After playing the role of in-state bully for the past two weeks, the No. 3 women's lacrosse team will once again have the opportunity to pick on someone their own size when they take on the No. 4 Georgetown Hoyas tonight.
Georgetown has done some bullying of its own on its way to a 9-2 record. Junior goalkeeper Maggie Koch has been sensational for Georgetown between the pipes. Koch leads the nation with a stingy 6.9 goals-against average, and is seventh in the nation with a 54.1 save percentage.
The first player that Virginia will look to neutralize, though, is attacker Coco Stanwick. Stanwick has contributed for the Hoyas all over the field. On offense, her 39 goals lead the team. Even more impressive has been her success on draws -- the junior leads the nation with 7.09 draws per game. As Stanwick goes, so goes Georgetown; she has been a large part of building the team to get its lofty ranking.
Stanwick is "their go-to girl," Virginia senior Kim Connors said. "We've been generating our defense around her a little bit. She's someone to keep an eye out for tonight."
Georgetown meets the Cavaliers at the tail end of what has been an extremely tough season for the Hoyas. The Hoyas have played nine of their last 10 games against ranked opponents, and they have been tested often. Georgetown's last four games have all been decided by one goal, and three of them went to overtime. In contrast, Virginia's last three games have come against Commonwealth foes who never posed credible threats to the Cavaliers.
Connors says the team is "looking forward to a big game again," adding that after playing Old Dominion, James Madison and Virginia Tech, the team is hoping to "end the regular season on a big win against a really good team."
Virginia coach Julie Myers believes each team brings certain advantages to the game.
"I think our advantage is that we are a little bit fresher," Myers said. "We were able to take a couple of games off here and there. I think we're sharp, I think we're ready, I think we're fresh. Depending on how you look at it, it's an advantage for both teams. Hopefully with our speed and our freshness we're really able to have lots of success."
The Cavaliers remember last year's game against the Hoyas. Georgetown came into Charlottesville and left with a hard-fought 13-11 win, in which Virginia squandered a two-goal halftime lead. Stanwick found the goal often against the Cavaliers, ending the game with five goals.
"They came to Virginia last year and pulled out a win which we weren't happy with," Connors said. "We'd really like to come out on top. We hope to go there and do the same thing to them."
Beginning with the Georgetown game, Virginia's remaining schedule will feature opponents that are the cream of the crop. Potential matchups against Duke, UNC and Maryland loom in the ACC tournament. All of these teams are ranked and the stakes will be raised with the conference championship on the line. Myers said she wants to kick off this stretch with a solid performance against the Hoyas.
"We want to end our regular season on a strong note," Myers said. "We want to really play well against a top opponent. In the ACC Tournament, there's not going to be much breathing room."
Read More
No. 6 women’s squash falls to No. 5 Stanford in first match of the new year
By Peter Kratz | 20 hours agoThe Cavaliers fall to 0-1 in conference play after their first clash with the Cardinal.
Katie Grimes posts historic debut as women’s swimming and diving annihilates Virginia Tech
By Xander Tilock | 2 days agoGrimes broke out as a new superstar for Coach Todd DeSorbo's squad.
Women’s basketball displays stingy defense, but falls short versus No. 14 Duke
By Xander Tilock | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers nearly conquered a ranked rival but could not generate consistent offense.
