In their first game of the 2014 season, No. 8 Virginia women’s lacrosse team traveled to Atlanta, Ga. to face No. 4 Northwestern on a neutral field. The Cavaliers fell just short of avenging last season’s loss to the Wildcats, as Northwestern scored the go-ahead goal with 16.7 seconds remaining and held on for a thrilling 13-12 win.
The Virginia women’s lacrosse team opens up their season this weekend against Northwestern as they try to make another appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Depending on your perspective, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s 2013 season could be deemed disappointing, encouraging or both.
Thursday afternoon in Chapel Hill, Virginia (8-8, 1-4 ACC) will play Duke (11-4, 2-3 ACC) for a second time, this time in the ACC Tournament’s first round. The winner will face No. 1 Maryland, the tournament’s top seed, in Friday’s semifinal.
The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inducted five men as its inaugural class in 1957. In fact, in each of the Hall’s first 35 years of existence, only men joined the sport’s most cherished institution.
Before the opening draw control Wednesday evening against Virginia Tech, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s six seniors—attacker Caroline McTiernan, midfielders Annie Thomas and Erin Laschinger, defenders Megan Dunleavy and Lelan Bailey, and goalkeeper Kim Kolarik—stood with their parents on the grass of Klöckner Stadium.
Wednesday evening, the No. 16 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will take the field at Klöckner Stadium for its final game of the regular season.
Johns Hopkins freshman attacker Jenna Reifler unleashed what proved to be the deciding goal with 19.5 seconds remaining in a game the Cavaliers had described as a “must-win.”
Though Virginia sits at No. 11 in the current IWLCA Coaches Poll, every one of the Cavaliers, from coach Julie Myers to the last player off the bench, understands that their regular season, a day-by-day process begun in the cold of February, now rides on its last two contests.
In the opening minutes of the Cavaliers’ showdown against No. 4 Northwestern, the sense of anticipation only grew. By the end of Virginia’s 11-6 loss to the defending NCAA champion Wildcats, however, the excitement had given way to disappointment.
The No. 11 Virginia women’s lacrosse team finds itself in the final fortnight of its 2013 regular season, a saga of highs, lows, and in-betweens spanning from mid-February.
Tuesday afternoon in Washington D.C., the No. 11 Virginia women’s lacrosse team bounced back from a disappointing weekend loss to ACC-rival Boston College with a commanding, 16-4 victory against American. The Cavaliers (7-6, 0-4 ACC) scored the first 11 goals of the game and limited the Eagles (5-7, 3-0 Patriot League) to seven shots on goal in just the second meeting ever between the two programs.
The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team is now 11 games into its 2013 season, and though the Cavaliers have registered wins over No. 16 Loyola (Md) and No. 19 James Madison, they have yet to prevail in the ACC. With losses to No. 1 Maryland, No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 6 Duke, Virginia finds itself in last place in the conference. This Saturday’s game at ACC rival Boston College presents an opportunity for a Cavalier breakthrough.
In her first two seasons on the No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team, junior goalkeeper Liz Colgan logged a grand total of 124 minutes, 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, though, Colgan was again called into action. And despite her past struggles in limited playing time, her teammates held no reservations about her ability to succeed.
Though both squads found themselves ranked among the NCAA’s best teams, the Cavaliers owned a 1-4 record against fellow top-ten units and the Blue Devils were winless in just one try. Following Duke’s 13-7 win against the Cavaliers, the teams’ situations appear less analogous.
This Saturday at Klöckner Stadium, Virginia gets another shot at toppling an elite opponent, this time No. 6 Duke. The Blue Devils (8-1, 1-1 ACC) have qualified for 15 straight NCAA Tournaments under coach Kerstin Kimel.
The No. 17 James Madison women’s lacrosse team has a bizarre, but effective method of disrupting the opposition that makes the Duke dog seem like an especially apt choice of mascot.
The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team played three games this past week, falling at No. 3 North Carolina before earning wins against William and Mary and Princeton at home.
Virginia (2-3, 0-1 ACC) will need more than the return of sophomore defender Kelsey Gahan from injury to upset the Tar Heels (4-1, 0-0 ACC). North Carolina owns wins against No. 4 Northwestern, No. 16 Towson and No. 20 Penn, and no team has managed more than eight goals against senior goalkeeper Lauren Maksym and the Tar Heel defense this season.
Playing in Charlottesville for the first time this season, the No. 12 Virginia women’s lacrosse team suffered a decisive 18-10 defeat against No.
