Not only did this past weekend bring about terrible weather, it also brought disappointing news to the No. 6 Virginia women's lacrosse team as the Cavaliers suffered their third loss of the season to Johns Hopkins, 9-12. On the other hand, with only two matches remaining in the regular season and the ACC tournament beginning in 10 days, the squad is fired up more than ever to end its season the same way it began -- with victories.
Tonight, Virginia (11-3, 2-2 ACC) will make the two-hour trip north to take on No. 28 George Mason. This makes it the team's fifth matchup between two Virginia schools.
"We're definitely coming off of a hard loss over the weekend," head coach Julie Myers said. "I think we're anxious to play again and play a little bit more inspired and put our best game out on the field."
Last weekend's loss may have been just the right thing for the Cavaliers, because now they realize that it is crunch time and any more defeats would be extremely detrimental to their seeding in the ACC and national tournament.
The Cavaliers lead the all-time series against the Patriots with a record of 8-0, which started in 1999; however, in order to continue this streak, Virginia will have to play with extreme precision.
"We had some great moments and just some mindless moments that followed pretty quickly [in the Hopkins game]," Myers said. "Playing consistently and playing tough is going to be one of our biggest focuses. We need to make sure that we start sharp and that we play sharp the entire game."
Another element in Virginia's game that many seemed to stress was communication. Despite being ranked nationally among the best scoring defenses in the country, the Cavaliers highlighted the importance of working together and constantly interacting on the field.
"I think this year has been one of our most successful seasons, and we have a couple of games left that are must-wins," senior defender and co-captain Jessy Morgan said. "We're not planning on losing any more games. But we're lacking communication during the game, and we need to work on that."
Virginia will take the field in Fairfax, Va. at 7 p.m. tonight.
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