The Virginia women's lacrosse team had its ups and downs over three Spring Break games. It began its run by knocking off No. 4 Syracuse 13-8. Leading the Cavaliers was junior midfielder Blair Weymouth with five goals in her first game back from an ankle injury. Also adding to the Cavaliers' offense was sophomore midfielder Brittany Kalkstein, with four goals, and junior midfielder Ashley McCulloch, with four assists.
"Clearly our best performance so far has been the Syracuse game," coach Julie Myers said. "I think we've done a really nice job so far and it was good to stand up and be tested by a good Syracuse team."
After that big win though, the Cavaliers faced ACC rival Maryland in College Park and lost 5-8. The loss was highlighted by their lowest offensive output of the season, which was led by two goals from sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Duff and one goal and two assists from McCulloch.
According to Myers, Maryland's game plan controlled the game and took the Cavaliers out of their rhythm, never giving Virginia a chance to get into its offensive flow.
"Maryland had a great game plan and executed it really well," Myers said. "We were one or two plays away from getting into our groove and rhythm. We never really got into our flow."
Kalkstein added that the Cavaliers also seemed to play with a lack of energy against the Terps.
"It wasn't really their defense that shut us down," Kalkstein said. "We just came out flat-footed and not ready to play. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again."
That is exactly what the Cavaliers did in their next matchup at No. 19 Penn State, where Virginia defeated the Nittany Lions 13-7. Leading the team with four goals was Weymouth, followed by three from Kalkstein, both of whom added two assists. McCulloch added an extra charge by netting two goals and dishing out two assists.
The cornerstone of the defensive effort was a strong performance by senior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty, who had 10 saves. Playing strong in front of her was first-year starter and senior defender Alice Hughey, who controlled three ground balls and created four turnovers.
"The main thing is to continue our communication," Hughey said. "We played strong and had a good game against a good Penn State team."
In those three games, the defense held the opposing team to an average of just under eight goals a game, strong performances against good teams that came from a total team effort.
"A lot of people have contributed," Myers said. "Kendall McBrearty has done a nice job in goal. [Senior defender] Claire Bordley has really stepped it up, and Alice Hughey, as a first-time starter, has really stepped it up and created a lot of turnovers to generate a lot of fast breaks, while [senior attacker] Megan O'Malley is playing the best she's ever played as a midfielder."
The offense showed its high-powered nature against Syracuse and Penn State but did not perform as well in the Maryland game.
"It's really just playing the game, hitting a wall sometimes and figuring out how to get around it," Myers said. "Hopefully we're able to avoid that by taking draw controls, but there's no guarantee it won't happen again."
The team is still No. 2 in the nation and is looking to continue its run of strong performances.
To ensure that, Myers said she knows what needs to be done, noting, "Hopefully we're stepping forward with our fast-break attacks and we'll be able to score with just more than our set plays"
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