A deep impact

For area high school lacrosse programs, the game that ties them to the tragedy of Yeardley Love’s death last week is also a way to cope with the loss of the University of Virginia player.
“I think it was important for us to just get out and play some ball,” St. Anne’s-Belfield boys lacrosse coach Bo Perriello said last Wednesday after the Saints played their first game since Love was found dead in her Charlottesville apartment May 3. Her ex-boyfriend, men’s player George Huguely, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death.
“Getting back on the field is always a good thing and I think that it probably meant a lot to the kids to get back out there doing what they love,” Perriello said.
No other school in the Charlottesville area is as connected to the UVa
programs as STAB. Seniors Owen Van Arsdale and Austin Geisler are recruits who have committed to play for the Cavalier men next season, where they will join former St. Anne’s teammate Howie Long, now a freshman with the Cavs.
Van Arsdale is also the son of Virginia men’s associate head coach Marc Van Arsdale.
“Obviously, the lacrosse community is a small community,” Perriello said. “Anytime something happens in that community, you want to address it with your guys. We have some connections with our team and the university, but more than anything we wanted to make sure we were handling it with our kids and giving them a chance to express any anxiety or concerns they may have.”
The STAB girls program was also hit hard by events of last week. Former UVa women’s player Blair Weymouth is an assistant at St. Anne’s, but missed its game last Thursday while grieving for Love. The Saints wore “YL” on their sleeves in memory of the fallen Virginia player.
“She coached at my evening camps,” STAB girls coach Mary Blake said. “I knew her. It was right in our community. Charlottesville is a small town.”
The Saints also donned “EG” on their uniforms in honor of Eloise Gould, a 14-year-old former STAB student who died on May 1.
At Western Albemarle, where the Warriors are the No. 1-rated team in the Virginia High School League’s Group AA, boys head coach Brad Haws said that even though his program doesn’t have direct ties to either team at UVa, the killing was something he had to address with his team. He said he hoped one positive that could come out of it would be lessons learned by younger players.
“We talked about how unfortunate it is that lives get ruined by things that are such unfortunate events,” Haws said. “It’s really sad for us. We don’t know those players and those teams individually, but it’s hard.”
Even those that don’t know the Cavaliers on a personal level say it’s difficult to pick up a stick in Central Virginia and not feel connected to UVa in some way.
“It’s a small community and players know players,” Haws said. “Those UVa players often come out and do clinics for our kids. That’s real. It’s real for them.”
When the Albemarle and Monticello girls met on May 3, the teams decided to dedicate the game to Love, who along with her Virginia teammates had worked with players on both squads.
“A lot of the girls work with the club teams in the offseason, and those UVa girls really put in some time in the community,” Monticello coach Karen Hackett said. “So when they lose somebody, we feel like we lose somebody too. The girls definitely lose a mentor, somebody to look up to, and Yeardley was a great asset to their team and our community, the lacrosse community.”
So as the university, Charlottesville and the lacrosse world continue to mourn, the games, at all levels, go on. Both UVa squads will return to the field this weekend for first-round NCAA tournament games and the Cavaliers can count on younger players in the Charlottesville area watching and pulling for them.
“We all just … we have them in our thoughts and prayers,” Hackett said. “We heard that they were going to continue their season and the girls were really excited. They wanted to go out and support them.”