The Virginia women’s lacrosse team played games in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, New Jersey, and California this season. With the NCAA Tournament up next, you can add Denver to the list.
The Cavaliers earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament where they were placed in a pod with host Denver. The Hoos (11-6) face Albany (12-6) on Friday at 8 p.m. with the winner advancing to face either Denver (19-0) or USC (16-3) on Sunday. The travel part of the equation won’t be too daunting for a group that has played 11 of 17 games outside of Charlottesville this season.
“We have traveled a lot this year,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “We’ve been out to California, we’ve been up to Boston and Syracuse. We’ve been flying and we’ve done it in any shape and size. We’re just excited and we said before bids came out, it doesn’t matter where we go or who we’re playing because we have us. All the players, all the coaches, and all the support that have made this year all that it is, it doesn’t matter what field we play on or who it is or how far away it is. The nice part is when you’re away, you’re in a hotel, you’ve got control of meals, you really can focus on the little things and you do get some extra team time and I think team time always helps you kind of push forward especially this time of year. We’re not sick of each other yet. I don’t think we ever will be. This has been a pretty magical group.”
To get a win in this year’s tourney, the Cavaliers will have to defeat a brand new opponent. They’ve never faced Albany in women’s lacrosse. The Great Danes won their first American East title since 2012 to earn a spot in the field.
The matchup includes multiple goal scorers that can get red hot in a game.
Albany features three players with at least 40 goals this season in Sarah Falk, Shonly Wallace, and Kate Pascale. Falk scored 61 goals and had 7 games with 4 or more goals, including a 9-goal outburst against Colgate. Wallace scored 50 goals and had 6 games with 4 or more goals, including 7 against Stanford. Pascale scored 45 goals and had 5 games with 4 or more goals, including 7 goals against New Hampshire in the conference tournament. Pascale was the American East Tournament MVP.
On UVA’s side, Rachel Clark and Ashley McGovern scored 60 and 59 goals this season respectively. Clark poured in 4 goals or more in 10 games this season, including 5 of the last 7 games. She exploded for 7 goals against Louisville and had 6 goals at Princeton and VCU. McGovern had 9 games with 4 or more goals too. She erupted for 7 goals against Clemson and had 5 goals against Princeton, Richmond, and VCU.
Clark was a freshman last season and one of the younger players to get a lot of early experience. That included postseason games and the Hoos hope the experience continues to pay off.
“We knew last year we were injured in a lot of our experienced players so when our younger kids got that full year under their belts, we knew we’d reap the benefits of it this year,” Myers said. “I think we’re doing just that, but every year is a new year so what I love is just the chemistry and the camaraderie they have from the sixth years down to the first years. I love their sense of urgency and passion for the game and competing. I think we’re in good shape, but that experience of having been there before is going to be handy for us.”
Virginia certainly is not unfamiliar with postseason play. This is the 27th straight bid under Myers as the program has never missed the postseason in her tenure. It also marks the third straight tournament where the Hoos will not play at home.
UVA has won a game in the NCAA Tournament in five straight appearances, but has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals since 2014. Any wins in this year’s tournament will require the Hoos to be in the zone … offensively at least. All three opponents in this NCAA Tournament pod have utilized zone defense frequently this season. Myers said that the preparation has been able to be focused for that reason.
“We’ve played against a lot of zones this year, which is different,” Myers said. “Denver is known for their zone. The good part is USC is also a zone team and so is Albany. So everything we’re doing for Albany Friday night will also help us should we be fortunate enough to play on Sunday.”
