Syracuse women’s lacrosse: ACC Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Virginia preview and game thread

Scouting Virginia

Statistically, the ‘Hoos have been as middle-of-the-road as their record suggests they’ve been. Their offense ranks 76th nationally at 10.75 goals per game, while their defense ranks T-67th at 11.12 goals-against per game.

In their last two must-win games, their offense did show up much better to help get the job done with 30 combined goals.

On the year on offense, UVA ranks 79th nationally in shots per game (26.5), 64th in shots on goal per game (19.25), and 72nd in shooting percentage (.406). Their best attributes are free position percentage, 34th in the country at .488, and turnovers, which rank them 26th at 12.88 per game.

They’re an excellent clearing team, ranking fifth nationally at a .935 success rate, and they’re also a solid draw team with a .577 win percentage on restarts, good for 25th in the country.

Notably, they are not a good ground ball team, ranking T-111th with 13.25 GBs per game.

Names to Know

UVA is led by a trio of juniors in Madison Alaimo, Kate Galica and Jenna Dinardo.

Alaimo leads the team with 40 assists and 54 points as the conductor of the offense from behind the cage. Dinardo is one of their best finishers inside the eight-meter and is second on the team with 24 goals and third with 31 points, although her production has been down across the board from her great first two seasons on campus.

Galica is the team’s all-around best player, leading the team in goals (35), ground balls (30), caused turnovers (21) and draw controls (135). On top of that, she’s also second on the team in assists (17), points (52) and free-position goals (8).

A few sophomores help round out the offense. Fiona Allen is third on the team with 22 goals and fourth with 24 points while shooting 59.5 percent on the season. Gabby LaVerghetta is right behind her with 19 goals, 22 assists and a .613 shooting percent. Jayden Piraino adds 10 goals and 15 points.

Galica leads the draw unit with 135 draw controls, and she’s flanked by Dinardo’s 37 DCs and Alex Reilly’s 30. The trio has combined for a whopping 93 percent of the Cavs’ draw wins on the season.

In goal, Florida graduate transfer Elyse Finnelle has started since the first two games of the season and has made 94 saves with a 10.81 goals-against average and a .378 save percentage. H0wever, she had her best game of the season during the regular season meeting with 10 saves and a .625 percentage.