Virginia's Season Ends with Loss to Johns Hopkins in NCAA First Round
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Box Score May 13, 2016
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s (9-9) season ended with a 12-10 loss to Johns Hopkins (11-7) on Friday afternoon in the 2016 NCAA Championship First Round in College Park, Md. at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
After trailing 7-4 at halftime, Virginia cut the lead to 9-8 with a 4-2 run to begin the second half. The Cavaliers were unable to complete the comeback as Johns Hopkins scored three-straight goals to stretch its lead back to three. The Cavaliers scored at the 2:42 mark, but couldn’t score again until a goal with five seconds remaining closed out the game, 12-10.
“We faced a really sharp opponent in Hopkins today,” Virginia head coach Julie Myers said. “I thought they played a really good game from the opening whistle, whereas it took us a couple of minutes to wake up. Digging an early hole shouldn’t be enough to win a game, but I do think they set the tone early and the rest of the game we were playing catch-up. Every time we got it close they found the back of the net one more time. I am proud of our effort and I am proud of this team. Hats off to Hopkins, they did a great job making plays when they had to.”
Seven different players scored for Virginia, with senior Kelly Boyd (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) leading the team with two goals each. UVA outshot Hopkins 24-23 led with 16 ground balls to 13. Both teams finished with 12 draw controls. The Cavaliers had eight turnovers to 12 for the Blue Jays, but Johns Hopkins converted 3-of-5 free position goals to 1-of-5 for UVA.
Johns Hopkins jumped out early, taking a 3-0 lead in just over two minutes to begin the game. Behr had free position attempt that was saved but rebounded to Boyd, who put it back in for a goal to put Virginia on the board down, 3-1.
The Cavaliers were down 5-1, when senior Mary Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J.) picked up the draw control and ran it down for a goal as Virginia cut it to 5-2 with 14:28 remaining in the first half. Junior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) then found the net to make it 5-3 with 9:39 left in the first.
The Blue Jays added two goals to take a 7-3 lead. Sophomore Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.) then scored for UVA on an assist from Boyd to send the Cavaliers into the half trailing 7-4. Johns Hopkins won the first three draw controls, but UVA then had a 6-3 advantage for the remainder of the half.
Virginia was on the board first in the second half when Behr scored on a goal on an assist from Alati, but Johns Hopkins responded quickly to lead 8-5 with 26:10 left in the second half. UVA won the ensuing draw and junior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) found a wide-open Boyd in front of the net for a goal to cut it to 8-6. Johns Hopkins responded once again to go back up by three.
Junior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) scored her first goal of the day to cut it back to two, then Dyson netted her first on a free position shot as UVA pulled within one, 9-8, with 20:11 left on the clock.
However, Johns Hopkins hit back-to-back free position goals to go up 11-8 with 7:22 to play. Down 12-8, Behr scored her second goal of the game to cut it to three with 2:42 remaining. Alati added a goal with five seconds remaining to close out the 12-10 loss.
Freshman Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) finished with a career-high five draw controls for Virginia. Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) led UVA with three caused turnovers and had six saves.
Haley Schweizer led Johns Hopkins with three goals, while four players finished with two each.
Johns Hopkins advances to play No. 1 seed Maryland in the second round on Sunday.