Virginia women’s lacrosse dropped their second in as many games, albeit both against ranked opponents. Wednesday’s affair against Navy was initially in the Cavaliers’ favor, but a lackluster second half sunk the ship for Virginia (2-2, 0-1 ACC) in a 12-14 defeat to the Midshipmen (4-1, 0-0 AAC).
In a game where momentum swings were key, the Cavaliers just seemed to be a step behind. With both sides having two scoring runs of at least three unanswered goals, the winner of the game was bound to be the team that knew how to respond, something that Coach Sonia LaMonica emphasized.
“The momentum can swing, and we've got to be strong enough to respond in those moments,” LaMonica said. “And I think that comes with more and more experience. And you know, we need that group to step up.”
On Virginia’s side, sophomore midfielder Kate Galica and sophomore attacker Jenna Dinardo were the stars of the show, scoring four goals apiece. Navy’s junior attacker Emma Kennedy and senior attacker Emily Messinese also excelled — pitching in five and six points, respectively.
Galica started things off hot for Virginia. After winning the initial draw control, she pushed the pace to initiate the offense. After a couple of passes to probe the defense, senior attacker Kate Miller found the cutting Galica to make it 1-0 within the first minute — one of Galica’s three goals in the first quarter.
After an even second period, the Cavaliers went into halftime up 8-5. Although Virginia’s offensive game was clearly superior to the Midshipmen’s, fouls held back the Cavaliers’ defense. Of Navy’s first half scores, all but one were scored via a free position attempt or a man-down situation. Thus far, Virginia looked to be the better team, but the second half was a completely different story.
The first half of the third period saw the Midshipmen come back to within just one goal of tying the affair, but a well-timed timeout call from LaMonica sparked a two goal resurgence from the Cavaliers. After Navy got one back, the period ended with the score 12-10 in favor of Virginia.
Unfortunately, the last period of play was a nightmare for the Cavaliers, and saw them unable to find the net a single time, while the Midshipmen added four scores. A missed free position attempt with less than two minutes remaining was indicative of the overall forwent opportunities on the offensive end.
After losing their cushion late, Virginia seemed completely out of the affair mentally. Miscommunications became more common, clinicality lessened and the team was not gelling like it previously had. LaMonica highlighted how that mental aspect needs to change in the future.
“We've got a group right now that … [have] to dig in,” LaMonica said. “They [have] got to focus on playing to win, versus playing not to lose.”
Despite the defensive miscues in the latter stages of the contest, the Cavaliers made stops in critical moments early on. The Midshipmen received shot clock violations on multiple occasions, and the Virginia defenders fought hard on their one-on-ones and ground balls. The Cavaliers have a blueprint to be a lockdown unit but need to find consistency to convert it into a winning formula.
Virginia will hope to learn from its mistakes when it takes on California Saturday. The game, located in Berkeley, will start at 3 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on ACCNX.
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