The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team appears to have gotten back on track following three losses this season against ranked opponents, defeating No. 19 James Madison 18-9 Tuesday night in Harrisonburg, Va.
There is no rest for the weary, however, as the Cavaliers (7-3, 1-2 ACC) face No. 4 Duke this weekend. The Blue Devils (8-2, 1-1 ACC) will be a tough conference test for the Cavaliers. The visitors will be seeking revenge after the Cavaliers knocked them out of the ACC Tournament last season.
On paper, the matchup appears to boast two fairly evenly matched ACC teams.
It will, however, mark one of the few times this season that the game’s leading goal scorer will start opposite Virginia. Duke senior attack Carolyn Davis leads the Blue Devils with 33 goals, while Cavalier senior midfielder Blair Weymouth has 29 goals this season. Besides controlling Weymouth, the Blue Devils also face the task of attempting to contain senior Ashley McCulloch. The midfielder, who has dished out 21 assists this spring, has played a large role in setting up the Cavaliers’ scoring opportunities. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, have their own do-it-all player as well: senior attack Caroline Cryer, who leads Duke with 18 assists and 27 draw controls.
The Cavaliers’ season started on a promising note with a victory against their first ranked opponent of the season — then-No. 3 Syracuse. Since then, however, Virginia has been in a slump, losing the last three of its six games. The Cavaliers were not as successful in their game plan against those three opponents. They lost or tied the draw control battle in several games and their shooting percentage was far below that of their opposition. The Cavaliers have only averaged 11 goals per game in the six-game stretch after averaging 17 nettings per contest in the first four games of the year.
Going into this weekend’s matchup, Virginia will look to improve its offensive production.
“We need to get back into that groove,” Weymouth said. “Right now it has been a little bit frustrating, but we have been having good practices so hopefully in the next games we can come out and be the team that beat Syracuse.”
This weekend also is an opportunity for Virginia to prove that it is indeed the team that possesses four All-Americans and is a viable contender for a national championship. For the Cavaliers to make a run in the postseason, they will need to regain their early season form, building off the momentum earned after the win against JMU.
“We are a very good team, and I think there are a lot of good teams,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “A lot of our games have come down to one goal; twice we were excited to have the win, but a one-goal game could have flipped either way. We just need to make sure we stay together, stay positive, and keep getting better.”
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