Youth Not Holding Back Cavaliers

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — They occupied opposite ends on the University of Virginia women’s lacrosse roster last year: a superlative class of seniors and a talented group of freshmen. Those were the driving forces in a memorable 2024 season for UVA.

The Cavaliers’ No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament was their highest in 16 years, and their 15 wins were the program’s most since 2007.

At season’s end, however, the seniors headed off to start the next chapters in their lives, leaving head coach Sonia LaMonica’s program in a new and different place. The class included Morgan Schwab, Kiki Shaw, Mackenzie Hoeg, Katia Carnevale, Maggie Bostain and Devon Whitaker. Schwab was named to the All-ACC first team in 2024, and Shaw, Hoeg, Carnevale and Bostain were second-team selections.

“Every year comes with challenges,” said LaMonica, who’s in her second season at Virginia. “This is a great challenge. This is about continuing to develop and build confidence and chemistry, and I feel we’re really hitting our stride in the group believing they can do something really special this year, even being so young, which is incredibly exciting.”

Since losing at No. 2 North Carolina on March 8, UVA has won three straight games. The Wahoos rallied for an emphatic 16-11 victory over then-No. 13 Duke on March 15 at Klöckner Stadium. Four nights later, the Hoos defeated then-No. 14 James Madison 14-11 in Harrisonburg.

Back home on Saturday afternoon, No. 12 Virginia never trailed in a 16-12 win over ACC rival Pittsburgh at Klöckner.

The Cavaliers improved to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. Sophomores scored 11 of UVA’s goals Saturday, and freshmen scored four. (Senior midfielder Abby Manalang collected the team’s other goal.)

UVA’s second-year class includes Kate Galica, Madison Alaimo, Jenna DiNardo, Addi Foster and Kate Demark. Galica was the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2024, and Alaimo and DiNardo joined her on the ACC’s all-freshman team.

Against Pitt (5-5 overall, 1-4 ACC), Alaimo totaled a career-high nine points (three goals, six assists), and DiNardo and Foster contributed three goals apiece. Galica scored one goal and finished with a game-high 11 draw controls.

The Cavaliers’ 2024 seniors “left huge, huge shoes to fill,” Galica said. “So we were really had to figure out as underclassmen how we could use our strengths to help fill those shoes. We’ve kind of been figuring that out as the season’s gone on, and I think we’ve really been moving upwards.”

Alaimo said: “It’s definitely a different dynamic, but the second-years as a class, I feel like we’ve been more vocal. I feel like the chemistry is good. I feel like we have such a strong bond already that it doesn’t feel much different, even though we did have a stronger upperclassmen presence last year.”

Senior attacker Kate Miller entered the year as the team’s most experienced offensive player, and she totaled 12 goals and eight assists before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

“So that took a little bit of just working through that and figuring out how we move forward, who we shift where, and I think we’ve got a good group in our place,” LaMonica said. “We’re just going to keep rolling.”

For the season, DiNardo leads UVA with 28 goals, and Galica and Foster have 20 apiece. Alaimo has 31 assists, nearly 45 percent of the team’s total. Freshman Payton Sfreddo and Alex Reilly have combined for 16 goals.

Virginia, which plays at No. 9 Syracuse next weekend, raced out to a 5-0 lead Saturday, but Pitt dominated the second quarter and trailed by only two at halftime.

“It’s lacrosse,” LaMonica said. “The momentum swings so dramatically and you’re seeing that out here today. Just when you think we’ve got a good [lead], we’re pulling away, they get right back in it. So that’s what makes the game so neat, I think.”

At halftime, LaMonica challenged her players. Her message? “We’ve got to bring our fire. We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to drive harder to break down their zone, and we need to step up defensively and stop playing on our heels.”

It took the Cavaliers a while to regain control, but they outscored the Panthers 5-3 in the third quarter and led by seven with six minutes to play.

“I would have loved to see a little more consistency,” LaMonica said. “However, this is a great win. We’re going to take this and keep moving forward.”

Coming off its 20-8 loss to UNC in Chapel Hill, Virginia fell behind 8-1 against Duke and seemed headed for a second straight one-sided defeat. Instead, UVA stunned the Blue Devils, outscoring them 10-1 in the third quarter.

“We just had so much fire and momentum,” Alaimo said. “It just felt like we wanted it more. Every little play we were there, the ground balls, the goals, the defensive stops. We were just cheering for every little thing. It made it so much fun.”

Galica said: “I think you could tell against Duke and JMU that we really wanted those wins.”

Schwab, an attacker who holds the program record for career assists (159) quarterbacked the Cavaliers’ offense last season. Alaimo still had a significant impact. She finished the season with 27 assists, a program record for a freshman, and also scored 17 goals.

“Playing with Morgan last year really made me grow as a player,” Alaimo said.

Last summer, Alaimo helped Team USA win the gold medal at the World Lacrosse Under-21 Championships, totaling a record 25 assists in the tournament.

Galica has improved since last year, too. She led the Hoos with 97 draw controls in 2024, a program record for a freshman, but she focused in the offseason on becoming even more productive in that area.

“It’s always said that draws win games because you have possession,” Galica said, “and that’s just a huge part of the game that I think I really wanted to work on. Being able to be confident in that area on the field is huge for me, for the team, for the coaches, for our fans and parents.

“Obviously, as a first-year there weren’t a ton of expectations, because you’re kind of learning what the base is. But a huge thing of the draw is repetition and technique, and I really worked on that over the summer.”

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