Virginia Upsets Georgetown to Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals

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May 12, 2013

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team (11-9) upset six-seed Georgetown (13-6), 10-8, in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Multi-Sport Field in Washington, D.C.

Virginia went on an 8-1 run that spanned both halves and held off a late rally by the sixth-seed Hoyas en route to the win Sunday afternoon.

“We knew that Georgetown was a great team with a lot of offensive weapons and that we were going to have to make some big stops defensively and make our possessions count on the other end,” said head coach Julie Myers. “I thought our attackers were shooting the ball really well, particularly in the first 45 minutes of the game. When we went to possess the ball a little more, we got off our rhythm a little bit and gave Georgetown a window. In the end, we were able to make just enough stops and take care of the ball just well enough to come up with the win.”

With the victory, the unseeded Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship and will face No. 3-seed North Carolina on Saturday, May 18 at 1 p.m. in Chapel Hill.

Georgetown struck first on a goal by junior Kelyn Freedman just 1:26 into the game on an assist by junior Reilly Woodman, making her first career start in 25 appearances.

Virginia got on the board 23 seconds later on an unassisted tally by Liza Blue(So., Butler, Md.) sparking an 8-1 run that would put the Cavaliers in front 8-2 with 22:29 to play in the second half.

Tarzian and senior Dina Jackson scored back-to-back goals 30 seconds apart to pull the Hoyas within four, snapping a 26:42 scoring drought.

Three minutes later, Caroline McTiernan (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) would notch what proved to be the game-winning goal with 18:01 to go in the game off a feed from Kelly Boyd(Fr., Baltimore, Md.).

The Hoyas scored the final four goals of the contest beginning with Tarzian’s team-leading 36th goal of the season coming at 11:32 in the second half.

“We still had the lead, so we were just trying to not let it get to us,” said Cavalier defender Morgan Stephens(So, Olney, Md.). “We had to keep playing our game and not worry about them coming back. We had to stay focused on taking care of the ball and stopping them.”

The game was statistically even as both teams had 21 shots, 10 draw controls, 23 fouls and 14 turnovers. Virginia had three free position goals to Georgetown’s one.

Junior Barb Black and freshman Megan McDonald split time between the pipes today, totaling five saves for GU. Kim Kolarik(Sr., Riva, Md.) made nine stops in goal for Virginia, including seven in the first half.

The Cavaliers were led offensively by McTiernan and Casey Bocklet(So., South Salem, N.Y.) with each scoring three points and collectively were 3-for-4 on the free position.

Courtney Swan (So., Vero Beach, Fla.) added four draw controls while defensively Stephens had four caused turnovers and scooped three ground balls. Kelsey Gahan (So., Cockeysville, Md.) and Anne Thomas(Sr., Baltimore, Md.) also had three ground balls apiece.

The victory over No. 6 Georgetown is UVa’s third win of the season over a top-10 ranked team and the fifth over a team ranked in the top-20. Virginia has won four of its last five games with a pair of victories over top-10 teams in that span.

This is the first time the Cavaliers have won two games in the NCAA Tournament since 2007 when UVa won three games to advance to the National Championship game when the tournament consisted of 16 teams as opposed to the current field of 26. Virginia advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2010, only to fall 17-7 at North Carolina.

The Cavaliers will face No. 3 North Carolina next weekend with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament semifinals, which will be held in Villanova, Pa. on May 24. Virginia has made 13 Final Four appearances and has won three National Championships (1991, 1993, 2004). Virginia’s last trip to the Final Four was in 2007 when they lost in the National Championship game to Northwestern.