Future Looks Bright for Cavaliers

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Inexperienced to begin with, the University of Virginia women’s lacrosse team lost one of its few senior starters in early March when attacker Kate Miller, a preseason All-ACC pick, suffered a season-ending injury. But the Wahoos pressed on and, for the second straight year, earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Given how many standouts they lost to graduation in 2024, the Hoos might have overachieved this year. Of the 12 players who started more than seven games for UVA this spring, only midfielder Abby Manalang and defender Maureen Duffy were seniors.

“To go on to have all of the successes we had this this year with a younger group, that was certainly fulfilling,” head coach Sonia LaMonica said.

Madison Alaimo, who led Virginia with 80 points this year, was a sophomore, and her classmates include Jenna DiNardo (74 points), Addi Foster (56 points) and Kate Galica (56 points), a first-team All-American who was ACC Midfielder of the Year. Moreover, three freshmen (Payton Sfreddo, Gabby Laverghetta and Alex Reilly) ranked among the Cavaliers’ top nine in points.

“Kate really was that offensive leader,” LaMonica said, “and I thought the group really did an amazing job overcoming her not being on the field for us, given how young they are.”

Alaimo, DiNardo and Galica contributed in 2024, too, but as freshmen they played supporting roles on a team led by seniors Morgan Schwab, Kiki Shaw, Mackenzie Hoeg, Katia Carnevale, Maggie Bostain and Devon Whitaker. With that group gone this season, defenses focused on slowing UVA’s underclassmen.

In general, LaMonica said, “I thought they responded really, really well. They were able to continue to evolve their game as they saw tougher matchups and face guards and things that they didn’t really see the year before offensively.”

In 2024, Virginia’s season ended at Klöckner Stadium with a second-round loss in the NCAA tournament. The Hoos’ postseason followed a similar script this year. After pummeling LIU in the NCAA tournament’s first round for the second straight season, UVA fell to ACC rival Duke two days later at Klöckner.

During the regular season, the Cavaliers defeated the Blue Devils 16-11, also at Klöckner, but Virginia’s lack of experience proved telling at times in the rematch. It can be challenging for underclassmen to play with “confidence and belief and fire in the pressure moments,” LaMonica said. “That looks a little different than regular-season games, and I think that ultimately that showed. So it’s pretty exciting to return the group who’s now going to be upperclassmen and have a little more fire in those moments.

From a team that finished 12-7 overall and 5-4 in the rugged ACC, 10 starters are expected back next season: DiNardo, Galica, Foster, Alaimo, Sfreddo on offense; Nicole Cruthirds, Lara Kology, Olivia Bruno and Kate Demark on defense; and Mel Josephson in goal.

Galica finished with 179 draw controls this year, a single-season record at UVA. She was second on the team in goals, with 47. Alaimo, a third-team All-American, led the Cavaliers with 58 assists, nine of which came against LIU this month. That tied the NCAA record for most assists by a player in a tournament game.

Like Galica, Alaimo was named to the All-ACC first team, and DiNardo, who led UVA with 53 goals, was a second-team selection. To have so much talent returning on offense “is a very exciting prospect,” LaMonica said. “The question is: What do we do to continue to develop these players in their own game, individually and then collectively? I think the sky is the limit.”

Not since 2019 have the Cavaliers reached the NCAA quarterfinals. They haven’t advanced to semifinals since 2014, and the program’s goal, LaMonica said, is to “get beyond quarters, get to Championship Weekend. That’s where we set the bar.”

The Hoos will have a veteran team season, which should help them in pressure situations, and their offense figures to rank among the nation’s best. UVA averaged 13.8 goals per game this spring and figures to be even more potent in 2026.

Improving on defense is probably Virginia’s No. 1 priority going into next season. The Hoos allowed an average of 11.5 goals per game this year, and LaMonica wants to see that lowered. “So we’ve been looking harder at that as a staff,” she said, “and I think we’ve got some good ideas of how we can do that.”

Josephson’s backup, Abby Jensen, was a senior this year, but the incoming freshman class includes a goalie, Serena Reiter. “She’s definitely got some spark to her game,” LaMonica said. “Great athlete, great with the ball in her stick and in clearing.”

Kology, whose brothers Kyle and Griffin preceded her on Grounds, transferred from Florida to UVA after the 2023-24 school year, and she ended up starting every game this spring. LaMonica said the coaching staff is monitoring the transfer portal again this year, but “we’re not gonna just grab a group of individuals without having some real intention behind the why. We’re going to be really mindful about a really great fit here for UVA.”

LaMonica came to Virginia in July 2023 after 14 seasons as head coach at Towson University, where her teams made seven trips to the NCAA tournament. LaMonica said she’s pleased not only with what the program accomplished in her first two seasons at UVA, but with “how we’re developing for the future as well. So I’m happy about the position we’re in right now.”

The incoming first-year class includes two players from Charlottesville: Addi Foster’s sister, Raleigh (St. Anne’s-Belfield), and Delaney Poindexter (Covenant). LaMonica is eager to see what the freshmen can contribute in 2026.

“We’ve got some great midfielders coming in,” she said, “and I’m really excited to see how they transition to this level and the impact that they can potentially have. And then we’ve got three defensive players who I think will continue to push our group as we figure out strategically our strengths and our best approach to getting that goals-against average down. What kind of shots do we want to give up and how are we going to go about doing that?”

In women’s lacrosse, the ACC has produced the NCAA champion in four of the past five seasons, and Florida State will play its first varsity season in 2026, giving the league 13 teams.

“We’re going to continue to have to work hard and find edges, because it is ultra-competitive,” LaMonica said. “It doesn’t get any easier, only harder.”

Still, the Hoos are well-positioned as they head into her third year.

“We’ll see how things evolve where the transfer portal is concerned,” LaMonica said, “but I am happy with where we are as a program. We stay vigilant on the culture, continuing to recruit great people into this institution and be a place that people really want to come to and be a part of this lacrosse program.”

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