It has been a season of milestones for the Virginia women's lacrosse team. In one game against Johns Hopkins, the program reached 400 wins, only the third to do so in the NCAA, and head coach Julie Myers won her 100th game in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers seek to continue their winning ways on the path toward capturing their third consecutive ACC Championship.
Last year, in Chapel Hill, N.C., Virginia pounced on No. 5-seeded North Carolina for a 12-6 victory after downing Duke 13-8 in Baltimore the year before. This year the Cavaliers, who already have a 7-0 home win record this season, will have the added benefit of playing on Grounds. The women's tournament games this season will be held at Scott Stadium, while Klöckner Stadium will be home to the men's contests.
The Cavaliers (12-3, 4-1 ACC) know what is on the line this weekend.
"I think we have one of the hardest conferences in lacrosse," junior midfielder Ashley McCulloch said. "It's really tough to win. It also will give us good seeding for the NCAA Tournament and we will most likely face teams we play in the ACC Tournament again. So to come out winning, that would give us a lot of momentum."
Virginia will get its first test tomorrow at 3 p.m. The squad comes in as the ACC regular-season co-champions, tied with Maryland at the top of the league, and will be seeded No. 2 in the tournament because of a regular-season loss to those same Terrapins. Getting a first-round bye in the tournament will help when the Cavaliers face the winner of today's game between No. 3-seeded Duke and No. 6-seeded Virginia Tech.
Virginia, currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, beat both of these teams in the regular season, going on the road to beat Duke 13-9 and Virginia Tech 14-6.
The squad will be focused and excited to face whichever opponent comes calling tomorrow afternoon.
"We want a big challenge and we especially want a huge game for Friday because if we get past that, Sunday will be an even bigger game," senior attacker and captain Megan O'Malley said. "So, any challenge that can help us to get better along the way is the best for our team."
The team that pulls out a win tomorrow afternoon will play in the Sunday championship game, O'Malley said. If the No. 1-seeded Terrapins are able to get past the winner of No. 4-seeded Boston College and No. 5-seeded North Carolina, Virginia could have the opportunity to avenge a 5-8 loss at College Park earlier this season.
Regardless of who it faces this weekend, the Cavaliers will rely on the high-flying offense that has powered the team to its strong regular-season record. The team will be led on the offensive end by McCulloch, who has 20 goals and 30 assists to lead her team with 50 points. Leading Virginia in goals scored have been junior attackers Jenny Hauser and Blair Weymouth with 30 apiece. The team has spread the wealth however, as 15 players have gotten in the scoring column this season, and 12 of them have scored goals.
The anchor for the Cavaliers this entire season has been its defense. Senior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty leads the way with just 6.81 goals allowed per game and a .522 save percentage, both good enough to lead the ACC. Also a key contributor to the defense, senior defender Alice Hughey has caused 25 turnovers on the season.
In just her first year as a starter, Hughey has enjoyed the opportunity to contribute more and lead her teammates. She knows what it will take to win another ACC Tournament.
"When we played Duke last time, we were really stingy on defense," Hughey said. "We need to keep that going with whatever team we are faced with throughout the tournament. It's important to just focus when we're preparing and do the best that we can do in terms of getting our minds right with the opponent we're playing."
The team is clearly focused on what it must to do win this tournament. The Cavaliers know, however, that a good showing this weekend would make its résumé stronger for the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Virginia could clinch a top seed and home field advantage in the first round with an ACC Championship victory.
"It helps going into the NCAA Tournament with confidence and high morale while being able to play at home," O'Malley said. "The competition is only going to get more fierce now that it's tournament time, and winning the ACC Tournament will be an unbelievable accomplishment going into the NCAA Tournament"
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