Despite having played in just three games so far, No. 10 Virginia women’s lacrosse has already had an eventful season.
To recap, the Cavaliers opened with an upset victory over then-No. 4 Northwestern, 10-8. Virginia was defeated in the next game against then-No. 12 Princeton, 14-7.
“We made the transition really quickly from being on a big high to kind of getting knocked back down,” junior midfielder Posey Valis said.
Valis leads Virginia in goals scored this season with eight goals.
But the Cavaliers do not have much time to stop and reflect on their season right now. Not with a home game against the No. 6 Penn State coming up Saturday.
The Nittany Lions (2-0) will be the third ranked team the Cavaliers will have played in their first four games to start the year. It will be another tough non-conference foe for Virginia, which plays in the conference with the most ranked teams in the country.
But coach Julie Myers believes the team’s hard non-conference schedule is a good thing for the Cavaliers.
“Our schedule has always been really tough, but it’s by design and on purpose,” Myers said. “I think the only way to get better is to keep stepping up to the best competition out there, and we do that time and again, week after week.”
However, Penn State is not just another top-ranked team Virginia plays on its schedule.
“Penn State has become a great rival,” Myers said.
Last season, Virginia played the Nittany Lions in two games. The first game was a thrilling 16-15 victory in the regular season, where a Virginia goal with four seconds left in regulation won the game for the Cavaliers.
The second game was a 13-11 defeat in the second round of the NCAA tournament that ended Virginia’s season.
This season, the Nittany Lions are as tough as ever. They have been dominant in their first two games, winning 13-6 over Lehigh and 19-5 over Duquesne. They also return with many excellent players from last season’s team, including three that are on the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch list.
Penn State’s senior goalie Emi Smith, senior midfielder Jenna Mosketti and junior midfielder Abby Smucker are all included in the list that recognizes 50 candidates for the award, which honors the top women’s lacrosse player in the country.
However, Virginia is focused and energized to play against Penn State.
“We really brought our energy back up after our loss to Princeton,” Valis said. “The energy that we have rolling this week we will really try to capitalize on when we play Penn State.”
Myers agrees.
“This week feels night and day different from last week in terms of how hard they’re getting after it,” she said.
And with a balanced attack headlined by players like Valis, sophomore midfielder Kasey Behr (6 goals) and junior attack Besser Dyson (7 goals and 4 assists), as well as with Tewaaraton Trophy Watch candidate sophomore goalie Rachel Vander Kolk in goal, the Cavaliers have talent across the field to match up with the Nittany Lions.
Virginia hopes this will all lead to another win over a quality opponent in what they anticipate to be another thrilling match in the rivalry with Penn State.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Myers said. “It’s two high-level programs with a lot of pride on the line.”
The game will begin at 12 p.m.
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