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The Hoos honored late teammate Yeardley Love after the game by holding up ‘1’ signs. |
Sunday was an emotional day at Klockner Stadium. A moment of silence that lingered, a stirring rendition of the national anthem, a No. 1 victory tribute. Lasting embraces with a family. Three line t-shirts reading “One Team, One Heart, One Love.” Pins of a lacrosse angel.
Yes, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s return to the field on Sunday after the tragic death of Yeardley Love brimmed with emotion.
“It’s an experience that is never going to leave us. Obviously, we are never going to forget Yeardley. I feel her presence on the field when we play and when we are together,” senior Brittany Kalkstein said. “It is something we are never, ever going to forget. Staying together and getting through each day, going out to practice, that gives us the strength to move on. I am so proud of our team to come out every day to practice and give it their all and to come out with that win today allows more time with each other this week.”
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Plenty of emotions followed the Cavaliers’ 14-12 win Sunday. |
Indeed, UVa’s 14-12 victory against Towson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament delivered another week of collective coping for the team, something coach Julie Myers has said is an important time for the Cavaliers. And playing on Sunday came as a breath of fresh air for the Hoos as for a few hours between the lines, the players experienced a slight return toward normalcy capped off by a high-scoring victory.
The squad took the field for warm-ups dancing and singing along to Taylor Swift and the Glee cast’s version of Madonna’s hit “Like a Prayer.” The pre-game ritual was just like any other this season, apart from the team’s attire. Like the men’s team on Saturday night, the women sported warm-ups paying tribute to Love. The Cavaliers’ t-shirts were emblazoned with the three-line phrase: “One Team, One Heart, One Love.”
And once the game started, the sixth-seeded Cavaliers, making their 15th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and the 11th-seeded Tigers dueled with determination fitting for the afternoon. Paced by seniors Jacie Kendall and Nikki Marcinik with four goals apiece, Towson kept the game close and even took a 5-4 lead at one point in the first half. The teams traded goals for much of the contest as Virginia attempted to control the ball and the tempo as an answer to Towson’s fast-paced, high-scoring attack.
“I think in respect to the Virginia team, it was our duty to just play as hard as we could against them,” Kendall said. “On the field, that’s where all of that drama goes away. It was our job to give them a really good game and we definitely did that.”
Virginia, following the national anthem delivered by Cavalier junior Molly Millard, held up its end of the bargain as well. In fact, the Hoos wasted no time in asserting themselves and proving that they came ready to play – they quickly scored the first goal just 12 seconds into the game. Brittany Kalkstein flicked the draw control back and gained control before firing the ball ahead to Whitaker Hagerman, who found Charlie Finnigan streaking down the right side of the field for the score. Virginia won the ensuing draw control as well and set up its offense. After working the ball around, Kalkstein found fellow senior Kaitlin Duff for another rapid goal and within three minutes of the start, UVa led 3-0 as the Tigers called for timeout.
After giving up those three quick goals, Towson responded and took control through superior one-on-one play, a theme on the day for the visitors. The Tigers tied the score with three unassisted goals, relying on their attackers’ ability to shake defenders and keep the Cavaliers off balance. In fact, Towson’s first assisted goal of the contest came with 5:38 remaining in the first half when sophomore midfielder Jackie LaMonica found Marcinik cutting across the front of the crease. Throughout the game, however, Towson continued to rely on its individual attacking skills – 10 of the Tigers’ 12 goals came unassisted.
Following halftime, the Virginia defenders made it their mission to keep their marks in front of them and slow the Tigers’ offense down. Freshman midfielder Anne Thomas made her debut on defense for the Cavaliers as a part of a new scheme and goalkeeper Lauren Benner proved to be the difference-maker for Virginia. Benner came up with six of her nine saves, including a stop on a free-position shot from a very generous angle, in the second half.
“They love the one-on-one and they should. They are really, really good at it. Our defense did much better just playing team defense in the second half and trying to absorb some of those challenges. And then Lauren Benner I thought made some huge saves there in the second half as well,” Myers said. “Our entire defensive end really stepped up down the stretch. It’s a new line-up that we hadn’t really played with before. Kelly Austin is a first year kid; she’s never been in a pressure situation. It was a new situation to be in but the kids did a great job.”
The visitors’ ability to score quickly and often, combined with Virginia’s accurate shooting made for a close contest throughout. Myers said she was proud of how her team answered Towson’s resilient play – the Tigers rallied from a 3-0 deficit early and a 10-7 hole midway through the second half. Each time, the Cavaliers surged back into the lead though and they came out on top in the end.
“When we were up by three and suddenly tied, I thought our team did a nice job of always trying to stay a step ahead,” Myers said. “I give them a lot of credit and I’m very proud of how they were able to play especially during the circumstances we’ve been in.”
After a Kalkstein goal broke the game’s final stalemate, a goal from Yeardley Love’s roommate, senior Caity Whiteley, finally provided the Hoos with the clinching 13th goal. On a superb individual effort reminiscent of Towson’s attack, Whiteley ran from left to right around the back of the cage, used a reverse pivot to swing back around the left side and slipped a goal past a surprised Mary Teeters with 3:54 remaining. The resulting 13-11 lead was enough to seal the victory as the Cavaliers claimed the 14-12 win.
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Caity Whiteley, a roomate of Yeardley Love, squeezed this clinching goal past the keeper in the closing minutes. |
“I wanted to have a good game no matter what to help my team,” Whiteley said. “I wanted to play especially well to honor her. It meant a lot just to be playing.”
The Cavaliers and Tigers each honored Love as the emotional roller coaster continued in earnest after the final whistle. The Virginia women broke their final huddle and held up laminated signs reading “1”, an idea conjured up by assistant coach Colleen Shearer, to the cheering crowd, who in turn favored the team with a chant of “1,2,3,4 Together, Hoos!” The latter is a chant adopted by the Hoos because Love once added the four when leading a team cheer. Members of the men’s lacrosse team along with their parents and head coach Dom Starsia were part of the record 2,270 fans in attendance.
Towson’s players, who wore orange wristbands embroidered with “Y.L.” during the game, presented the Cavaliers with pins in the shape of an angel with a lacrosse stick in the final handshake line. “We really do wish them the best, continuing on into the tournament. They played a great game, despite everything,” Tiger midfielder Hillary Fratzke said. “That’s what we wanted from them and we gave them our best game.”
Kalkstein, who often clutched that pin during the postgame press conference, said for many of the Cavalier players, the chance to stay together as a team is as important as getting their first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2007.
“This has obviously been a pretty unbelievable situation. Our team is going through it together,” she said. “I can’t compare this to anything – it was just a crazy last two weeks. Being together and staying focused and coming out to practice is the strength that we needed to be with each other and get through it. I am glad we have the next week to prepare for UNC and keep each other together.”
Sabre Editor Kris Wright contributed to this article.
