Wahoo Wire

The No. 10 Virginia women’s lacrosse team opened up its season this weekend with a game against Loyola (MD) Saturday. They are scheduled to play seven more home games this season and their last match will be against Northwestern April 28. The team will take on eight opponents they faced in the 2011 NCAA Championship.

The team opened on a good note Saturday, coming out victorious against Loyola 14-9. Four first-year players started in the game, including Courtney Swan, Kelsey Gahan, Jess Loizeaux and Daniele Eppler. Swan is a midfielder from Vero Beach, FL who was named an Under Armour All-American in 2011 and totaled 307 goals in her high school career. Gahan was named a first-team All-American and was a three-year varsity starter at Notre Dame Prep in Towson, MD. Loizeaux was selected for All-State and All-American and her hometown is Mullica Hill, NJ. Eppler is a new player on defense from Towson, MD and she was an Academic All-American, recording 75 ground balls and 46 draw controls in her senior year. Morgan Stephens is the other freshman joining the roster this season and she is a midfielder from Olney, MD.

The Cavaliers posted a very disappointing record last season and finished at the bottom of the ACC 1-4, landing a 9-9 total record. Their one win in the conference came against Virginia Tech, which tied Virginia’s 1-4 ACC record and did slightly better overall, 10-8.

Virginia hopes to improve their record significantly this season, however, they will face some tough competition against teams such as first-ranked Northwestern and No.2 Maryland. Both teams had impressive records last season and have also won the most NCAA titles in history. Maryland ended its 2011 season 21-2 overall and 5-0 in the ACC and played Northwestern in the championship game, losing by only one point 8-7.

Coach Julie Myers brought Virginia its most recent NCAA title in 2004, when they won 10-4 against Princeton and went 19-3 overall. The team went to the NCAA finals as soon as 2007 and Virginia has made a total of 13 appearances in the championship round in the past. In 2004, Coach Myers became the first person in NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse history to win a title as a player and as a head coach. She entered the season with 225 wins, which places her 4^th among Division I coaches and 14^th in the all-time series. She holds a .735 winning percentage, making her rank in the top-15 for all-time winning percentage among coaches. Myers won the 2008 ACC Coach of the Year title and just entered her 17^th year at Virginia.

The Cavaliers won ACC titles in 1998, 2004 and then for three straight years from 2006-2008, all under the leadership of Coach Myers. If she brings back some of the efforts she applied back then, she will be able to help them improve both their conference and overall records this year and lead them to active post-season play.

There are some players who highlighted the season last year and should continue their success for the team this season. This includes senior attacker Charlie Finnigan, who returns for her last season for Virginia. Last year she led the team with 43 goals and was named to the All-ACC Academic Women’s Lacrosse Team. She also added 14 assists and 18 ground balls. Seniors Josie Owen and Julie Gardner and redshirt senior Ainsley Baker, who were integral parts of the team last season, also return on the roster. Owen is a team captain this season and had 40 goals, 16 assists and a team-high 43 draw controls in 2011. Gardner, another team captain, recorded a team-high 60 points last year, with her 27 goals and 33 assists. Owen and Gardner started all 18 games.

Junior goal keeper Kim Kolarik led defense last year with 38 ground balls and added nine caused turnovers. Junior Megan Dunleavy will be another important player on the defensive end. She finished with 29 ground balls – third on the team – and eight draw controls last season and was also named to the All-ACC team. Without help from Liz Downs and Bailey Fogarty this season, Dunleavy and the other defense players will have to step it up against the top teams. Downs and Fogarty started every game and totaled 61 ground balls and 51 draw controls in 2011.

Virginia will open its ACC season against Maryland on March 2 and will play its first home ACC game against North Carolina on March 10.  The team will face No. 6 Richmond this Wednesday at Klockner Stadium at 5 p.m.