2024 NCAA Lacrosse Preview: No. 20 Virginia (Women)
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© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
2023 Record: 11-7 (6-3, conference)
Final Ranking (2023): Unranked
Head Coach: Sonia Lamonica
Assistants: Michael LaMonica, Kerrigan Miller, Caylee Waters, Maris Large
There’s a new head coach at the University of Virginia for the first time in nearly three decades. Julie Myers stepped down after a 28-year career that included the 2004 national title, making way for Sonia LaMonica.
LaMonica comes to Virginia after producing a 139-91 mark and seven NCAA tournament trips at Towson. Virginia made the NCAA tournament in 2023 but watched America East champion Albany erase a seven-goal deficit in the second half, handing the squad a stunning defeat.
But it’s a new day in Charlottesville.
“It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of different transitions and growth,” LaMonica said. “It’s just a really exciting experience, from developing relationships with student-athletes, navigating a transition with family and personal life and developing the coaching staff dynamics, which has been really positive.”
The changing of the guard at head coach isn’t the only transition. LaMonica brought her husband, Michael LaMonica, over from Towson as one of her assistants. Joining the pair are Kerrigan Miller and Caylee Waters, who is spearheading a five-backstop goalie unit. And the summer brought more changes, with Rachel Clark, slated to be the team’s top offensive returner, transferring to Boston College.
Now what?
There are plenty of opportunities for new faces to emerge and usher in the next era.
Morgan Schwab, A, Sr. (20G, 49A)
Devon Whitaker, D, Sr. (22GB, 12CT)
Maggie Bostain, D, Sr. (19GB, 18CT)
Morgan Schwab represents the top returning scorer from an offensive unit that graduated Ashlyn McGovern (61G, 7 A) and Jaime Biskup (36G, 11A), in addition to Clark’s transfer. A quarterback who can finish, Schwab is someone LaMonica says is embracing a leadership role.
“She has her heads up and eyes up, and she commands respect,” LaMonica said. “She is playing with a lot of confidence.”
Schwab will look to quarterback an offense that also returns two-way middie Mackenzie Hoeg (40G, 54DC, 13CT, 27GB) and Kate Miller (17G). Defensively, the Hoos return experience in Devon Whitaker and Maggie Bostain, which is critical amid all the “new.”
“They have definitely been anchors for us,” LaMonica said. “Their athleticism alone and the style in which they play defense is huge.”
Jenna DiNardo, A, Fr. (98G, 54A, 139DC as senior at Corning-Painted Post, N.Y.)
Addi Foster, M, Fr. (Two-time All-Central Virginia Player of the Year at St. Anne’s Belfield School, Va.)
Kate Demark, D, Fr. (Won state championships in 2021 and 2023 with Darien, Conn.)
With the offense transitioning, freshmen like Jenna DiNardo stand a chance to make an immediate impact. DiNardo amassed 200 career goals as a high schooler and comes from a lacrosse family. Her father, Domenic, played for Hofstra, and she has multiple family members who have suited up for NCAA programs. But she’s stood out on her own at UVA thus far.
“Jenna really separated herself in a highly talented freshman class,” LaMonica said. “Her consistency was impressive. She was just unflappable.”
That consistency makes DiNardo a challenge to stop when combined with power and toughness.
Graduations: Ashlyn McGovern, A; Jaime Biskup, M; Aubrey Williams, M; Annika Meyer, D
Transfers: Rachel Clark, A (Boston College)
Katia Carnevale, A, Gr. (53G, 11A at Lehigh)
She’s also a key addition, but we saved Carnevale for here. Carnevale started all 18 games as a senior at Lehigh, posting multiple goals in all but three. After leading the team in goals last season, the attacker decided to use her fifth year at Virginia — and the Hoos are happy to have her experience and offensive prowess. LaMonica calls her the team’s X-factor, a gifted athlete with multiple tools, including great hands, high IQ and a keen ability to read the draw. Watch her off-ball play in general. The crafty attacker is critical on the ride, helping to create second chances, and seamlessly connects with her teammates.
If it’s not apparent from the above, newness is the order of the day for the Cavaliers — on the sidelines and offensively. But that’s upped the intensity of practices.
“This was an opportunity for everybody to get that fresh start and show the coaching staff what they are capable of,” LaMonica said. “In terms of the level of completion, grittiness, the energy has been really encouraging to think about all the possibilities that lay ahead.”
A juggernaut ACC schedule also lies ahead, with numerous teams returning veteran talent or upgrading. Boston College is one (see: Clark). North Carolina brings back far more experience after undergoing a youth movement in 2022. Notre Dame has a fifth-year-heavy class that includes stalwarts Kasey Choma and Madison Ahern and transfers like Arden Tierney and Olivia Dooley. The Cavaliers last finished in the top three in the conference in 2017.
Getting back there won’t be easy. It never is in the ACC, so that’s not new. But so much else is at Virginia.
The attack got most of the glory, but the midfield for the Cavaliers produced a very interesting split in 2023. When the midfield had two or more assists, the Hoos were 7-1. If the midfield didn’t reach two assists, they were 2-6. The attack produced the most goals, but this offense worked best when the midfield played the facilitator role. Will that carry over into 2024, or will a new staff and new personnel reshape how the offense works?
Beth Ann Mayer is a Long Island-based writer. She joined USA Lacrosse in 2022 after freelancing for Inside Lacrosse for five years. She first began covering the game as a student at Syracuse. When she's not writing, you can find her wrangling her husband, two children and surplus of pets.
