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No. 12 Virginia Set For ACC Clash At No. 6 Duke on Saturday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 12 in the IWLCA coaches poll and No. 16 in the deBeer media poll, travels to No. 6/7 Duke on Saturday (March 24) for a 1 p.m. contest at Koskinen Stadium. Live statistics will be available at VirginiaSports.com, and live video can be accessed with a subscription to Cavaliers Live.
Virginia (5-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) is coming off of a 13-9 victory over James Madison on Wednesday (March 21). Senior attacker Josie Owen (Gibson Island, Md.) scored a career-high six goals and added an assist vs. the Dukes, while freshman attacker Sloan Warren (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a career-high five goals.
Owen is putting together one of the best offensive seasons in the nation, as she currently ranks first in the ACC in points per game (4.25) and assists per game (2.75). In all, she has totaled 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points (all team highs).
Warren is second on the team with 14 goals, while Liza Blue (Butler, Md.) and Ainsley Baker (Corning, N.Y.) have also reached double-digit goals with 13 and 12, respectively.
Junior goalkeeper Kim Kolarik (Riva, Md.), this week’s ACC Defensive Player of the Week, is the team leader in ground balls (26) and co-team leader in caused turnovers (seven). She is allowing 9.56 goals per game and has saved 63 shots.
Duke (8-3, 2-0 ACC) is coming off of a 9-8 loss at Dartmouth on March 17. Prior to that contest, the Blue Devils had won five-straight games.
Kerrin Maurer leads the team with 39 points on 19 goals and 20 assists, followed by Kim Wenger with 15 goals and 12 assists. Goalkeeper Mollie Mackler has started all 11 of Duke’s games and is allowing 8.37 goals per game. Emma Hamm leads the league in draw controls per game (4.91).
The Blue Devils are out-scoring opponents, 141-95, and lead the ACC in assists per game (6.64).
Virginia leads the all-time series with Duke, 18-9. The teams have split the last two regular-season meetings, with Duke prevailing in Charlottesville last season, 11-8, and UVa winning in Durham in 2010, 8-7.
In all-time games played in Durham vs. Duke, UVa holds a 7-2 record.
Following Saturday’s contest, Virginia returns home for three-consecutive games – vs. Old Dominion (March 28), Boston College (March 31) and Harvard (April 2).