Junior midfielder Maggie Jackson of the Virginia women's lacrosse team has provided major contributions to the team’s impressive 8-4 start to the season, but she is certainly not jumping to take the credit.
Hailing from Alexandria, Va., Jackson is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which she was the only player in the ACC to lead her team in points, ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers. This season, she has continued where she left off — currently, she leads the team in assists, ground balls and draw controls and is second on the team in points and caused turnovers and fourth in goals.
“She’s always been a dominant player, no matter how old she was in high school she was the kid you were just drawn to,” Virginia Coach Julie Myers said. “You’d go watch somebody else, and all you’d be tracking is Maggie Jackson.”
Jackson was a dominant player in high school. At Georgetown Visitation Prep, she played four years of lacrosse and field hockey leading both teams as a captain her senior year. She was also a two time First-Team All-American and led the Washington, D.C. region in 2015 with 146 points.
After a solid freshman season where she led the team in draw controls, Jackson really started to make an all-around impact her sophomore year. Jackson’s contributions in so many different areas of the game is what sets her apart. Statistics such as ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers can often go unnoticed in the flow of a game, but they are essential towards creating more opportunities to score.
In lacrosse, possession is never a guarantee. Even after a goal possession is not necessarily changes like in football or basketball. A goal leads to a draw with the ball put back up for grabs. In a sport where possession must always be won, every ground ball, draw and turnover is amplified. Jackson recognizes the importance of a constantly aggressive mindset.
“[I try to go] hard and fast at the ball every chance I get the opportunity to,” Jackson said. “Everyone on our team sort of helps and supports us and pushes us to to be that girl to get that ball.”
Myers said that the team relies on Jackson’s hard work ethic for the team’s overall success.
“She does all the little things and the dirty work for everyone, and she wants no credit for it — she just wants possession for her team,” Myers said.
Jackson could eventually find herself in the top 10 all time for the program in multiple categories. She is comfortably on pace for points and assists while goals and caused turnovers remain a possibility as well. She is already fourth all time in draw controls.
No matter where she ends up in the record books, however, her humble attitude and strong work ethic will always be among the best. Jackson does not worry about her own numbers, and her stats come from a desire to win, not to set records.
This unselfish attitude should not come as a surprise for a player who leads the team with 12 assists — five more than the next highest total.
“Maggie’s not all about herself, she’s much more whatever the team needs and whatever somebody needs me to do for them,” Myers said. “She serves her teammates more than she takes care of herself.”
Last season, Jackson said she did not even realize how impressive her stats were until someone told her. This team-oriented mindset shows that she is always quick to credit her teammates for her success.
“The girls on our team sort of know when I’m looking to pass the ball or [like] when the right time is to cut, so I think that we have a good chemistry in that sense," Jackson said.
This attitude helps contribute to her impressive work ethic. After a great season, complacency can set in for many — but not for Jackson. She again credits her teammates for continuing to push her to get better and her improvement has not gone unnoticed. Myers describes her as one the hardest workers she has had in the program.
“She continues to improve and to add to her game, which has been really nice because I think a lot of times when you’re that good, sometimes, you just kind of stay where you are,” Myers said. “But for Maggie, she keeps getting faster, stronger, quicker, smarter.”
Heading into the final stretch of the season, the team will continue to rely on Jackson to help achieve the goals she believes they are capable of achieving. The Cavaliers have five games left on their schedule including in-state matchups against No. 4 James Madison and No. 17 Virginia Tech. Once through the regular season, the ACC Tournament begins in Durham, N.C.on April 26, and the NCAA Tournament follows close behind.
“I think that winning a championship would be something that everybody on our team is really working for — definitely ACC, we can definitely do that, and NCAAs would obviously be a dream come true, so I think that that’s our ultimate goal because we know we can do it,” Jackson said.
The Cavaliers are currently ranked No. 6 in the country, so a national championship is not out of the realm of possibilities. However, the team must first focus on the opportunity to win an ACC title. The team has lost to their primary competition in the regular season, North Carolina and Boston College. But when tournament time comes, anything can happen. Myers knows that Jackson is an essential piece to improving and reaching their postseason goals.
“We want to keep having fun, we want to make sure that the whole team is kind of stepping up and rising as a team and doing a little bit better the next time out on the field,” Myers said, “but Maggie certainly leads the charge.”
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