Looking beyond the game

While the national media focused on the Virginia Tech campus earlier this week, the shootings struck especially close to home for the Hokies softball team when they found out Theresa Walsh, a former player and fifth-year senior at Virginia Tech, was in one of the classrooms of Norris Hall.

According to Hokies softball coach Scot Thomas, Walsh held the door to her advanced mathematics class closed to protect the 10 to 12 other students in the room.

As Virginia Tech mourns those killed in the wake of one of the deadliest shootings in modern U.S. history, two Terrapin athletic teams will head down to Blacksburg with a little bit more on their minds than usual.

The Terrapin women's lacrosse team will play the Hokies on Sunday at noon, and the Terrapin softball team will play the Hokies in a doubleheader tomorrow and in a single game on Sunday.

The decision to go ahead with the athletic schedule this weekend has caused mixed feelings for players and coaches for both schools.

"We're honoring our commitment to Virginia Tech," Terrapin women's lacrosse coach Cathy Reese said. "They're choosing to host the game, so we'll be down there to play."

Members of the Terrapin softball team were not allowed to speak to the media regarding Monday's events, and members of the Terrapin women's lacrosse team are not allowed to speak to media at all until after the game ends on Sunday.

As is typical in the world of sports after a national tragedy, athletes, coaches and team personnel are trying to find an appropriate balance among respect and remembrance, and moving ahead with competition.

While the Virginia Tech athletic department announced on Tuesday that the games against the Terps teams, along with a three-game baseball series against Miami, would be played on campus as scheduled this weekend, several Hokie lacrosse players are feeling apprehensive about returning to competition so soon after the tragedy.

"I'm pretty torn about playing," Hokie lacrosse senior tri-captain Lindsay Pieper said. "On one hand it's good to get back into the routine, but on the other hand I think it might be too soon. I just don't know if we'll be ready mentally and physically to even step on the lacrosse field."

Many of the Hokie lacrosse players went home Tuesday night or Wednesday and are not returning to their campus until tonight. Only a few senior players, who sensed graduation approaching in a few weeks, wanted to stay on campus as much as possible.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday, but was pushed back to Sunday to give the Hokies an extra day to try to regroup.

"I think it's going to be very hard to play," senior tri-captain Britt Faulkner said. "We're all feeling a little numb and distracted. We're not really focusing on lacrosse right now. I'm sure when it's time to play we'll be able to pull ourselves together."

Reese is hoping the Terps will be able to cope with the situation by paying respect to the Virginia Tech community, but also by focusing on lacrosse.

After an off-day Tuesday following a loss at Northwestern the day before, the Terps held a team meeting on Wednesday during which they discussed the events in Blacksburg.

"We had a talk about everything going on and just kind of shared our thoughts and feelings," Reese said. "And now we move forward and look on to lacrosse and Maryland, and to see where we're going as a team from here."

The Terps returned to regular practice yesterday and are trying to prepare for Sunday as they would for any other ACC game.

"I think out of respect for [Virginia Tech] we need to show up and play our game of lacrosse that we've been focusing on all season," Reese said. "We're going out on the field to play Maryland lacrosse."

Before the game on Sunday, the Terps will take part in a ceremony planned by the two schools. Family members of players on both teams will take part in a special presentation, and the Terps' players will be giving T-shirts to members of the Hokies.

The Terps will wear T-shirts with the Virginia Tech logo on the front and the word "strength" on the back during pre-game warm-ups to show their support. The Hokies' senior day ceremony is scheduled to go on as planned, and there will be a moment of silence before the game to remember the victims.

While the Terps can clinch the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament with a win and the Hokies are still looking for their first win in ACC play, both teams are thinking about the bigger picture.

"When this happened, it made lacrosse seem so insignificant," Pieper said. "We'd been struggling all year and we'd been frustrated. When something like this happens you realize how lucky you are, and lacrosse isn't that important. The problems we've had just pale in comparison."

"I think it puts a lot into perspective, being that this could happen on any campus at any day," Reese said. "It makes you realize what's important around you and not take anything or any day for granted."

The two softball teams are trying to cope with similar feelings of trepidation about their games this weekend.

After sweeping North Carolina in two games last weekend and taking over as the top team in the ACC standings, the Hokies' softball team was feeling great about its situation heading into the games this weekend.

But after Monday, softball seemed irrelevant for the Hokies as concern for their teammates, classmates and friends took center stage. Now, the team will try to regroup and focus on their matchup against the Terps this weekend.

"It's really tough, because we were coming off one of the best weekends we've ever had," junior pitcher Angela Tincher said. "But after Monday everything else paled in comparison to what was going on around campus."

Thomas agreed with Tincher that Monday's events really gave them a new perspective on softball.

"We came off the weekend feeling pretty good," Thomas said. "Then we got a dose of reality and a look at how short life is. The positive is that we have softball to get back to."

The Hokies' game against East Tennessee State that was scheduled for Tuesday was canceled quickly and will not be made up this season.

And while the emotions surrounding this weekend's games may be a large distraction for the players, the games may be a more meaningful distraction for the student body by letting them focus on other things.

"I think it was right for us to cancel the game Tuesday. Obviously that was too soon." Tincher said Wednesday on ESPN's Cold Pizza. "This weekend, I think is a small step back in the right direction and maybe it will even give people on campus something to do. Come out and see some sports and get their minds off the tragedy that has happened."

After sweeping George Washington in a doubleheader Wednesday, the three games this weekend pose a chance for the Terps to get back on track in the ACC. They have lost seven of their last eight games against ACC competition and are third from last in the standings. The team's reaction to the tragedy has yet to be determined.

"We didn't even look at the Virginia Tech games until after Monday," coach Laura Watten said. "Right now it's more of a situation of nervousness. Everyone's okay and focused now, but there is no telling how we'll feel when we get there."

The Terp players sent e-mails and Facebook messages to the Hokie players Monday night and have been communicating with their opponents throughout the week.

"Usually we wouldn't talk to them at all," Watten said.

But both coaches agree that this weekend is all about getting back to softball for their players.

"I think both teams just want to go out there and just play and try to forget about all that stuff," Watten said.

While the games will be played this weekend, the outcomes won't be the focus, as players and fans look for a return to normalcy.

"None of us have ever been through this," Thomas said. "After we get through the national anthem and a few pitches into the game, we'll let our instincts take over and we'll try to get through this together."

Contact reporters Greg Schimmel and Kyle Wannen at schimmeldbk@gmail.com and kwannendbk@gmail.com.