After Coaching Change, What's Next for Virginia Women's Lacrosse in 2024?

Analyzing the roster Sonia LaMonica is set to inherit in her first season at the helm of the UVA women's lacrosse program

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

On June 21st, Virginia women’s lacrosse head coach Julie Myers announced that she was stepping down after 28 years. Her impact on the lacrosse program is undeniable, and now she will work as the CEO of the One Love Foundation, a non-profit that works to stop relationship abuse. On July 5th, athletics director Carla Williams hired Sonia LaMonica to take the helm after 14 seasons as the head coach at Towson. 

Let's take a look at the roster LaMonica is set to inherit in her first season leading the Virginia women's lacrosse program. 

Departing Players

A head coaching change always has ripple effects, and the Cavaliers are no different. In this case, it led to Rachel Clark entering the transfer portal. The All American and All-ACC First Team selection led the Cavaliers with 63 goals, good for 15th in the country. She also was seventh in the country in free position percentage, and was a go-to attack option in her two years at Virginia. According to Inside Lacrosse, Clark is staying in the ACC, transferring to Boston College, which just reached the national title game for the sixth-consecutive season. 

The Cavaliers also graduate a lot of talent, highlighted by Ashlyn McGovern, another All-American and All-ACC First Team Selection. McGovern had 61 goals on the season and 204 career goals, good for third most in Virginia women’s lacrosse history. Clark and McGovern alone scored 46% of the team’s total goals on the season. Adding in goals from Jaime Biskup, Kiki Shaw, and several other graduates, the Cavaliers will lose 68% of the team’s offense going into next season. On defense, Annika Meyer and Nina Garfinkel started all 18 games on defense and contributed ground balls and caused turnovers.

Returning Players

While there are big holes to fill, especially when it comes to goal scoring, there are many returning players to be excited about. First of all, Aubrey Williams is the all-time leader in draw controls with 333 in her career and one more season to further etch her name in history. Williams was 11th in the nation with 7.44 draw controls per game, and earned Second Team All-ACC honors as well as an honorable mention in the Lacrosse Magazine All-American list.

Another key returner is Morgan Schwab. Her 49 assists last season were the second-most in Cavalier history, and she was second on the team with 69 points. She also received Second Team All-ACC and Lacrosse Magazine All-American Honorable Mention honors, and will need to step up even more on offense next season.

Midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg is another Cavalier to highlight that adds to a talented senior class. Hoeg was third in the country in shot percentage at .635 and scored 40 goals, and she also led the Hoos with 27 ground balls on the season. Hoeg will get the chance to shine even more in the spring.

Anchoring the defense will be seniors Devon Whitaker and Maggie Bostain. Bostain led the team with 18 caused turnovers last season, and Devon Whitaker started every game on defense and was third on the team with 22 ground balls. Nicole Cruthirds also returns after starting in all but one game as a freshman. In cage, goalies Ashley Vernon and Abby Jansen split time, and both are expected to return. Vernon had a .374 save percentage and Jansen was .353, giving both goalies lots of room to improve next season. 

Kate Miller has an opportunity to take on a bigger role in her junior year, as she was second on the team with 26 assists despite never being in the starting lineup. Maureen Duffy and Abby Manalang are two midfielders who could see bigger roles as well, as both played in most contests but didn’t start.

As for the incoming freshmen, the Cavaliers announced eight players had signed their National Letters of intent to play for Virginia. However, the coaching change could lead to some fluctuation there. 

While the journey to rebuild after losing an iconic coach and some significant star power won’t be easy, Sonia LaMonica and the remaining Cavalier players have the talent required to get the job done and contend in the highly-competitive ACC next spring. 

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