duke scoring – Brennan O'Neill 4, Joe Robertson 3, Michael Sowers, Brian Smyth, Aidan Danenza Loyola scoring – Evan James 4, Kevin Lindley 2, Seth Higgins, Dan Wigley, Adam Poitras Shots: North Carolina 41, Rutgers 38
Tournament First Round Team 1 2 3 4 Total Virginia 2 7 3 0 14 Bryant 3 1 4 3 3 Virginia scoring – Payton Cormier 3, Connor Shellenberger 2, Charlie Bertrand 2, Matt Moore, Ian Laviano, Peter Garno, Jared Conners, Jeff Conner North Carolina scoring – William Perry 5, Chris Gray 3, Connor McCarthy, Lance Tillman, Alex Trippi Shots: North Carolina 49, Virginia 39 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Maryland 3 4 4 5 17 Vermont 4 2 1 4 9 Maryland scoring – Jared Bernhardt 6, Kyle Long 3, Logan Wisnauskas 2, Griffin Brown 2, Bubba Fairman, Joshua Coffman, Daniel Maltz, Luke Wierman Vermont scoring – Thomas McConvey 4, JJ Levandowski 3, Tommy Burke, Jonas Hunter, Liam Limoges, Michael McCormack Shots: Maryland 40, Vermont 30 Team 1 2 3 4 Total North Carolina 3 4 4 5 16 Monmouth 0 1 1 2 4 North Carolina scoring – Chris Gray 4, Jacob Kelly 2, Nicky Solomon 2, Ryan O'Connell 2, William Perry, Alex Trippi, Brian Cameron, Justin Anderson, Lance Tillman, Cole Herbert Monmouth scoring – Connor Macrae, Dwayne Mattushik, Matt Karsian, Mike McIntyre Shots: North Carolina 43, Monmouth 35 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Duke 4 6 3 3 16 High Point 1 4 2 3 10 Duke scoring – Michael Sowers 4, Sean Lowrie 3, Owen Caputo 2, Brennan O'Neill 2, Garrett Leadmon, Nakeie Montgomery, JPBasile, Dyson Williams, Jake Naso High Point scoring – Jack Vanoverbeke 2, Brayden Mayea 2, Kevin Rogers 2, Koby Russell, Asher Nolting, Tyler Stinson, Colin Clothier Shots: Duke 43, High Point 34 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Rutgers 3 4 2 4 12 Lehigh 1 2 2 1 5 Rutgers scoring – Connor Kirst 3, Kieran Mullins 3, Adam Charalambides 3, David Sprock, Cole Daninger, Brennan Kamish Lehigh scoring – Justin Tiernan 2, Scott Cole, Ryan Niggeman, Cole Kirst Shots: Rutgers 42, Lehigh 35 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Georgetown 3 5 5 5 18 Syracuse 2 2 0 4 8 Georgetown scoring – Declan McDermott 5, Jake Carraway 5, Dylan Hess 4, Graham Bundy Jr. 2, Nicky Petkevich 2 Syracuse scoring – Jamie Trimboli 3, Owen Seebold 2, Brett Kennedy, Stephen Rehfuss, Owen Hiltz Shots: Georgetown 43, Syracuse 33 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 4 3 1 2 10 Drexel (10–3) 2 1 4 1 8 Notre Dame scoring – Wheaton Jackoboice 3, Morrison Mirer 2, Pat Kavanagh 2, Sean Leahey, David Lipka, Will Yorke Drexel scoring – Reid Bowering 4, Jack Mulcahy, Sean Donnelly, Ryan Genord, Aidan Coll Shots: Notre Dame 47, Drexel 42 Saves: Notre Dame Liam Entenmann 17, Drexel Ross Blumenthal 15 - Casey DuBois 0 Location: Denver, Colo. (Peter Barton Stadium) - 5/15/2021 Attendance: 838 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Loyola 2 7 2 3 14 Denver (12–5) 2 2 6 3 13 Loyola scoring – Aidan Olmstead 5, Kevin Lindley 2, Seth Higgins 2, Evan James 2, Liam Bateman, Peter Swindell, Adam Poitras Denver scoring – Jack Hannah 3, Jackson Morrill 3, Lucas Cotler 2, Ethan Walker 2, Kyle Smith, Ted Sullivan, Malik Sparrow, Shots: Denver 48, Loyola 36 Saves: Loyola Sam Shafer 16, Denver Jack Thompson 7 Location: Denver, Colo. (Peter Barton Stadium) - 5/16/2021 Attendance: 970 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Duke 2 7 2 3 16 High Point (12–5) 2 2 6 3 10 Duke scoring – Aidan Olmstead 5, Kevin Lindley 2, Seth Higgins 2, Evan James 2, Liam Bateman, Peter Swindell, Adam Poitras High Point scoring – Jack Hannah 3, Jackson Morrill 3, Lucas Cotler 2, Ethan Walker 2, Kyle Smith, Ted Sullivan, Malik Sparrow, Shots: Duke 48, High Point 36 Saves: Duke Sam Shafer 16, High Point Jack Thompson 7 Location: Denver, Colo. (Peter Barton Stadium) - 5/16/2021 Attendance: 970
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin % America East 1 0–1 1 ACC 5 1–1 5 4 3 1 1 Big East 2 1–2 2 1 Big Ten 2 6–2 2 2 1 1 CAA 1 0–1 1 MAAC 1 0–1 1 NEC 1 0–1 1 Patriot 2 0–1 2 1 SoCon 1 0–1 1
All-Tournament Team
Connor Shellenberger, Virginia (Most Outstanding Player)
Cade Saustad, Virginia
Alex Rode, Virginia
Petey LaSalla, Virginia
Jared Connors, Virginia
Matt Moore, Virginia
Nick Grill, Maryland
Logan Wisnauskas, Maryland
Jared Bernhardt, Maryland
William Perry, North Carolina
Citations For brackets, scores, seedings, All Tournament teams, refer to NCAA.com – https://www.ncaa.com/history/lacrosse-men/d1 For box scores, refer to individual university, college athletic web sites
External links Virginia Wins Its Seventh NCAA National Title with 17–16 Win Over Maryland
References