Finally, time to play: Women to take field 'in honor of Yeardley'

Last Sunday, a day after Yeardley Love’s funeral in Baltimore, the University of Virginia women’s lacrosse team convened for a light practice at Love’s old high school. While there, some UVa alums passed out T-shirts to the players and to family and friends of Love.

On the front of the shirts is the phrase, “One Squad, One Heart, One Love.” The back reads, “Virginia Lacrosse.”

For players and fans of the team, the phrase seems to sum up the state of the program, which has tightened its circle and sought a return to playing as a way to handle the crush of national media attention and pressures related to the recent death of the popular teammate.

When Virginia players take the field at noon today for their NCAA tournament first-round game against Towson University, they will be playing much more than a lacrosse game.

They will be playing in memory of Love, whose battered body was found by a roommate in her bed on May 3.

George Huguely, Love’s ex-boyfriend and UVa men’s lacrosse player, admitted to police that he kicked through Love’s bedroom door and shook her as her head hit a wall, according to court documents.

Police have charged Huguely with first-degree murder, though Huguely’s lawyer characterized Love’s death as a tragic accident.

In the days leading up to the Towson game, the women’s team, including coach Julie Myers, kept a low profile. Myers discussed the team’s approach earlier in the week in a conference call with reporters.

“We’re going to do things not for Yeardley, but in honor of Yeardley,” Myers said, “because I just think that helps a natural flow happen a little easier.

“We really don’t have any grand plan. We don’t have any long-term outlook on anything. All we know is we really feel an incredible need and desire to stay together.”

With a record crowd expected, that feeling of unity figures to grow stronger.

The atmosphere at 8,000-seat Klockner Stadium will likely be special. The team usually draws fewer than 1,000 fans to its games, but that will change in a big way today.

Myers says a large number of people from up and down the East Coast have informed her that they will be attending the game in a show of support.

In addition, Love’s family will most likely be in attendance, according to Mary Bartel, Love’s former coach at Notre Dame Prep. Bartel herself will also be on hand.

Because the game is part of the NCAA tournament, the university can’t do too much in the way of tributes for Love. NCAA protocol mandates that all championship sites be run the same, according to Jim Daves, Virginia’s assistant athletic director for media relations.

However, there will be a moment of silence for Love before the game. The Virginia team — and all other UVa spring sports squads — will be wearing a black patch with the initials “Y.L.” and a “1,” Love’s team number, on their uniforms to honor the Cockeysville, Md., native.

Certainly, the increased fan support — and the accompanying media maelstrom — has the potential to magnify what already is a pressure event.

“I look at people rooting for us and wanting us to do well as a real positive,” Myers said. “I don’t look at that as pressure so much as I do as how great it is that people want us to do well.”

CBS College Sports commentator Sheehan Stanwick, a former player — and the older sister of Virginia men’s player Steele Stanwick — says it’s hard to gauge how the Virginia players will perform on the big stage.

“I’d have to think that playing lacrosse is a welcomed break,” Stanwick said, “but it remains to be seen how they will respond.”

Stanwick expects sixth-seeded Virginia to defeat Towson. However, UVa has been battling injuries. The Cavaliers, whose last game was an overtime loss at Northwestern on April 30, have lost three players — all to ACLs — during the last six weeks.

While Love wasn’t a consistent starter, the senior defender was a steady contributor — mainly with her leadership. Myers recalled a game in which Love led a pre-game cheer. Just before the cheer, she caught everyone off guard by counting to four instead of the usual three. The team has counted to four in those pre-game huddles ever since.

But Love was more than just a story or favorite memory, according to Myers.

“It’s more just her grace, her ease and her kindness,” said Myers, when asked to reflect on Love. “She was so beautiful to look at, but she was also that beautiful inside ...

“She was one of the most consistently kind people that I’ve ever met in my life.”