Perhaps the best word to describe the No. 10 Virginia women's lacrosse team in recent weeks is scrappy. Although coach Julie Myers has stressed that her team has not yet played to its full potential, the Cavaliers are gaining confidence after winning two tight home games against then-No. 16 William & Mary and then-No. 15 Princeton last week. Tonight the Cavaliers travel to face No. 10 James Madison, a team Virginia historically has played well against - as evidenced by Virginia's 27-11-1 advantage in the all-time series.
After a rough Spring Break that saw the Cavaliers (5-3, 0-2 ACC) drop two games against conference opponents, Myers urged her team to play hard and stay focused for the full 60 minutes without allowing the lulls that plagued them in all three early-season defeats. However, Virginia started slowly against a hot-shooting William & Mary squad midweek and then bogged down late in its battle against Princeton Saturday.
Even without sustaining a consistent level of energy from start to finish, the Cavaliers earned back-to-back wins for the second time this season. Nevertheless, the Cavaliers believe both triumphs, decided by one goal, were much closer than they should have been.
"We relaxed a little bit and you can never relax in girls' lacrosse, especially since Princeton's a good team," junior midfielder Julie Gardner said after Virginia's 10-9 win against the Tigers.
From the outset Saturday, Virginia appeared to have learned from its slow start during the previous game and asserted itself quickly to take a 6-2 lead, but the Tigers fought their way back to within one during the final minutes of the game.
"[The William & Mary match] was a really rough game," sophomore goalie Kim Kolarik said. "We fought back in the second half, and we just knew in [the next] game we had to start out on top. We had to get that first draw control and first goal. We couldn't let Princeton have the one-up situation we let William & Mary have."
The Cavaliers now have another opportunity to play the complete game they strive for against a James Madison team that took its first loss this past weekend when it fell 11-7 against a Loyola squad that also defeated the Cavaliers in February. The matchup should feature plenty of scoring as Virginia enters the contest averaging 12.38 goals per game, while the Dukes are not far behind at 11.14.
The Dukes' biggest offensive weapons include redshirt sophomore attacker Casey Ancarrow, senior attacker Mary Kate Lomady and junior midfielder Monica Zabel. Boasting 43 goals and 67 points among them, the trio jumpstarts the James Madison attack, and each of the three has totalled at least 20 points already.
"We need to play sharp," Myers said. "We need to make sure our defense does a great job, [Kolarik]'s going to have to make a bunch of great saves, and our attackers are going to have to be on their groove too because it's got to be a team effort if we're going to get through JMU."
At the other end of the field, the Cavaliers counter with Gardner, junior attackers Josie Owen and Charlie Finnigan and redshirt junior attacker Ainsley Baker. The offensive quartet has scored 79 of the team's 99 goals this season. Finnigan leads the team with 25 goals and Gardner has amassed a team-high 32 points on 18 goals and 14 assists. Finnigan currently sits third in the ACC with an average of 3.13 goals per game while Gardner ranks fifth in the conference with an average of 4 points per game.
The Cavaliers ultimately will need to perform at a high level to keep pace with the dangerous Dukes and pick up an important in-state road win.
"JMU's really good and they love nothing more than to beat Virginia," Myers said.
Tonight's opening draw at James Madison is slated for 7 p.m.
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