The No. 11 Virginia women's lacrosse team finished the regular season with a heart breaker of a loss to a talented No. 5 Northwestern squad. The Cavaliers fell 8-4 to a 15-2 Wildcats team on Senior Day, in a game that was much closer than the score would otherwise suggest. The Hoos fall to 9-8 on the season, and now must anxiously await the bracketology gods.
Virginia actually led the Wildcats heading into the locker room at halftime, by a score of 3-2. And with just 6:31 to play, the game was still knotted at four goals apiece.
That's when things got out of control.
Northwestern scored back-to-back goals in a two-minute span to take a 6-4 advantage, their largest lead to that point. They kept attacking, taking a three-goal lead with 1:06 on the clock, and finally won the game 8-4, finding the back of the net as time expired.
"It was the best teamwork we have displayed over the course of the season," head coach Julie Myers said after the game.
"I think we're a bubble team," Myers said. "I think we need to have the teams that are leading their tournaments or conferences right now, they need to go ahead and get this automatic bid for them."
"So we're not totally in control of our own destiny, but I feel like we've had a tough schedule. We've had a couple of big wins where those teams have gone on to beat some other key teams. I think we're okay, I wish we were in a better spot, but I think we should be okay."
Indeed, of the eight losses on the season, five of them have been to then-top-five squads, including No. 1 Maryland, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 and No. 5 North Carolina (two losses) and No. 5 Northwestern.
The 2011 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship selection announcement will be made live on NCAA.com on Sunday, May 8 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
"It was a good step forward, we need to just make sure we have more games this year to step onto."