CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  — Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan sat in a box atop Klöckner Stadium two nights earlier and watched Virginia attackman Michael Kraus dismantle the Syracuse defense during the Cavaliers ACC semifinal victory. 

“If you get too cute, he’s just going to blow by you,” Corrigan told his assistants. 

On Sunday afternoon, his Fighting Irish didn’t do anything too cute or fancy to slow down Kraus and the Virginia offense. Notre Dame simply played a physical game, getting sticks and bodies in the way on the way to a 17-7 victory and the ACC tournament title. 

“I thought our guys did a great job of playing body position defense,” Corrigan said after his team had hoisted the trophy. “[Kraus] makes you think you’ve got him covered, but  hen he kind of steps right through your checks and he’s right at the goal.”

But the Irish managed to limit the damage done by Kraus and completely shut down Dox Aitken, who came in with 36 goals. 

“He’s a special talent,” said Notre Dame’s All-ACC short-stick defensive middie Carlson Milikin, who began his career at UVA. “We knew we had to help out. It was a team effort. We wanted to make it as hard as possible so they would get a little frustrated and push the tempo a little more.”

On the other end, the Irish took advantage of what became a rough and tumble contest by burning the Cavaliers with their extra-man offense. Notre Dame converted three of five times with a man advantage and used those goals to keep Virginia from ever making a serious run at a comeback. 

“Normally we are on the losing end of that,” Milikin said with a laugh.  “I know I myself got a ton of penalties during the year.”

Bryan Costabile, the tournament MVP, scored three goals and had an assist for the Irish, while Ryder Garnsey scored three times with two assists to also make the all-tournament team. 

“We were able to get on them early, then our defense is always outstanding,” Costabile said. “We were really happy with that. They are the best. We had a big lead, but we tried to remember they could come back at any time.”

PHOTO BY KEITH LUCAS

Kraus, who finished with three goals and an assist but missed much of the second half after the taking a hit from teammate Dox Aitken, started strong again Sunday, ripping the first goal of the game to put the Cavs ahead. But the Fighting Irish scored the next three and led 3-2 after one period. 

Notre Dame’s momentum only grew in the second quarter with sloppy passing by the Cavaliers undoing continued solid work from Virginia’s Justin Schwenk at the faceoff X. By the time Irish junior midfielder Timmy Phillips got his first goal of the season in transition, Notre Dame had built an 8-3 lead it took into the locker room at halftime. 

The offensive burst continued in the second half, with Costabile and Garnsey leading the way, and the six-goal run that stretched across two periods gave the Fighting Irish a lead as big as 11-3 in the third quarter before Kraus finally got the Cavs back on the board. 

Meanwhile the Notre Dame defense continued to frustrate Aitken, holding Virginia’s star sophomore without a point. 

“What they do probably better than anyone is the on-ball defense against Dox Aitken,” Virginia coach Lars Tiffany said. “You can slide to Aitken, but the first guy is still lifting his hands. He’s having a hard time getting his hands free, and then all the sudden there’s a double-team. So they forced Dox into a rough day.”

FINAL: @NDlacrosse 17, @UVAMensLax 7

The Fighting Irish, written off by some after a rough late-season stretch, are @ACCMLax champions after taking down Duke and UVA. pic.twitter.com/xkX32uhu9k

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 29, 2018

When it was all done, neither coach wanted to say too much about his team’s NCAA tournament prospects, but there was a sense both teams may have done enough during the weekend to earn their spot in the field. 

The Irish could help themselves by closing out the regular season with a victory against Army, while Virginia needs to avoid a letdown against VMI. 

PHOTO BY KEITH LUCAS