No. 12 Virginia Hosts James Madison Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team hosts James Madison on Wednesday (March 21) at 7 p.m. at Klockner Stadium. The game will air locally on WINA 1070 AM in the Charlottesville area and audio will be streamed online through Cavaliers Live. Live statistics can be accessed at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia (4-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is coming off of a 1-1 week in which the Cavaliers defeated William and Mary on the road, 10-3, but fell at then-No. 16 Princeton, 9-7. UVa has posted a 3-1 record within the friendly confines of Klöckner Stadium this season, with the only blemish on its record coming at the hands on No. 2 North Carolina (14-9 on March 10).
Virginia is ranked No. 12 in the March 20 IWLCA coaches poll and No. 16 in the deBeer media poll.
Offensively, redshirt freshman Liza Blue (Butler, Md.) is the team’s leading goal-scorer with 13 this season and has added two assists. Senior Josie Owen (Gibson Island, Md.) continues to run the Cavaliers’ offense and leads the ACC in assists per game (2.75) and points per game (4.25). In the national rankings as of March 18, Owen is sixth in assists per game and 22nd in points per game. Owen’s six assists in UVa’s season-opener vs. Loyola (Feb. 18) marks the highest single-game total by any ACC player in 2012. In all, Owen has tallied 22 assists and 12 goals.
Ainsley Baker (Corning, N.Y.) is tied for second with Owen in goals scored for UVa with 12, followed by freshman Sloan Warren (Philadelphia, Pa.) with nine, Charlie Finnigan (Twickenham, Middlesex, England) with eight and senior Julie Gardner (Severna Park, Md.) with seven.
Defensively, goalkeeper Kim Kolarik (Riva, Md.) has started each of the Cavaliers’ eight games and has allowed 77 goals for a 9.62 goals-against average. She leads the ACC in ground balls per game (3.12) and saves per game (7.38).
Gardner has also reached double figures for ground balls, notching 10. UVa’s leader in caused turnovers is Kolarik with seven, followed by six each by freshmen Kelsey Gahan (Towson, Md.) and Morgan Stephens (Olney, Md.).
James Madison (4-3, 0-0 CAA) defeated then-No. 13 Loyola in its last outing (March 17), 11-6. Four Dukes have at least 10 goals on the season, led by Monica Zabel’s 10 goals and 17 assists for a team-high 27 points. JMU is out-scoring opponents, 82-67, this season.
Three different goalkeepers have seen action between the pipes for James Madison, with Alex Menghetti playing a team-high 362 minutes. The goalkeeper of record in six of JMU’s seven games (3-3), she has allowed 59 goals for a 9.75 goals-against average.
James Madison is receiving votes in the coaches poll and not ranked in the media poll.
UVa leads the all-time series with JMU, 27-12-11. The squads have met at least once every season since 1977 and the Dukes have won two-consecutive games over the Cavaliers. Last season in Harrisonburg, JMU prevailed by a score of 16-14. All 14 UVa goals were scored by returning players to this year’s team – Katie Slater (Kensington, Md.) (four goals), Owen (three goals), Gardner (two goals), Finnigan (two goals), Baker (one goal), Maddy Keeshan (Greenwich, Conn.) (one goal) and Christie Donovan (Hingham, Mass.) (one goal).
Following Wednesday’s contest, Virginia heads to ACC rival Duke on Saturday (March 24) for a 1 p.m. game.