The first name that appears in the Virginia women’s lacrosse team 2015 roster is freshman midfielder Kasey Behr. While her jersey number may be ‘two’, Behr has been the Cavaliers’ No. 1 scorer in two of the last three games.
“We knew that Kasey Behr would become one of our best middies,” coach Julie Myers said. “We knew it was going to happen right out of the gate for us. What we didn’t know was that she was going to break her ankle in December and knock her out all of preseason. I think she’s starting to find her stride, and I think there’s going to be a lot more of Kasey Behr coming up.”
Coming off the bench in seven of the Cavaliers’ eight games, Behr has scored 14 goals, five behind All-American senior attacker Liza Blue and tying for third most on the team with All-American senior midfielder Courtney Swan.
“I’m so glad that she’s healthy and good to go,” Blue said. “We definitely need that firepower from her. She’s a really physical player, and that brings a new piece to our attack. I love what she’s doing, and it’s good. It helps take away pressure from other attackers, knowing that she’s a dominant force up top.”
As a high schooler, Behr helped her varsity lacrosse team win four-straight Catholic High School Athletic Association championships, winning the MVP her senior year to enter Virginia as the school’s top recruit.
“We know that she can take it to goal and we’re kind of giving her the green light to do whatever and just building her up in practice so she shines in the game as she has,” Swan said.
After scoring nine of her 14 goals against three ranked opponents, Behr and the No. 8 Cavaliers (4-4, 0-2 ACC) face another tough test when they travel to Harrisonburg on Wednesday to face No.12 James Madison (7-1) before returning home to face No. 4 Duke.
In a three-game stretch, the Cavaliers lost 10-7 against No. 2 North Carolina and 13-12 against No. 16 Loyola Md. in overtime before winning 18-11 against No. 13 Princeton. Against North Carolina and Loyola, Virginia shot 68 percent from the field, but that number soared to 80 percent against Princeton.
“I think we’ve been through a lot in the last three games,” Myers said. “We’ve played some really good lacrosse but obviously have come up short a couple of those times. I like our chemistry and I like how we’re playing. I think we started to shoot better against Princeton, so that’s a nice way to end that stretch of three games. I think we’re moving in the right direction and our players are starting to play better and better in every game and more kids [like Behr] are getting opportunities. Our schedule is tough and we need to find a way through it, but I believe in our team.”
On the other side, James Madison has only lost one game — its season opener against North Carolina — and boasts wins against Loyola and No. 9 Penn State. The Dukes’ leading offensive playmaker is sophomore attacker Betsy Angel, who has a team-high 31 points on the season with 22 goals and nine assists.
“JMU is a great preparation game for the Duke game, but JMU right now is having one of their best seasons ever,” Myers said. “It’s a must win game for us. It’s an in-state rivalry, so that always adds to the emotions behind it, but we need to make sure we’re taking care of the ball and really coming up with some big stops defensively. It’s a team that likes to go to goal a lot, so the more solid and sound our slides are in defense and making sure the package comes together, it should create enough opportunities for our attackers to do their thing. We’re probably going to need to score 13 or 14 goals in these next couple of games to win them.”
Opening draw is set for 7 p.m. at JMU’s University Park.
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