Julie Myers could see a new energy in her Virginia women’s lacrosse team at Monday’s practice.
The Cavaliers had pushed their record to .500 with wins over Loyola last Wednesday and Notre Dame on Saturday after an all-too-familiar 2-4 start made even more gut-wrenching by a pair of one-goal losses.
“I think everybody slept,” Myers said. “I know I did. It’s really an unsettling feeling to be in games and lose them or to feel you just blew opportunities. I think we were refreshed.”
The season could be as well. Virginia moved into the Top 20 at No. 20 after picking up their first back-to-back wins of the season. They handled a Loyola team playing one of the toughest early schedules in the country, 11-7, and then thumped No. 16 Notre Dame, 15-5.
“We have great girls,” Myers said. “We have really good players. We have great leadership. We have all those things you think you need to make a deep run, and now they just need that confidence and experience of being in a close game and winning and being up in a game and keeping that. Over time, you learn so much from all of those experiences.”
The Cavaliers opened the year with a last-second loss to Elon. No. 5 Princeton ripped them. Then came a 16-15 loss to No. 7 Syracuse after Virginia led, 11-4, at halftime.
“The Syracuse game was haunting because we were up by so much and those goals came so easily in the beginning,” Myers said. “When we were up against Notre Dame on Saturday, we said, 'Look, we’ve had a huge halftime lead before to see it slip away.' We did learn from that in terms of, 'Don’t think that they can score a few and we’re OK.' If they score one, we better make sure we’re scoring again because we do not want Notre Dame or any team go on a run like we let Syracuse did. As much as you learn from a close game, I think we learned from blowing a halftime lead too.”
A big loss to No. 2 North Carolina left them 2-4, the same record that they had to open the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The Cavaliers were 3-4 to start 2015 and 4-5 in 2016. They recovered to reach the NCAA tournament each year and made the final four in 2014.
“I am sick of being here before,” Myers said. “It is much easier to win early. Everybody is a lot happier and a lot more energized.”
Virginia is hoping to stay happy this week and prove they could be a factor at season’s end. They play at No. 19 James Madison today and host Duke in ACC action Saturday.
“I think we’re a really talented team,” Myers said. “We can certainly play great, which we’ve seen. But we can also play somewhat aloof of one another. It’s really being consistent and staying with everybody.”
Myers has felt good about her team’s potential all along, even in the midst of the slow start.
“My biggest feeling was we’re not that far off,” she said. “In all those games, we were winning draw controls. We weren’t turning the ball over a ton. We were generating opportunities. Our players just weren’t making the plays, and that was all over the field.
“When you look at the really important stats, we were getting a lot of shots off. We were winning draws. We were usually winning that ground ball battle, so to me, we were doing all the hard stuff. We just were not finishing it. On the flip side, we were letting shooters get right in front of the crease. I don’t care if you have Devon Wills in goal. Those shots are going to go in too often to be able to win games.”
Virginia’s defense made major improvements. They inserted Wyatt Whitley in the starting lineup on defense and the senior caused three turnovers against Notre Dame. The Cavaliers held Loyola and Notre Dame to single-digit goals after allowing 88 goals in their first six games.
“We’re trying to communicate a little better, we’re trying to communicate earlier and really stick to that game plan of seeing who that hot player is and try to send double teams to her,” Myers said. “There were stretches of our early season games where we had the plan, but just didn’t execute the plan. Now, there’s the heightened awareness that we all need to be on the same page with what the game plan is and see where it lands us. I think everybody did their job really well and they connected with one another and they fed off one another.”
STARS STRUCK DOWN
When No. 14 Northwestern played at No. 9 Stony Brook on March 5, it should have highlighted two Tewaaraton Trophy front-runners, but neither finished the game.
Northwestern’s Selena Lasota didn’t start it due to an otherwise unspecified lower-body injury, and Stony Brook’s Courtney Murphy was lost for the season with a torn ACL just seconds before the first half ended.
Now both teams are trying to find ways to replace major stars. Northwestern fell to 3-5 with a 17-12 loss to No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday. Lasota has missed four straight games since an 11-10 overtime loss to No. 10 USC.
“Selena has a lower-body injury that we do not believe to be season-ending,” a Northwestern spokesperson replied to an inquiry. “She will continue to be assessed day to day.”
Christina Esposito leads the Wildcats with 29 points and Lasota still sits second on the team with 13 points after only playing four games, tied with Danita Stroup and two points ahead of Catie Ingrilli. No other Northwestern player has double digits in scoring.
Stony Brook is 2-1 since losing Murphy to a season-ending ACL surgery. Murphy, the first college player to ever score 100 goals in a season, will apply for a medical redshirt year. Without her, Stony Brook crushed Yale and Jacksonville around a 22-14 loss to No. 3 Florida.
“They’re adjusting,” said Stony Brook head coach Joe Spallina. “You take a 100-goal scorer off the field and for me to say we’re the same team, I’d be lying. I think that part of it is there. But I also feel we have the best player in the country in Kylie Ohlmiller. She’s stepped up in a big way. Everyone is doing a bit more.”
Kylie’s sister, freshman attacker Taryn Ohlmiller, has stepped into the starting lineup for Murphy. Taryn has 18 points in the three games since Murphy’s injury after five in the four previous games.
“She’s answered the call and it’s been really, really good for us,” Spallina said. “When you look at her development since Murph stepped out, she’s developed a lot. And with Murph coming back next year and those two playing together, good luck defending that.”
Stony Brook may be able to replace Murphy’s scoring, but the intangibles are tougher to find, and the Seawolves will have to shift some of their attention.
“I think it’ll put a little more focus on defense,” Spallina said. “Looking back at the Florida game, where we missed Murph is in leadership. As good as a player as she is, she’s a better leader. She’s a hammer. There’s no messing around with her.”
GOALIE ORIENTED
Renee Poullott was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after the senior goalie stopped 10 shots to help No. 8 Cornell edge No. 10 USC, 11-10, Sunday in Boston. Six of her saves came in the second half when USC increased its pressure.
It’s the first such award of the season for Poullott, but competition has been stiff. Two other Ivy League goalies already have claimed the Defensive Player of the Week with Princeton’s Ellie DeGarmo, who was last year’s IWLCA Goalkeeper of the Year, winning it twice. Penn’s Britt Brown, who faces No. 1 Maryland’s third-ranked scoring offense today, won it in Week 3. They are just the tip of the Ivy iceberg.
The trio headline a conference rich in strong goalkeepers. Five goalies from the Ivy League rank in the top 13 in save percentage nationally. DeGarmo (No. 1), Brown (No. 4), Brown’s Mikaela Karlsson (No. 6), Dartmouth’s Kiera Vrindten (No. 9) and Poullott (T-No. 13) are making shooters pick carefully where they place their shots.
In addition, Columbia’s Kelsey Gedin ranks 12th in the country in saves per game, and Yale gives the Ivy League five teams ranked in the Top 25 in scoring defense.
GAMES TO WATCH
Here are some key games to keep an eye on this weekend (all times Eastern):
No. 17 Denver at No. 3 Florida, Saturday, 12 p.m.
This could be a preview of the Big East tournament championship. Florida comes in averaging 20.3 goals per game over its last three contests. Denver won its Big East debut handily.
No. 1 Maryland at No. 19 James Madison, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Maryland can’t look ahead to next Wednesday’s visit from No. 3 Florida or JMU might just catch them napping.
No. 18 Boston College at No. 2 North Carolina, Saturday, 2:15 p.m.
All three of Boston College’s losses have come on the road, but a win here would erase them all. North Carolina hosts, then hits the road for four ACC road games in its final five.
No. 6 Penn State at Johns Hopkins, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
Penn State just handed No. 5 Princeton its first loss of the season. Johns Hopkins had won four straight before falling to Maryland and is looking for momentum and a Top 20 spot.
No. 16 Notre Dame at No. 7 Syracuse, Sunday, 12 p.m.
Both teams could use a big win. Notre Dame is reeling after three straight losses – all on the road. Syracuse has gone 4-2 in its last six games with its last four wins decided by a combined five goals.