The Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s 2014 campaign for a national title came to an end when Syracuse defeated Virginia 16-8 at the national semifinals last season.
But in the new season, a rematch between the two powerhouses will take place inside the Carrier Dome at Syracuse on Monday evening, where the No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (1-1) are seeking their first win against No. 3 Syracuse (3-0) since 2012.
“I think definitely after losing to them in [the] Final Four — that was a big loss for us, so this game is a little bit more personal for some of us,” sophomore attacker Kelly Reese said.
In the NCAA Tournament and regular season matchups last season, Virginia was unable to overcome early deficits. During the semifinal game, Virginia trailed 9-3 at halftime and was outshot 30-19 for the game. The Cavaliers also had 17 turnovers compared to Syracuse’s 11.
The Cavaliers return nine of 12 starters from that game, which will be a crucial factor in the matchup, coach Julie Myers said.
“I think we’re veteran,” Myers said about the biggest difference between last season’s team and this season’s. “I think we have a lot of great experience and some key players and we have some good excitement coming in. I’m just excited to get into the meat of our season. It seems like a long time to wait to start and all of a sudden the games start, and they come one after the next, and it’s just a really exciting time for everybody.”
The Cavaliers are coming off their first win of this season against Richmond last Wednesday. Playing in the frigid cold, the Cavaliers won 14 of the 22 draw controls and outshot the Spiders 36-18. In their first game of the season, the Cavaliers lost to Northwestern 6-5 after a late Northwestern goal on a free position shot sealed the victory for the Wildcats.
After beating Virginia in the national semifinals, the Orange set the single-season school record for wins and advanced to their second national title game in three years, where they lost to Maryland 15-12. The Orange have started the 2015 season with three wins in a doubleheader against Denver and Canisius, both of whom played in the NCAA Tournament last season, and against Canisius again the following week.
“Syracuse is a great opponent,” Myers said. “We’re excited to play a quality team, but we know we’re going to have our hands full trying to stop Kayla Treanor and a bunch of other attackers. Their defense is high pressure, so our attackers will really need to be on and probably hit 50 to 60 percent of their shots because I don’t think they’ll be a ton of shots taken in the game, so we’ll really need to be accurate with them.”
Treanor was named a preseason First Team All-American by Inside Lacrosse after making the team last season, in which she led the nation in scoring with 117 points, and was second in the nation in goals scored, scoring a school-record 79.
Virginia’s senior midfielder Courtney Swan and senior defender Morgan Stephens joined Treanor at training camp for the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s National Team this summer. They were three of 38 players named to the team out of a pool of 81 invited players.
“They lost a lot of starters from last season, so they’re kind of going to be a new team,” Swan said. “Their defense is pretty new. They’re always a physical team, so it’s always fun to play them. I think we lost by one in season, so we really want to come out of there with a win.”
Syracuse will look different from a year ago, as attacker Alyssa Murray — who was second in the team in points with 110 — graduated last spring. Murray and Treanor were finalists for the Tewaaraton Award. The Orange also lost their best defender in Kasey Mock who led the team in caused turnovers last season.
The first draw is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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