Goalie McBrearty gives Cavs edge in cage

By Bart Isley

Published: April 23, 2008

Little about Virginia’s Kendall McBrearty screams goalie. Take away her traditional sweatpants, and it’d be tough to tell the senior apart from any of her teammates. McBrearty is as athletic as they come in the cage in women’s lacrosse, and that makes her both an afront to the traditional biggest-kid-goes-in-goal stereotype and one of Virginia’s most potent weapons.
McBrearty doesn’t play the traditional hang-back-in-the-crease role for the Cavaliers (12-3, 5-1 ACC). Instead, she roams out to intercept passes and snag critical ground balls while also jumpstarting the offense’s fastbreak.
“That was always the stereotype, put the bigger kid in goal and I was never the bigger kid,” McBrearty said. “I’ve always been pretty athletic and I haven’t ever really been able to stay put.”
The senior’s style works well for her and No. 4 Virginia — well enough to earn McBrearty ACC tournament MVP honors in 2007. She’ll try and put together a repeat performance this week when the Cavaliers start ACC tournament play Friday against the winner of the Duke versus Virginia Tech quarterfinal scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Scott Stadium.
“At tournament time, it’s go big or go home,” McBrearty said. “I love it.”
McBrearty and the Cavalier defense surrendered just 6.81 goals per game during the regular season, good for third nationally and best in the ACC. Only Penn’s Sarah Waxman and No. 1 Northwestern’s Morgan Lathrop have
surrendered less.
The Cavaliers held opponents under 10 goals in all but one outing, back on March 12 against William and Mary in a 14-11 victory. That consistency has become McBrearty’s hallmark this season.
“I was pretty consistent last year but I feel like this year I’ve been a lot more consistent,” McBrearty said. “I’ve become a lot smarter about when to do something and when not to do something.”
To get to that point, McBrearty has curtailed some of her roaming outside the cage — she’s not afraid to gamble, but she’s gotten much better at deciding when to take a chance. Still, what sets McBrearty apart is her all-around game, a product of playing both tennis and basketball in high school. Her interceptions and plays on ground balls have been the catalyst for any number of breaks by the Cavaliers’ explosive offense.
“She’s definitely one of the most athletic goalies I’ve ever seen,” said junior midfielder Blair Weymouth. “A lot of what happens on offense starts with her.”
McBrearty is also one of the most vocal goalies. The senior used to be accused of talking too much on the field at certain times, a product of her excitable nature. Like everything else, McBrearty’s field chatter has improved and become more efficient as she’s gotten older. She’s also learned when to channel that energy better. Last year during the ACC tournament she may have gone overboard a little bit in the later stages of one game.
“Even when we were up by four with like 30 seconds left I was turning to my teammates and I was like ‘We can still lose, we can still lose,’” McBrearty said. “I’m a little bit more relaxed now — I know what we’ll face more and how to handle it. I’ve definitely grown over the past year, but I still get excited.”
Of course she does. It’s tournament time.