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Hello and thanks for clicking on my blog! My name is Ginger Miles and as Virginia’s women’s lacrosse volunteer assistant coach – and former player – I’ve decided to give anyone who’s interested a behind the scenes look at life on the road with our women’s lacrosse team. We’re certainly a fun bunch and I’ll be posting weekly with the inside scoop. Thanks for reading!
Friday, February 28, 2009
It was cold, rainy and everywhere you looked there were mounds and mounds of dirty snow. The pervasive grey of dreary Syracuse weather could be seen on every old building, warehouse and windshield. Syracuse was just like I had remembered it.
Tonight marked the return of the Virginia-Syracuse men’s and women’s doubleheader at the Carrier Dome (or just “The Dome” to those in the know). Today was huge test for both teams but at the end of the day and after many hard fought battles on the field it was a great day to be a Wahoo.
Our game was first up on the slate (the men to follow) and boy were we excited and ready to play. We flew in last night, which was nice because the only thing on everyone’s minds all day was lacrosse and Syracuse (and perhaps where we were going to eat pregame meal- you know how much we love our food). The morning shootaround went about as well as I’ve seen a shootaround go. Not too long, not too short, lots of touches and for whatever reason, our shooters just couldn’t miss.
Shootarounds can be a tricky beast. Sometimes they can be lazy or disorganized. Sometimes they run a little long and feel like a practice. Sometimes they can be too casual and make you uneasy about the game. Sometimes our shooters aren’t sharp or our defenders can’t get a ground ball. Sometimes our goalies might as well be blindfolded. But not today. Everything just seemed to click.
The last thing you want on a day like today, facing one of the best teams in the country, is a bad shootaround. Today’s was great. Was it perfect? No, they never are. But afterwards the girls seemed to have a certain swagger of confidence that made me feel good about our chances.
Everyone seemed to fully grasp how important this game was for our season and how hard we were going to have to fight to win it. Before games I try to gauge how everyone’s feeling. See if anyone seems distracted or flat or nervous. Surprisingly, it seemed as if all the girls had their game faces on from the moment they got on the bus to head over to “The Dome”.
Before the anthem, I saw Blair Weymouth bouncing up and down and I could tell she was amped to start the game. It was a comforting sight as Blair’s energy can certainly be a contagious spark for our team. It wasn’t just Blair’s spark, but rather an entire team effort for 60 minutes, that earned us another notch in the win column, though (video highlights). It was more than just a win. It was a team win. It was well executed and most importantly, it was a whole lot of fun.
Afterwards, we stayed to watch the men’s game which was just as exciting. After being tied at half, our men managed to gain a big lead in the third quarter. But anybody that knows anything about lacrosse knew that lead would be tested. No. 1 Syracuse was able to narrow a five-goal margin to one as the final minutes waned on the clock, but our boys held on to win in front of a near record crowd of 16,500+ fans. What a game!
Syracuse may not be my favorite city in the world but the fan support and the love of lacrosse is certainly amazing to see. We’ve had big games in Charlottesville before, but nothing like that. These folks know their lacrosse and the energy in The Dome was just incredible to see as the Syracuse men mounted an incredible comeback. But at the end of the day it’s great to be home and back in Charlottesville. Hopefully we’ll get some sunshine tomorrow. What a great day to be a Wahoo!
Check back in next week to see what I have to say as we take on Maryland Friday night and Penn State on Sunday, both at home.
As always, Go Hoos!
Ginger