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April 28, 2007
The Virginia women’s lacrosse team will face host UNC in the finals of the ACC Tournament on Sunday, April 29 in Chapel Hill. Opening draw is at 1:00 and the game will be televised by RSN. No. 6 Virginia, the 2006 ACC Champion, is playing in its fifth consecutive ACC title game, while the No. 5 Tar Heels are playing in their first title game since winning the championship in 2002.
The Cavaliers (15-3) advanced to the championship game by defeating Boston College in the quarterfinals and top-seeded and third-ranked Maryland 10-7in the semifinals. Virginia has won four consecutive games, averaging 12.25 goals and allowing only 6.5 during that stretch. The Cavalier defense is among the best in the nation; Virginia is allowing only 7.88 goals per game against the nation’s seventh-toughest schedule, according to lacrossedraw.com. Kendall McBrearty ranks among the nation’s top netminders, allowing only 7.77 goals per game. US teammates Jessy Morgan and Jen Holden anchor the Virginia defense; Morgan ranks second on the team in caused turnovers and Holden ranks second in ground balls.
The Virginia midfield is led by a pair of first years, including ACC Freshman of the Year Brittany Kalkstein. Kalkstein leads the Cavaliers with 48 draw controls, which is the first-year record and ranks among the nation’s leaders. Classmate Kaitlin Duff leads Virginia in both caused turnovers and ground balls. Co-captain Jess Wasilewski and US team member Megan O’Malley add veteran experience to the midfield; Wasilewski was named to the 2007 All-ACC team.
Virginia line attackers Kate Breslin and Blair Weymouth were both named to the 2007 All-ACC team; they are a major reason the Cavaliers rank in the top-20 nationally in scoring offense. Breslin ranks eighth all-time in school history with 122 career goals; she ranks 11th in career points with 161 and stands just one point away from joining the top-10. Weymouth, the National Rookie of the Year in 2006, ranks second on the team in scoring with 68 points on 46 goals and 22 assists. She ranks third all-time among second years in points. Ashley McCulloch leads Virginia with 25 assists; her total ranks second all-time among second years and she now ranks ninth all-time for assists in a single season, tying current assistant coach Amy Appelt, who had 25 in 2003, also as a second-year.
The Cavaliers lost to then-top-ranked UNC on March 17 16-7; Duff led all players with five draw controls and five ground balls.