The Story
Women's Lax Plays Longwood
A classic sports idiom claims that bad weather favors the underdog. On a rain soaked Albert-Daly field, the William and Mary women’s lacrosse team decided they would not let the dreary conditions get the best of them, as they opened the season against in-state opponent Longwood with an impressive 19-6 victory.
Shining through the clouds was a host of Tribesmen, with pre-season all-CAA sophomore goalie Emily Geary leading the way with twelve saves. Coming off a freshmen season in which she ranked in the top 20 nationally in saves, save percentage, and saves per game, the--rarely seen--lefty frustrated Longwood for most of the game. However, she doesn’t deserve all the credit as her surrounding cast of defenders led by senior Kate Lawlor kept Longwood at bay for minutes at a time, forcing Longwood into 25 turnovers in the game.
The offense, putting up 19 goals, also showed good poise maintaining long possessions, and executing remarkable fast breaks. Another pre-season all-CAA selection and the 2008 Rookie of the Year Grace Golden set the pace for the Tribe out of the midfield which dominated Longwood’s midfield all afternoon. Senior Julia Martin from Woodside, California also distributed very well at attack as she was able to beat her defender to draw the slide with ease. Though it didn’t get tallied in the books, Martin also did her best Peyton Manning impression midway through the first half when she completed a pass of well over 30 yards that hit a teammate (I’m not sure which) in stride. However, the game’s top performers were sophomore midfielder Ashley Holofcener and junior attack Mary Zulty who each poured in five goals. Holofcener and Zulty could be a key to the Tribe’s success as they provide alternative scoring options for which opposing teams must account.
Statistically, William and Mary had the advantage in nearly every major category including ground balls (30-24), shots on goal (37-24), and the turnover battle (19-25). However, one important facet in which they lost was the draw controls (13-14) which forced the Tribe defenders to get overextended at times. Particularly in sloppy conditions, ball control can play a major factor as the opponents are able to dictate the tempo of the game. The Tribe must improve in this category if they want to find themselves challenging for a CAA championship come May.
Though the team got off on the right foot, they are still rather young and must look ahead as their next opponent is the pre-season third-ranked Duke Blue Devils. It also will not get any easier, as they have a total of five teams on their schedule that are among the top twenty in the country according to pre-season polls, including perennial powerhouse and in-state foe, Virginia. They will also face road trips all along the East Coast and out to California, so they must remain focused.