In the days before the Virginia women’s lacrosse team opened its 2013 season against then-No. 6 Loyola (Md), head coach Julie Myers explained her reasoning behind the Cavaliers’ challenging schedule. Aside from its ACC matchups with Maryland, North Carolina and Duke, the Nos. 1, 3, and 6 teams in the country, Virginia was slated for nonconference games against NCAA champion Northwestern and runner-up Syracuse.
“It’s why we work hard and we put it out on the field everyday,” Myers said. “It’s a chance to be able to prove yourself as a national powerhouse.”
Now five weeks into the season, the No. 9 Cavaliers have shown they belong in any discussion of the country’s top 10 teams. Virginia (5-4, 0-2 ACC) owns wins against Loyola, Princeton and James Madison — all three teams earned votes in this week’s IWLCA Coaches poll. Coach Myers’ squad, however, is still in search of a truly signature win. The Cavaliers lost by one goal to No. 11 Penn State, No. 5 Syracuse and No. 3 North Carolina, and have not defeated a team above them in the rankings.
This Saturday at Klöckner Stadium, Virginia gets another shot at toppling an elite opponent in No. 6 Duke. The Blue Devils (8-1, 1-1 ACC) have qualified for 15 straight NCAA Tournaments under coach Kerstin Kimel.
“[They’re] always disciplined,” Myers said. “They’re very fast and athletic this year, so they’re going to be pretty creative with how they attack. They’re going to be really physical and tough with how they defend.”
Duke is riding a four-game win streak that includes a road victory against No. 8 Georgetown and a 13-5 handling of No. 13 Dartmouth last Sunday in Durham. The stretch has coincided with the coming of age of freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea. The backup to start the season, Duryea replaced senior Kaitlin Gaiss in the second half of Duke’s 15-6 loss to No. 4 Maryland and has run with her opportunity. She stopped Georgetown’s free-position shot with five seconds to go with her team nursing an 11-10 lead, part of an 11-save effort to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Sophomore attacker Kerrin Maurer leads Duke with 40 points and 18 assists and is second on the team — behind senior attacker Makenzie Hommel — in goals. Maurer has been a force since her arrival in Durham. She set a program record for freshmen last year with 24 assists and paced the team with 49 points.
The Cavaliers will be especially motivated to defeat the Blue Devils, who bounced them from last year’s NCAA Tournament, 11-9, in the first round. The win avenged a 14-12 regular season loss to the Cavaliers. Now, Virginia will attempt its own reversal.
Virginia comes into the game on a three-game winning streak, the most recent a 10-3, breathe-easy victory at No. 19 James Madison (5-2, 0-0 CAA) on Wednesday evening. Virginia outplayed the Dukes in almost every facet of the game, finishing with a significant advantage in shots (30-12), ground balls (13-8) and draw controls (11-4).
The Cavaliers scored the game’s first five goals and held JMU scoreless until senior attacker Casey Ancarrow broke through with 23:52 left in the second half. Virginia limited Ancarrow, the 2012 CAA Player of the Year and JMU’s leading scorer, to two goals and no assists. Her teammates mustered scant offense against junior goalkeeper Liz Colgan, who made seven saves in her first start of the year.
The Dukes raised their level of play in the second half, using a 3-2 run to pull within four goals with 15:49 on the clock. Virginia expelled any thought of a JMU comeback by scoring three unanswered goals to end the game. Junior attack Ashlee Warner had two points in the closing run.
Warner and sophomore midfielder Courtney Swan led the Cavaliers with five points on two goals and three assists, and Swan had five draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Morgan Stephens scored a hat trick and had one assist, and sophomore attacker Casey Bocklet contributed one goal and two assists. Senior co-captain Caroline McTiernan scored a pair of goals.
“I think we did a lot of the little things really well, starting with Courtney Swan on the draw,” Myers said. “We were able to dominate those possessions and really create a lot of caused turnovers…We did lots of little things well that just culminated in a performance that I am really proud of.”
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