No. 11 Virginia Hosts No. 5 Northwestern on Senior Day Saturday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will host No. 5 Northwestern in its final regular-season contest Saturday at Klöckner Stadium. The game will begin at noon, with the Cavaliers’ graduating seniors Liz Downs, Molly McClintic, Boyd Vicars and Marghi Walters – being honored in a pregame ceremony.

The game will be the first in a doubleheader with the Virginia men’s lacrosse team. The Cavalier men face Penn at 3 p.m.

Live streaming video and live statistics will be available for both games at VirginiaSports.com. In addition, both games will air live locally on WINA 1070 AM with John Freeman providing the play-by-play and Al Sadtler providing the analysis. That audio broadcast will be streamed online at VirginiaSports.com with a subscription to Virginia Sports Online Radio.

The Cavaliers enter the weekend with a 9-7 record. Junior All-ACC honoree Julie Gardner leads the attack with 57 points on 32 goals and a team-best 25 assists. Classmates Josie Owen and Charlie Finnigan have also hit the 50-point plateau, as Owen has contributed 54 points (39g, 15a) and Finnigan has 53 points (40g, 13a).

Defensively, Downs – an All-ACC honoree – leads the way with 31 ground balls and 21 draw controls. In goal, sophomore Kim Kolarik has stopped 120 shots, while allowing 11.39 goals per game.

For Northwestern (14-2), Shannon Smith leads the offense in all categories, notching 92 points on 57 goals and 35 assists. Defensively, Lacey Vigmostad leads the team with 26 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.

The Wildcats lead the nation in draw controls per game, averaging 17.25. Alyssa Leonard and Alex Frank lead the way, each winning more than 50 draw controls this year.

In goal, Brianne LoManto is stopping 44.1 percent of shots faced while allowing 9.05 goals per game.

In the all-time series, the teams are evenly matched, 5-5, but the Wildcats have won the last four meetings. Virginia won four of the five regular-season contests from 1987-91, but the squads didn’t face each other again until 2004 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, when the Cavaliers handed Northwestern a 15-11 loss en route to the national championship.

Last year’s match-up was the first overtime game at Lakeside Field since 2004. Northwestern fought off a one-goal deficit in the remaining 7:31 of regulation to force extra time before using three-unanswered goals to knock off Virginia, 11-8.

The 2011 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship selection announcement will be made Sunday, May 8. NCAA.com will air a selection show at 7:30 p.m.