Soon after it was announced that Virginia and Stanford were paired up to play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, the two head coaches were texting each other.
They were noting the irony of the upcoming matchup because, next season, UVa head coach Julie Myers’ daughter, Kelsey, will be playing for Amy Bokker’s Cardinal squad. This year, though, Myers is assured with great certainty that her daughter will be cheering on the Cavaliers.
The coincidence provided some levity prior to UVa’s 6 p.m. game in Harrisonburg. The Cavaliers enter the game having lost seven of eight games, dampening a once-promising season for a team that made the postseason by a hair.
“We’re clearly not a top-four team coming out of the regular season, since we lost to all four of them,” Myers said. “But we certainly competed with everybody else right outside of that. I’m excited that we had [the last two weeks] to really focus on Virginia without an opponent in mind.”
Now, though, Virginia has the Cardinal on its mind. The Cavaliers spent part of Wednesday afternoon studying tape. There is some familiarity there already, since Stanford scrimmaged against Virginia in Charlottesville last fall.
UVa saw a team on tape that faces a lot of teams that play zone. Playing on the West Coast means that Stanford often plays the same opponents over and over again, some as many as three times. Tendencies sometimes show up, and it’s there that Virginia hopes to take advantage.
Really, though, winning this game is about both salvaging and re-defining a dwindling season instead of continuing what has been a month-long downward trend.
“We have so much talent on this team. We have five All-ACC players,” said junior defender Sophie Alecce. “It’s like, ‘We can do this.’ I think it’s kind of fun to go in as the underdog this year, and prove ourselves. I think our team does well under pressure and under circumstances like this.”
Virginia’s schedule over the last eight games was difficult, no doubt. Facing No. 3 seed JMU, No. 1 seed Maryland and No. 4 seed Boston College were not fruitful endeavors. But the Cavaliers lost those games by an average of five goals, and were outscored by 24 goals over the past eight games.
UVa believes that improved communication and finishing shots will lead to more success. And though there was a significant lack of success against the best of the best in women’s lacrosse, Myers spoke of playing for a national championship. She’s been a part of the NCAA Tournament in all 23 years she’s been in Charlottesville, and is trying to instill that belief in a team that’s been beleaguered by losses since March 28.
“We’ve had a struggle the second half of the season, but I think these past two weeks we came together and we really tried to figure out what was going on and what we needed to fix,” said senior midfielder Kasey Behr. “And we went through two weeks of practice and I think we’re really prepared for Stanford. I think we’re going to do great against them.”
Right now, Virginia is still in the midst of final exams. Some players will even finish up their exams while on the road Friday, the day of the game. But after practice on Wednesday, the team had a water balloon fight to try and let off some steam.
It’s been a long season that’s seen some highs — a nationally ranked and nationally relevant program just weeks prior. It’s been a season that’s seen some lows — not being in the Maryland portion of the bracket when it was revealed left some wondering if Virginia’s name would be called.
To be uncertain about making the NCAA Tournament is not where this program wanted to be. But being in the bracket, with a chance, is all they need.
“I feel like what we’re supposed to do is get to the postseason,” Myers said. “I think it’s always a great accomplishment when you get there, but it’s not enough either. Not to get there would be devastating. But now that we’re there, we need to win Friday. … We want to keep this going for another couple of weeks.”