For all you women’s lacrosse fanatics out there, I’m here live from the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in College Park as one of the game’s longest rivalries resumes.
The No. 2 Terps (3-0, 1-0 ACC) and the No. 9 Cavaliers (2-1, 0-0) battle for the 50th time tonight at 7 p.m. The Terps are coming off a dominating performance at Duke last Saturday, winning 17-4. Virginia is also coming off an uplifting win as it took down then-No. 6 Syracuse last weekend in a tightly contested battle.
As I wrote in my preview, the Terps are looking to refine their transition play tonight against Cavaliers. At Duke the Terps played a full 60 minutes for the first time this season, coach Cathy Reese said.
Defender Katie Gallagher is poised to return to the starting line-up after sitting out of the Duke contest due to a flu. This means freshman Katie Schwarzmann, who scored three goals last weekend, comes off the bench. (UPDATE: Gallagher will not start and most likely not play due to illness).
As far as the rivalry is concerned, the Terps’ assistant coach Lauri Kenis is a former All-American defender for the Cavaliers. She led Virginia to two NCAA finals appearances and graduated in 2003.
This week marked the first time that the Terps received any first place votes in the top 25 poll. All of last season and this one, Northwestern has dominated the No. 1 spot.