DiNardo Making Good on LaMonica's First Impressions

Virginia attacker Jenna DiNardo left Chapel Hill dejected on March 8.

The Cavaliers had fallen 20-8 to No. 2 North Carolina, and none of DiNardo’s nine shots found the back of the net. But rather than attempting to erase just the second scoreless game of her college career from her memory, DiNardo let the moment fuel her.

“I put that one on my back because I have taken that leadership role, and I’m someone my teammates count on,” DiNardo said. “I said to [assistant coach Michael LaMonica], ‘I’m determined to never let that happen again.’ I just put in the work in practice and outside of practice, taking care of my opportunities.”

After her team’s loss to the Tar Heels, DiNardo has tallied 17 points in her last three games, helping fuel Virginia’s three-game winning streak. In 10 starts, DiNardo has recorded 28 goals and 12 assists this season.

DiNardo’s career-high eight-point display came at a crucial crossroads, as the Cavaliers faced a seven-goal deficit early in the first half against Duke on March 15.

The sophomore attacker scored all four goals against amid Virginia’s 10-goal third quarter flurry. DiNardo said the high-flying quarter gave her and her teammates a glimpse of their dangerous scoring ability when operating at full potential.

“We like to be pushed and keep up that caliber of [play],” DiNardo said. “That third quarter felt like we were celebrating the whole time. It’s very energetic to know we can do that — but also humbling at the same time.”

Last summer, the Cavaliers graduated veteran scorers like Morgan Schwab, Katie Carnevale and Kiki Shaw. Their departures facilitated DiNardo’s rise to a consistent starting role during her second year in Charlottesville, with the attacker making her first career start in February’s season opener against Liberty.

The opportunity gave DiNardo a window to display the scoring quality Virginia coach Sonia LaMonica saw in the Corning, N.Y., native the second she stepped on campus in the fall of 2023.

“She’s just continuing to grow in confidence and diversifying her game, off-ball and on-ball,” LaMonica said. “What she’s doing this year isn’t surprising to me because we’ve been seeing it every day for the last year and a half. Now that there’s more attention placed on her, she’s got better defensive matchups, and she just continues to elevate her game.”

LaMonica has leaned on a core group of sophomores to take on added leadership responsibilities. She said the class forms the crux of a young, consistently crystalizing team identity.

“We’ve got a large group of sophomores in the mix who are able to get a pretty good taste of what it takes on the field and executing under pressure,” LaMonica said. “It has been really neat to see some of our youngsters being those leaders, whether it’s speaking up in huddles or film.”

In DiNardo and fellow sophomore attacker Madison Alaimo, LaMonica said her offense operates through a young duo laden with chemistry.

During the Cavaliers’ 16-12 victory over Pitt on Saturday, DiNardo recorded her seventh game of the season with at least three goals. Alaimo, who also nabbed a hat trick, dished out six assists as Virginia improved its ACC record to 3-2.

“We got recruited together, and now we’re best friends,” DiNardo said. “We complement each other so much, just looking for each other’s success, and [we] have each other’s best interests in mind. It really helps knowing we can so easily click out there, and I think our teammates really feed off that, too.”

As the Cavaliers gear up for their conference gauntlet’s next challenge, a Saturday tilt at No. 4 Syracuse, DiNardo said she is ecstatic to play in her home state for the first time in her college career.

DiNardo holds countless childhood memories watching games in the JMA Wireless Dome, and she’ll look to forge new highlight moments in a homecoming of sorts — just steps away from one of her grandest lacrosse idols.

“I’m expecting the memories to all start falling back,” DiNardo said. “As a little girl, I always went to the Syracuse games. I was the biggest Kayla Treanor fan there was.”

DENVER’S ROCKY START — AND HIGH HOPES

As Denver coach Liza Kelly grappled with the season’s opening weekend results, she pondered what was in store for her program.

Just two years ago, Kelly guided her team to its first-ever final four — but those lofty heights appeared especially distant at the year’s early juncture.

The Pioneers dropped their first two games to Louisville and Ohio State in early February, marking their first 0-2 start since 2011. With roster turnover across the board, Kelly and her staff had a far younger lineup. The Denver attack tallied just 13 goals in its first two contests.

“After the first weekend, I was like, ‘Oh Lord, [what] did we set ourselves up for?’” Kelly said. “We’re on the road so much again this year with a young group. Being on the road is twofold. You get to bond, you really learn a lot about each other and just focus on the game. But it’s really tough on the freshmen.”

From fall ball’s first day, Kelly has preached the importance of playing in the moment. That reality proved pertinent as Denver overcame its slow start, with a three-game winning streak capping off February and an upset of then-No. 5 Michigan highlighting the team’s March resume.

“It’s just the will to get better,” Kelly said. “We knew how inexperienced we were, so it was about our leadership staying positive and staying the course. They did a really great job with bringing some of the younger players up and then realizing maybe they needed to step their own games up.”

But these flashes of sustained success haven’t come without faults. The Pioneers held their own in College Park against Maryland on March 1, but Kelly said mental mistakes cost them a would-be statement victory. Denver also dropped a 17-8 defeat to Stony Brook on March 18.

Despite their up-and-down non-conference form, the Pioneers found respite in their return to Big East play, opening up their league slate with an 18-2 drubbing of Xavier on Sunday.

Denver hasn’t lost a Big East regular-season game since April 21, 2018. The team’s 34-game conference winning streak has spanned well over 2,500 days, and Kelly has no intentions of loosening her team’s near-seven-year stronghold on the league.

While she pointed toward UConn, Georgetown and Villanova as much-improved conference foes this season, Kelly said Denver has entered Big East play “ready to battle.”

“If they keep up with open minds, open hearts, there’s no stopping us,” Kelly said.

BY THE NUMBERS

88 • No. 16 Loyola’s Patriot League winning streak after a 20-19 overtime victory over Navy on Wednesday.

11 • Caused turnovers for Johns Hopkins defender Reagan O’Brien in her past two games, including seven against Rutgers on Sunday, to go with nine ground balls in the two games.

4 • No. 6 Maryland’s scoring output against No. 3 Northwestern on Saturday, which marked the Terrapins’ fewest goals scored in series history, dating back to 1985.

21 • Combined points for Rachel Clark, Mckenna Davis and Emma LoPinto in No. 1 Boston College’s 17-9 win at then-No. 4 Stanford.

5 • Seconds remaining in the first overtime period between No. 8 Florida and No. 15 Penn when Gianna Monaco scored the winner for the Gators.