The No. 10 Virginia women's lacrosse team begins its spring campaign Saturday at home against Loyola (Md.).
The Cavaliers take the field this season without many of the stars who carried the 2009 squad, which lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Blair Weymouth and Ashley McCulloch both graduated, as did senior leaders Jenny Hauser and Jen Holden. At the same time, however, Virginia returns its third, fourth and fifth leading scorers in seniors Kaitlin Duff, Whitaker Hagerman and Brittany Kalkstein.
"We are young and experienced," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "We have some returning players that have been in the program for a couple of years."
Guiding this young team to success in the ACC will be a challenge for Myers, as 14 of the Cavaliers' 25 players are underclassmen, including eight freshmen.
"We have a couple of first-years that are going be in our starting lineup," Myers said. "We are going to have some older kids who aren't playing where some younger kids are."
One of these freshmen is goalkeeper Kim Kolarik who will get her first career start against Loyola. Kolarik stepped in for the Cavaliers last fall while junior Lauren Benner spent time rehabbing a shoulder surgery.
"I think because there are so many new players in the rotation, we as coaches have to take a step back and say this is a team that I think could be great," Myers said.
Myers faces a Loyola team which recently fell to No. 18 Penn State 9-8 during its season-opener. The Greyhounds were picked to finish fourth in the Big East behind Syracuse, Georgetown and Notre Dame, all of which are ranked ahead of Virginia. The Cavaliers will have to contend with attack Grace Gavin who led the squad with 54 goals and 74 points last season.
The young and talented Virginia squad will look to rebound from the loss of its departing seniors and develop its underclassmen to fill the void.
"I don't think anything is out of reach for this team," Myers said. "Depending on how we handle our early steps and preparation is going to determine if we are fighting for an ACC Championship"
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