D-I Men's Rewind: Four Teams Left All Have Something to Prove

The final four everyone could see coming two months ago is finally here.

Back in March, there was plenty to puzzle over about this season. Yet even then, all signs pointed to Duke, Notre Dame, Virginia and Someone Else advancing to Philadelphia to play on the final weekend of the season.

The identity of the mystery team didn’t come into focus quite so quickly. Perhaps it would be Memorial Day mainstay Maryland. Or maybe Cornell or Johns Hopkins.

It turned out to be Big Ten regular-season champion Penn State, which is hardly an interloper given the common thread between all four teams still standing after the weekend’s quarterfinal round.

Duke and Notre Dame were shut out of the NCAA tournament last year, perhaps the most surprising exclusions since the field expanded to 16 teams in 2003. Both the Blue Devils and Fighting Irish played like teams with no interest in revisiting that experience this May.

Likewise, Virginia’s attempt at a pandemic-interrupted three-peat was thwarted when Maryland bulldozed the Cavaliers in last year’s quarterfinals. The sour finish did not go over well in Charlottesville, and Virginia was determined to make it to the season’s final weekend this time around.

As for the Nittany Lions, there are still four players left from their first semifinal appearance in 2019, and all of them wanted to bookend their careers with a second trip to Philadelphia. In the context of coming off consecutive losing seasons, Penn State is the surprise of the remaining teams. As a team with a built-in sense it had much to prove, it fits right in.

The weekend wasn’t high on drama; there were a combined two ties (both in the third quarter of Virginia’s defeat of Georgetown) and no lead changes after halftime of the four games. But a review is still warranted after the quarterfinals produced four worthy teams to play on the sport’s biggest stage.

BEST GAME

Penn State edges Army

There wasn’t much artistry in the first half, when shots (28) barely outpaced turnovers (24). But that’s not what either the Nittany Lions or Black Knights were all about this season. Both teams are unrelenting, and some of the most watchable moments in their quarterfinal Sunday involved several players swarming a loose ball.

That’s how the game ended — a scrum on top of a ground ball in front of the cage as time expired, allowing Penn State to escape 10-9. The Nittany Lions built an early 8-3 lead, which it turned out was much needed since Army dominated possession for the final 20 minutes. They had just enough to get through to the semifinals.

As for Army, coach Joe Alberici put it well: It represented the jersey. And with a senior class of only six players, there’s a good chance the Black Knights will be heard from at this stage next season, too.

MOST REVEALING MOMENT

The Nittany Lions respond to Jack Posey’s injury

This was not a weekend of surprises. Duke figured to respond to its first-round scare against Delaware … and it did by never trailing in its 15-8 rout of Michigan. Virginia was a good bet to score against a Georgetown defense that had just yielded 17 goals to Yale … and the Cavaliers dropped another 17 on the Hoyas. Notre Dame is always good at minimizing mistakes and playing smart with a lead … which it did in its workmanlike 12-9 defeat of Johns Hopkins.

The biggest twist, then, came when Penn State defenseman Jack Posey got tangled up in the net while defending behind the cage early in the second quarter and was helped off with a right leg injury. The Nittany Lions led 6-2 at the time, and coach Jeff Tambroni acknowledged later it was a deflating moment on the sideline.

Sam Sweeney moved from long pole to close defense and filled in admirably for Posey, as the Nittany Lions allowed just one more goal before halftime. Army eventually benefited from a possession imbalance and simply started to pass better, but Penn State still held the Black Knights to nine goals, including just seven in the more than 40 minutes Posey was on the sideline. It was a fine response.

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

A Connor Shellenberger, Virginia

It was apparent immediately that Shellenberger was going to be at his opportunistic best against Georgetown, scoring twice in the first 16 seconds. He would pile up six goals and four assists, tying Virginia’s postseason records for goals (a mark he already shared) and points (set by Conor Gill in 2002) in a game. Shellenberger has 12 goals and 13 assists in his last four games, his midseason injury issues well in the rearview mirror.

A Brennan O’Neill, Duke

Those who braved the rain in Albany were treated to a pair of Tewaaraton finalists dropping six goals in a quarterfinal. O’Neill hit the half-dozen mark with a behind-the-back dart to spark a late run as the Blue Devils erased any hope of a Michigan comeback. O’Neill joined Zack Greer (twice) and Jack Bruckner as the only Duke players to score six times in an NCAA tournament game.

A TJ Malone, Penn State

Malone was responsible for one of the most brilliant and savvy plays of the weekend. Standing behind the goal, he snagged Jake Morin’s errant shot out of the air, then came around the cage and deposited his fourth goal of the day. (Morin was generously credited with an assist on the play). It wasn’t the only time Malone turned a broken play into a score, and the fifth-year senior is a big reason the Nittany Lions will play on another week.

M Jack Simmons, Notre Dame

The graduate transfer from Virginia enjoyed his most productive game of the season, delivering three goals and an assist in the Irish’s defeat of Johns Hopkins. As much attention as the Kavanagh brothers rightly generate, the work of players like Simmons and Jalen Seymour (two goals) are reminders that Notre Dame is plenty deep, which could prove valuable if it gets the chance to play twice in three days next weekend.

TEWAARATON WATCH

In addition to the aforementioned Shellenberger and O’Neill, two other Tewaaraton finalists played over the weekend.

A Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame: Amid Johns Hopkins’ constant switching on defense, one thing remained a priority: The Blue Jays weren’t about to let Kavanagh beat them. And he didn’t. The senior was limited to one assist, his lowest points output of the season and his first game without a goal since the Irish’s opener. But Notre Dame still won, and Kavanagh (23 goals, 50 assists) is still very much alive for the Tewaaraton.

A Tucker Dordevic, Georgetown: The grad transfer had two goals in the Hoyas’ 17-14 loss to Virginia, and he closes out his final year on the Hilltop with a school-record 65 goals plus 13 assists. It won’t be enough to win the Tewaaraton, but it was still an impressive season.

Three finalists — Kavanagh, O’Neill and Shellenberger — will play on the final weekend of the season. The Tewaaraton winner is likely to come from that group, just as 16 of the previous 22 winners were part of teams that reached the semifinals.

Half of the previous winners came from national champions. If any of the remaining finalists is part of a championship celebration next Monday afternoon, chances are they’ll receive an additional piece of hardware later in the week.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

1

School with multiple NCAA quarterfinal appearances without a loss: Penn State. The Nittany Lions improved to 2-0 in the quarterfinals with their 10-9 defeat of Army. The only other team to appear in the Division I quarters without a loss is Cortland State, which beat Navy in 1972.

2

No. 5 seeds to claim a national title in NCAA tournament history. Penn State will attempt to join 1986 North Carolina and 2010 Duke as the lone No. 5 seeds to win a championship next weekend.

3

ACC teams in the semifinals, something of a restoration for a conference whose teams managed to combine for one NCAA berth last season. It is also the fifth time the ACC has produced three semifinalists, joining 2005 and 2011 (Duke, Maryland and Virginia), 2014 (Duke, Maryland and Notre Dame) and 2021 (Duke, North Carolina and Virginia).

9

Consecutive quarterfinal losses for Georgetown, a streak that dates back to 2000. The Hoyas are tied for the second-longest quarterfinal skid in tournament history with Hofstra, which is 0-9 all-time in the quarters. UMass dropped 10 quarterfinals between 1976 and 2005 prior to its breakthrough against Hofstra in 2006.

19

Consecutive victories for Notre Dame against opponents other than Virginia, a streak that dates back to March 19, 2022. The Irish beat Michigan before falling to the Cavaliers last year, then rattled off six victories in a row to end the season. Notre Dame is 12-0 against teams besides Virginia this season but will try to get to the best the Cavaliers in Saturday’s semifinals.

37

NCAA tournament victories for Duke coach John Danowski, the second most all time. Danowski passed former Brown and Virginia coach Dom Starsia when the Blue Devils bested Michigan on Saturday. Former Princeton and Denver coach Bill Tierney is the career leader in postseason victories with 44.

1,038

Faceoffs won by Virginia’s Petey LaSalla, fourth in Division I history behind TD Ierlan (1,245), Trevor Baptiste (1,158) and Kevin Massa (1,117). The durable LaSalla won 17 of 34 draws Saturday against Georgetown to move into the top five, passing Zach Cole of Saint Joseph’s (1,036) and former Delaware star Alex Smith (1,027).