Some people like to dip their toe into the water before jumping in, but the Cavaliers on this year’s women’s lacrosse team are not those kind of people. Rather, Virginia will dive head-first into its ACC conference schedule today, as they face off against Virginia Tech at Klöckner Stadium to open the season.
“We are anxious to get things started as early as next week and starting off with an ACC game, which a lot of people think doesn’t make much sense,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “We get a lot of games in not that many weeks.”
The Cavaliers enter the season ranked No. 4 in the nation with the loftiest of goals: win a fourth national championship. Opening against a conference opponent can prove difficult, but senior midfielder Ashley McCulloch said she welcomes the challenge.
“I think it is always a good rivalry — ACC and Virginia Tech especially,” McCulloch said. “I think it is a good way to start off the season to get everyone into it.”
Unlike Virginia, which has a total of eight seniors, including three all-Americans — McCulloch, attack Jenny Hauser and midfielder Blair Weymouth — Virginia Tech’s team is relatively young, carrying only three upperclassmen. The Hokies, however, do return two of their top three scorers from last year in senior attacker Rachel Culp and sophomore attacker Allie Emala. During Virginia Tech’s season-opener Tuesday, the Hokies lost a tightly-contested 10-9 battle against Drexel after scoring the game’s first four goals.
If the Hokies have an advantage anywhere on the field, it may come between the pipes. Virginia Tech has the luxury of an experienced goalkeeper, senior Kari Morrison, who played every minute last season while leading the ACC in saves per game (11.56). The Cavaliers counter with a new goalkeeper, senior Sara Hairfield, who backed up 2008 graduate Kendall McBrearty last year.
Although Virginia has never lost to Virginia Tech (0-1) since the teams’ first matchup in 1997, if the Cavaliers want to remain dominant against the Hokies, every player will need to contribute to tomorrow’s game. Weymouth noted that she is confident in her teammates’ abilities to try and keep this rivalry one-sided.
“I feel like everyone is kind of figuring out their role more and more as we go through practices,” Weymouth said. “Over the weekend some of the first years stepped up in the midfield, our whole midfield is basically new players. It is exciting to see that everyone is stepping up to the plate, knowing that they are going to have an impact on the team and we need them.”
Though this is the first game of many this season, it means a little extra to Cavalier seniors. If Virginia can walk away victorious today, the seniors will have beaten Virginia Tech all four years — a feat sought by all who don the orange and blue. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, will not only try to defeat Virginia for the first time in the program’s history, but will also attempt to win its first conference match. The Hokies have not won a game in the ACC since they moved from the Big East in 2005.
While Virginia may appear on paper to be the more talented team, the Cavaliers will have to rely on more than history to win today’s match.
“They are just one of those teams,” Weymouth said. “We want to beat them. They might not be ranked, but it’s Tech. It is always a huge rivalry for Virginia.”
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