Crosse Checks with Katie Shannon

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Katie Shannon is a third-year on the Virginia women’s lacrosse team this year. She dished out her first collegiate assist as a walk on in her first season and notched the first goal of her career this season in the Cavaliers’ 14-11 win over William & Mary. She added a second later this season in an 11-9 win over James Madison, at home. In the classroom, Shannon in a nursing major and will be living on the Lawn next semester. The Cavaliers play host to ACC-rival Boston College at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Question: You finally have two straight home games this week, an in-state opponent and the last regular season ACC game of the year, how do you feel the team has progressed so far this season?
Shannon: We’ve played some difficult teams and hit a couple of bumps along the way, especially at Maryland and Princeton. But we’re 3-1 in the conference and 8-2 overall, so we’ve come out and played hard in games, and as a team, so I would say that we’re having a pretty successful regular season. These next two weeks are going to be critical for us, though. We’re going to need to really come together as a team and start preparing for the postseason.

Question: What are you most excited for the rest of the season?
Shannon: I’m really excited that we get to host the ACC Tournament this year. We’ve won it the last two years, but we were on the road both times. So it’ll be exciting to see if we can keep the winning streak alive, especially at home.

Question: What has been your proudest moment?
Shannon: My proudest moment individually, or biggest accomplishment, would be walking onto the lacrosse team as a first-year. It was a challenge, but I’m glad I did it. And my proudest moment with the team would be our come from behind victory over Duke in the NCAA semifinals last year, when we were down nine goals, but went on to win the game anyway.

Question: How was it to finally score a goal?
Shannon: It was so exciting and such a great feeling to finally score a goal. Hopefully there will be more to come!

Question: Off the field, you’re a nursing major and going to be living on the Lawn next year. How do you do it?
Shannon: It definitely takes a lot of time management. There are some sacrifices that I’m willing to make because I enjoy both lacrosse and nursing, so it’s not too bad. The support and help I get from my teammates, coaches and professors help to make it possible. I couldn’t do it without them.