Virginia Focuses on Lacrosse and Upsets Loyola
by Matt Forman | LaxMagazine.com
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Ainsley Baker had five goals as No. 10 Virginia opened
with a 14-9 upset victory over No. 7 Loyola. (File photo) © Matt Riley |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A shadow cast over
Charlottesville Circuit courthouse from the ongoing proceedings in
the trial of George Huguely couldn’t have seemed farther away
from here Saturday afternoon, as a bright sun shined over Klockner
Stadium for the Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s
season-opening 14-9 defeat of Loyola.
Huguely, a former Virginia lacrosse player, is being tried in the
May 2010 death of on-and-off girlfriend Yeardley Love, his
counterpart on the women’s team. A flag with a Cavaliers logo
donning “1 Love” waved in the brisk wind, honoring Love
and acknowledging her tragic death, at Klockner Stadium’s
recently renovated entrance plaza as part of a facilities
project.
But the roughly three miles — a distance comprising every
pertinent location related to the case — separating the
downtown courthouse from the campus stadium seemed more like 300
miles, as there were no suggestions Huguely’s trial was
coming to a close. Only a nebulous news helicopter circling off the
south side of the stadium suggested something — anything
— out of the ordinary was happening just across town in a
rare Saturday session. After a full day’s worth of hearings,
including the case’s closing arguments, Judge Edward L.
Hogshire excused the jury until Wednesday morning, according to
several sources.
Virginia’s athletics staff requested that media members in
attendance — no more than a handful of print and television
reporters — not ask questions about the trial or
circumstances surrounding it. The present press obliged.
Behind Ainsley Baker’s five-goal performance that sparked a
6-0 run after halftime, a dominating effort on draw controls (18 of
25) and stifling defense that held the Greyhounds scoreless for a
nearly 30-minute stretch, No. 10 Virginia topped No. 7 Loyola.
“We played consistently well throughout. Lots of players
made big plays, and we stayed composed throughout the course of the
game, which was what we needed to see,” Virginia coach Julie
Myers said. “At halftime, we thought the [6-5] score was a
little bit tighter than it felt, and we really needed to just keep
working on the little things. Just keep taking it to
them.”
Baker scored three of her career-high five goals immediately after
intermission. That trio of tallies was set up by fellow senior
Josie Owen, a Tewaaraton Award watch list member who set a
career-high with six assists.
“I was joking with coach Myers, ‘I feel like Josie
knows where I am,’” Baker said. “I was joking it
felt like we had a string connected to each other. It’s one
of the things that has developed over the years. Obviously it
worked out pretty well today.”
Extremely well. When asked if Saturday marked the best game of
Baker’s career, Myers said: “One of them, for sure. We
finally found a place that she can really shine. She was
awesome.”
Myers moved Baker, who previously played as a stay-on attacker,
into a new role for 2012. She’s running on and off the field
as a midfielder, which creates transition opportunities and lets
her get more chances in open space.
“I was very hesitant at first, just because I had played
straight attack the last two years,” Baker said. “But
now that I’m getting used to it, I feel like it opens up a
lot for me and everybody else. I’m really excited about
it.”
Driving down the right side of the crease, Owen found Baker four
times for goals cutting toward the backdoor, a position Myers said
Baker “loves.”
Outside of Baker, Virginia featured a well-balanced offensive
output. Redshirt freshman Liza Blue, who didn’t play last
year because of shin splits, scored twice, as did senior attacker
Charlie Finnigan and freshman attacker Jess Loizeaux. Owen,
Courtney Swan and Katie Slater rounded out the scoring with one
apiece.
Swan scored the game- and season-opening goal less than a minute
into the game, and Virginia rushed out to an early 3-1 advantage.
Loyola answered with three straight unassisted scores to make it
4-3, but that was the last time the Greyhounds led. After freshman
Annie Thomas tied the game at 5 with 6:24 remaining in the opening
period, Loyola didn’t find the back of the net again until
20:26 had elapsed in the second half. Virginia junior goalkeeper
Kim Kolarik totaled 11 saves.
Freshman attacker Hannah Schmitt paced the Greyhounds with three
goals, while sophomore midfielder Marlee Paton and junior
midfielder Cass Cursaro each scored twice, and freshman midfielder
Molly Hulseman added one goal. Senior goalie Kerry Stoothoff made
eight stops.
“We obviously know going into our season that we start with
Virginia, and it’s a tough opener, but that’s how we
want it to be. We want our girls to play one of the best teams in
the nation off the bat,” Loyola coach Jen Adams said.
“It gives us a good sense of where we’re at, and the
things we need to work on going forward. For us, we found holes. We
had lapses. Virginia played an extremely well-coached game. We have
a young group, but today I thought they stepped up. Our veterans
could have played better. But it’s early in the season, and
that’s what I take away from it. There’s a lot of
promise here.”
Saturday was an interesting early-season test for both teams, a
matchup they’ve played each of the last three seasons.
Loyola, which finished with a program-best 17 wins in 2011, had won
each of the previous two meetings: 15-11 last year, 15-8 in 2010.
But Virginia, coming off a 9-9 campaign that set a school season
record for losses, got the best of Loyola on Saturday.
“The last couple years they’ve had our number, so to
come out on top was great,” Myers said. “It was
something the third- and fourth-year kids were really focused on.
They wanted to make sure they had the better half of Loyola this
time.”
