In her first two seasons on the No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team, junior goalkeeper Liz Colgan only logged 124 minutes and 24 seconds in net, or about the length of two complete games. She saved seven of 44 shots on goal and registered a 1-1 record. When starting goalie senior Kim Kolarik went down with a broken hand earlier this month, however, Colgan was called into action.
Despite her past struggles in limited playing time, her teammates held no reservations about her ability to succeed.
“I definitely was nervous when I found out, and Kim fully supported me on and off the field, sending me messages like, ‘Liz, you got it; don’t worry about it,’” Colgan said. “I feel like the team was confident in me, and that made me more confident in myself. Everyone surrounded me with a positive attitude and I think that’s what really set me up to go in Wednesday to start my first game this season.”
Colgan’s first start proved the Cavaliers (5-5, 0-3 ACC) had not misplaced their trust. She recorded seven saves in Virginia’s best defensive performance of the season, a 10-3 win at No. 19 James Madison. Colgan played the entirety of that game and the next, a 13-7 loss against No. 6 Duke last Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.
Such experience will surely be valuable to Virginia as the team approaches next month’s ACC and NCAA Tournaments. Colgan will first have to get the Cavaliers through six more regular season games, the first this Wednesday at Old Dominion (3-6, 1-0 CAA), but given the seriousness of Kolarik’s injury Colgan could be in the cage for the long haul.
“We knew we had one of the best backup goalies in the country going into the season,” coach Julie Myers said. “We didn’t know how many opportunities Liz would have, but … she worked really hard to be ready when she got the nod, and Kim’s hand is still broken. But Liz has done a great job, she’s risen to the challenge.”
Virginia and Old Dominion first played one another in 1980 and have clashed 35 times since. The Cavaliers travel to Norfolk with history on their side — they have compiled a 35-1 record against Old Dominion, including an 18-1 mark on the road. Myers, though, refuses to dismiss the Lady Monarchs’ chances.
“They’re good, they’re scrappy, they’ve got absolutely nothing to lose,” Myers said. “They do play us pretty well when we go down there … It’s not unusual to have a one- or two-goal game down at Old Dominion, [whereas] up in Charlottesville it could be by 10 … so we need to make sure that we play smart and play aggressive.”
Old Dominion has struggled to find consistency this season following the graduation of 2012 leaders Lisa Bernardini, an All-CAA midfield selection, defender Hannah McBee, an All-CAA Second Team pick and goalkeeper Sarah Geary. Bernardini finished her career with 66 assists and 190 points — the second and fourth-most, respectively, in Lady Monarch history — while Geary graduated as the program’s all-time leader with 567 saves.
In their absence, second-year coach Heather Holt has employed a myriad of personnel combinations, but has won back-to-back games just once. Only four players have started all nine games for Old Dominion, including sophomore midfielder Christina Rea, who ranks in the top three on the team in goals, points, ground balls and draw controls, and senior midfielder and co-captain Shelby Davis, a preseason all-conference selection. The Lady Monarchs have dropped two consecutive games to Longwood and Virginia Tech, following wins against American and St. Joseph’s.
Though Cavaliers were pleased with their first play against the Blue Devils, they are hungry to improve their overall effort in the matchup against Old Dominion. In that first trick-play, junior midfielder Christie Donovan subbed into the game immediately after the Cavaliers won the opening draw. She streaked down the left side of the field, received the ball near the goal and scored her first goal since 2011 before subbing back out.
“Christie went in instead of [redshirt sophomore attacker] Dana [Boyle] on that first draw possession and she nailed her shot,” Myers said. “It was pretty awesome, you would have thought we won the national championship right there. She works her tail off and hasn’t had many opportunities in a game, so it was nice to see that she did it.”
After that initial spark, however, the Cavaliers displayed an apparent lack of aggression against a Duke team that thrived while playing at a slow, methodical pace.
“The biggest thing we’re looking to do is refocus on ourselves,” Colgan said. “I think Saturday we beat ourselves in terms of focusing on some things that really didn’t go our way, compared to just trying to be the person to turn things around. So I think that Wednesday we’re just looking to be the best we can be.”
Read More
Virginia baseball falters, drops series to NC State
By Jacob Tisdale | YesterdayVirginia dropped a crucial ACC series, endangering a top seed in the conference tournament.
Women’s lacrosse upset in season-ending defeat against Florida
By Matthew Ryeom | YesterdayThe Cavaliers kept it close until the fourth quarter, where they ultimately came up short.
No. 6 men’s lacrosse trumps Saint Joseph’s 17-11 as Cormier breaks NCAA scoring record
By Ben Istvan | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers snapped their four-game losing streak with a comfortable win over the Hawks.
