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Women’s lacrosse prepares for weekend tilt with No. 5 Louisville

Cavaliers face seventh top-10 opponent in Cardinals

Under head coach Julie Myers, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team has made it to the NCAA tournament 20 straight seasons.

When No. 17 Virginia (7-6, 1-4 ACC) travels to play No. 6 Louisville this Saturday, the outcome could have large implications on whether the Cavaliers can extend this streak to 21.

In order to be eligible for an NCAA tournament at-large bid, a team needs to have a record at or above .500. With a current 7-6 record, Virginia must win two of its next four games in order to qualify.

“We don’t dwell on it a whole lot,” Myers said. “What we are trying to focus on is just the next game and taking care of the rest of the regular season. But it goes without saying that we all want to be there and that we will all be doing whatever it takes to make sure that happens.”

This will be no easy task for the Cavaliers. In addition to facing Louisville (12-2, 3-2 ACC), Virginia will play No. 1 Maryland, Virginia Tech and an ACC tournament first round game. Currently sitting at sixth place in the ACC, the Cavaliers will most likely be favored in only their game against the Hokies.

“Virginia’s a great program and they get into the NCAA tournament almost every single year,” senior attacker Kelly Boyd said. “My second year we were in a similar position where we absolutely had to win going into ACCs to make it, and that was the year we ended up going to the final four. But it would be awesome to get into the tournament and see from there.”

A victory over the Cardinals would take a lot of pressure off of Virginia. With a full week and a half since their last game against Navy last Wednesday, the Cavaliers feel rested and primed to pull off the upset.

“We’ve just taken care of the last couple games, and we’ve had a full week and a half to focus on our own game and on the things we need to be working on,” Myers said. “I feel like we are in really good shape. Everyone is connecting well and things are moving in the right direction.”

Louisville will be the seventh top-10 opponent Virginia has faced this season. They boast the No. 1 ranked defense in the ACC, allowing a conference-low 7.14 goals per game. The Cardinals are additionally very strong in the midfield, where they are led by senior Kaylin Morissette. A 2015 first team All-American, Morrisette has contributed a team high 47 points this season through 31 goals and 16 assists.

Virginia’s ability to generate offense against the strong Louisville defense will be a huge factor in the game. After a midseason offensive slump, the Cavaliers have looked as good as ever offensively in their last two games, defeating Boston College, 15-14, and then Navy, 13-9. Sophomore midfielder Kasey Behr and Boyd lead the team in goals during this stretch, with seven and six goals scored, respectively.

“Our attacking game plan is to really be efficient with the ball, make sure that we are moving into everything and creating opportunities and then really finishing them,” Myers said. “I think we’ve been able to create decently well this whole season, but we haven’t been finishing as consistently. But again, the last couple weeks and the last week of practice we’ve done a much better job.”

Ten goals may be the target number for Virginia. The Cavaliers are 7-1 this season when they score 10 or more goals, with the lone loss coming to then-No. 4 North Carolina in OT, 11-10. Meanwhile, in the two games that Louisville has allowed 10 or more goals this season, they lost both. This includes their most recent game, in which the Cardinals lost 15-5 to North Carolina last Saturday.

Last season, Virginia defeated Louisville 17-9 at Klöckner Stadium. In that game, Boyd scored four goals.

“It’s nice going into the game knowing that you did well against them last year, but every season is different so we definitely can’t ride on that,” Boyd said. “But it’s comforting, so I think if we do everything we are supposed to we should hopefully play really well like last year and come out with a big win.”

The opening faceoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

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