On the heels of a season-opening 15-8 loss to No. 7 Loyola Saturday, the No. 12 Virginia women's lacrosse team faces a road test tonight against Richmond, another team in search of its first victory of the young season. After illustrating their inexperience in defeat against the Greyhounds, the Cavaliers will attempt to rebound with a victory against the in-state Spiders.
Saturday's loss exposed some of the Cavaliers' weaknesses as the team tries to integrate a large freshman class and several players returning from serious injuries.
Nevertheless, coach Julie Myers is confident her team will not take long to show significant progress.
"This is a team that I think will continue to grow, in large part, because they work so hard," Myers said. "They're willing to do whatever, and they're a group of talented people."
The Spiders (0-3) have experienced a much rougher start to their season in losing to ACC schools Maryland, Duke and North Carolina by a combined score of 52-27. The Cavaliers also played Loyola and Richmond in their first two games last year and responded to a loss against Loyola with a 17-8 win against the Spiders three days later. Virginia has dominated the all-time series with Richmond, 30-3-1, and hopes to extend its mastery during tonight's tilt.
"A win would be nice," junior attacker Charlie Finnigan said. "We're going to focus on a lot [on] the little things like ground balls, draw controls and negative turnovers - the little things along the way that will make a big difference."
The major focus for Virginia will be tightening up the transition game after struggling in that area against Loyola.
"That was probably the hardest part, in between the thirties," senior defender Marghi Walters said. "Transition will be our No. 1 adjustment on both ends - getting the ball to the defense and stopping the ball on attack."
Compounding the concerns in the midfield for Virginia is the need to develop into a cohesive unit in the short amount of time before conference play begins. With 11 freshmen this year, the team's experienced players knew they would be relied upon to play at a high level from the start as the new players grow into their roles.
"It's been hard having so much inexperience and youth, especially in games," Walters said. "I think inexperience was the biggest factor playing [in Loyola's favor]."
Saturday freshman midfielders Dana Boyle and Maddy Keeshan were given the starting nod in their Cavalier debuts while freshman midfielder Liza Blue came on as a substitute. Boyle and Blue each were credited with their first career points.
When the Cavaliers take the field against the Spiders, they will be looking at a team in a much different position. Richmond returned nine of 10 starters from the squad that finished as Atlantic-10 regular season champions last year and placed second in the A-10 tournament. Among Richmond's potent cast of returning players are A-10 Midfielder of the Year, junior midfielder Mary Flowers, and First-Team All-Conference senior defender Bria Eulitt.
Flowers ranks third in Richmond history for goals in a single season after scoring 55 last season, and she currently leads the Spiders with seven goals and nine total points. Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kolarik, who stopped a career-high 11 shots for the Cavaliers Saturday, is likely to see plenty of shots coming her way from Flowers, whose 12 shots on goal lead the Spiders in that category.
"I want to see our players stick to a game plan in its entirety," Myers said. "You work hard to play defense the way we're trying to play it ... and get into our offense a lot more efficiently and effectively."
Today's game at Richmond begins at 5 p.m.
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