Before last Friday's game against Maryland, the Virginia women's lacrosse team had not suffered a loss since March 17. Friday, however, served as a reality check for the team - a 15-12 loss in the ACC tournament to Maryland. The Cavaliers hope to rebound from that loss when they return home to face Colonial Athletic Association champions Loyola (13-2) at 7 tonight. Before their defeat, the No. 3 Cavaliers (11-3) won their past seven games and were the top seed in the tournament.
Loyola boasts a wealth of talent on their team and is coming off a 12-5 win over Old Dominion in the CAA championship game.
After the Friday loss to Maryland, the Cavaliers spent the beginning of the week reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses in preparation for today's game. The fast break has proved an important part of the Cavaliers' game all season. However, after not taking control of more fast breaks in past games, they are looking to improve in that area tomorrow.
"It needs to start from the goalie a lot of times," senior defender Tiffany Schummer said. "We need to do a better job of getting [the ball] out quicker, and I think we can. We've got the players to do that."
This they do with freshman Amy Appelt, who broke the record for scoring as a freshman in last week's game, and Lauren Aumiller, who tied the school record for consecutive games with a goal in the loss to Maryland.
After watching her team lose Friday, coach Julie Myers re-examined the team's priorities. The team plans to pay more attention to the goalkeeper today.
"I think everybody needs to be able to slide back and demand the ball from the goalkeeper," Myers said.
The team suffered problems in congested situations against Maryland and hopes to rebound in today's game.
"I think all of our kids need to work harder to come back to the ball and to help that clearing situation," Myers said.
The team also worked on transitions.
"I feel like we spend a lot of time working on our transition in practice," Myers said. "Maybe so much time that we now think that it's a problem."
The team suffered in transition in Friday's game but plans to regain it as one of their strengths against Loyola. "You know what's in an athlete's mind," Myers said. "But clearly we're a better transition team than we performed."
The Virginia defense was able to hold Maryland off the 8-meter mark but the Cavaliers still managed to convert four of their 11 goal attempts.
"We're a better team than how we performed," Myers said.
The team hopes to focus on its offensive strengths in today's game. The Cavaliers are the leading offensive unit in the country, averaging 15.21 goals per game.
After Friday's loss, Virginia is now more attentive and hungry to rebound from its loss to Maryland and end the season on a strong note.
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