The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will host in-state rival William & Mary tonight at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers look to recover from their Saturday loss to North Carolina, while the Tribe hopes to break its eight-year losing streak to Virginia.
William & Mary (3-3) recently dropped out of the top 20. They have played a tough schedule this season, facing three top-20 opponents — losing to Duke, Boston University and Stanford. The Cavaliers (5-2, 1-2 ACC) have struggled against top competition as well, losing to then-No. 3 Maryland and then-No. 3 North Carolina.
Virginia has a bevy of offensive talent, but it is the defense that has helped the Cavaliers succeed this season. Tonight Virginia again must use several key players, including junior midfielder Kaitlin Duff, if it wants to continue its dominance of William & Mary.
Duff is Virginia’s best lockdown defender, leading the team in every defensive category this season. She is among the best in the country with 17 turnovers, creating havoc against opposing teams. Duff also has 16 ground balls to lead the team. Having started every game in her collegiate career, she also brings plenty of experience to the defense.
“I think we have a lot of the key players with good experience under their belt stepping up and that really helps everyone who plays alongside of them,” coach Julie Myers said.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Benner anchors the Cavalier defense between the pipes. Benner is third in the conference in goals-against average, affording only 9.84 nettings per game. Excluding the defensive lapses against Maryland and North Carolina — in which the Cavaliers allowed 17 and 12 goals respectively — Benner is allowing less than eight goals per game.
Benner “has had a really good season; she has really stepped it up,” senior defender Katie Shannon said. “She has had some really good games and has come up with some big saves.”
The key to the game, however, could come down to the draw controls. Junior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein arguably is one of the most underappreciated players in the country, with one of the most important jobs on the team in controlling the draw at the beginning of every half and after every goal. Like Duff, she is also a durable and dependable player, starting every game in her career. Kalkstein has 28 draw controls this season and is second on Virginia’s all-time draw controls list.
She “has become one of the best defenders in the game,” Myers said.
William & Mary, meanwhile, has a defensive stalwart of its own in sophomore goalkeeper Emily Geary. She was one of the top freshman goalkeepers in the country last season and was named to the All-CAA Second Team. Geary is averaging just less than 11 saves per games. For the Tribe to be successful tonight, Geary will have to slow down Virginia’s offense, which averages about 14 goals per game.
She is not alone though. William & Mary handles draw controls by committee with four players recording at least 11 this season. The Tribe is among the top 10 in the country in draw controls per game, averaging about 15 per contest.
The Cavaliers will need hold off the Tribe and get back to their winning ways by playing solid defense for 60 minutes. There is no doubt that goals will be scored tonight; the team that overcomes the other’s defense the most, however, will be the one that emerges victorious.
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