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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team will look to rebound from its last second, 8-7, loss to the undefeated Tigers (6-0) of Princeton University Saturday, playing host to James Madison on Wednesday evening in Klckner Stadium. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on ACCSelect and a radio broadcast will be available at WINA 1070 AM. Livestats can be accessed on www.VirginiaSports.com. For those attending the game, due to the baseball and basketball events at the same time, lacrosse parking will be available in the cage lot.
James Madison will be the fourth of six in-state opponents that the Cavaliers will face this season, while the Dukes are the first Virginia opponent to visit Charlottesville. Virginia opened its season in Blacksburg with a 14-6 win over Virginia Tech before making it two straight wins with a victory over Richmond, 16-7. The Cavaliers have also traveled to William & Mary, coming away with a 14-11 win.
The Dukes enter the game winless on the road this season. JMU (3-4, 0-0) fell at No. 17 Dartmouth and No. 10 Yale to open the spring session, before falling at No. 4 Maryland and No. 7 Princeton. Annie Wagner leads the Dukes with 18 goals and 22 points. Kim Griffin has 11 goals, 18 ground balls and 10 draw controls.
In goal, Kelly Wetzel has stopped 60 shots for a .450 save percentage. The goalie is allowing 10.60 goals per game.
Leading the Cavaliers is junior Ashley McCulloch, with 30 points. She also leads the ACC with 2.38 assists per game, and is tied for seventh nationally with 19 helpers. Six different attackers have tallied at least 10 goals this season for Virginia, led by senior Megan O’Malley and junior Blair Weymouth’s 16 apiece.
Sophomores Kaitlin Duff and Brittany Kalkstein lead the midfield. Duff has collected a team-high 19 ground balls, while Kalkstein has scooped up 17 and won a team-best 22 draw controls.
Defensively, senior Alice Hughey has 10 caused turnovers, while senior Kendall McBrearty is averaging a league-best 7.51 goals per game. She ranks eighth nationally in the category, and 11th in save percentage, stopping .508 percent of shots faced.
When facing James Madison, the Cavaliers hold a 25-10-1 all-time advantage. The two squads have met every season since 1977, with Virginia holding an impressive 12-3-1 record in Charlottesville. Virginia has won the last six meetings between the two schools, including the last three at home.
Last year’s regular season match-up in Harrisonburg saw Virginia come out on top 16-13. The contest was fairly even though, as JMU held a 16-15 edge in draw controls and Virginia was ahead in shots, 28-27, and ground balls, 13-7. Both squads caused five turnovers. Weymouth led the Cavaliers’ attack, notching five goals.
This weekend, the Cavaliers (6-2, 2-1) will head south for an ACC match-up with conference-foe Duke. The Blue Devils are coming off a tough loss to North Carolina, 16-14, in Chapel Hill over the weekend. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. in Durham, N.C., on Saturday.