It has been quite some time since Virginia had a week off.
Due to this week's incessant downpour, the women's lacrosse game against George Mason was moved from last night to 4 p.m. today at Klöckner Stadium. That means that when the No. 7 Cavaliers hit the field this afternoon, they will have gone a full seven days since their last performance, a dominating 17-6 victory over Old Dominion.
In-state rival George Mason could prove to be a more difficult challenge, as the Patriots currently find themselves ranked No. 19 in the country. George Mason is coming off a weekend split in which they fell to No. 17 Towson but rebounded to squeak out a win against Delaware.
"We're expecting a lot of speed [from George Mason], especially in the midfield," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "They aren't going to be intimidated by some of our scorers or our goals against average. They're going to make us play some tough defense."
Tenacity on the defensive end is something the Cavaliers have been working on all season. Whereas they rank third in the nation in scoring offense at 14 goals per game, Virginia's scoring defense has failed to equal the offensive numbers, allowing 8.62 goals per game, good for 19th in the nation.
"It'll be a good defensive challenge for us," Myers said. "And offensively, I'm sure they're going to come swinging and bring their best."
George Mason's best usually comes in the form of junior goalkeeper Meg Dentler, who ranks 14th in the nation in save percentage, stopping 55.7 percent of the shots she has faced. In addition, Dentler has started every Patriot game this season and currently holds a 10.78 goals against average.
As the season winds down, Virginia has begun to realize that its performances need to do just the opposite. After losing only one conference game to the ACC-leading Duke Blue Devils, the Cavaliers will be seeded second entering April 23's ACC tournament. But before the postseason begins, Virginia will host Loyola on April 17 and travel to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech April 19.
"Every game at this point in the season is a big game," Myers said. "Right now we're at the point of the season where we need to not just continue playing well, but we need to get better every game so that we really hit the end of our season in full stride. I think it's important that we get better every day regardless of who our opponent is."
The NCAA tournament begins May 13, and it is then that the Cavaliers will truly begin their attempted climb back to the national championship game.
"We're getting into our final games," sophomore Tyler Leachman said. "We just need to keep getting better as a team and working together. I think we have great chemistry as a team on the field."
With one-goal losses to No. 6 Duke and No. 13 Syracuse and a three-goal loss to No. 1 Princeton as the only blemishes on the Cavaliers' record, they can enter the postseason knowing they are once again capable of competing with the best the lacrosse world has to offer.
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