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No. 9 Cavaliers Look to Rebound on Sunday at No. 13 Penn State
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will conclude its two-game road swing on Sunday, as the Cavaliers head to State College, Pa., for a game against No. 13 Penn State. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. Live statistics will be available on VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers (2-2, 0-1 ACC) are coming off a tough loss at No. 2 Maryland on Friday. The Terrapins scored the final seven goals of the contest and held the Cavaliers scoreless in the second half, en route to an 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference victory. Senior All-American Kaitlin Duff led Virginia in the contest with two goals, while redshirt junior Lauren Benner stopped a game-high seven shots in goal.
Sophomore Josie Owen and Duff pace Virginia this season with 13 points each. Duff has tallied a team-high nine goals to go with four assists, while Owen has distributed seven assists and notched six goals. Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein leads the nation with 28 draw controls and was recently – in addition to Duff and 50 other women’s lacrosse players spanning all divisions – named to the preseason Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
Penn State (3-1) is coming off a dominating victory over Colgate, 17-7, last weekend. Seven different Nittany Lions recorded a point in the game, led by Erica Mihm who had four goals. Molly Fernandez, the two-time ALC Rookie of the Week, leads Penn State this season with eight goals and three assists.
In the all-time series between the two programs, the Cavaliers hold the slight lead at 16-14, but have won 12 of the last 13 contests. Penn State dominated the series early, winning nine-straight meetings from 1983-91.
Last season, Virginia edged out the Nittany Lions by using a five-goal run late in the second half to come-from-behind and force overtime. Sophomore Julie Gardner slipped in the game-winning goal with 52 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Cavaliers to a 12-11 victory.
Next week, the Cavaliers will be back in action at home on Saturday, March 13 for an ACC battle with No. 4 North Carolina.