No. 15 Virginia Falls 12-8 at No. 5 Penn State
April 8, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (7-7) fell 12-8 at No. 5 Penn State (13-1) on Saturday (April 8) afternoon at the Penn State Lacrosse Field in University Park, Pa.
With the game tied 2-2, the Cavaliers scored four-straight to take a 6-2 lead. UVA held Penn State without a goal for nearly 17 minutes. Virginia took a 6-4 lead into halftime as the Nittany Lions scored two-straight to close the first. Penn State scored the first two goals of the second half and outscored UVA 8-2 over the period in the win.
“We blew a great opportunity to beat a highly-ranked team,” head coach Julie Myers said. “I am disappointed we shot so poorly, especially in the second half. We needed to make some adjustments defensively with some of the fouls that were being called, but our attackers need to step up and hit some shots. We could have and should have, but we didn’t and that is the hardest part about today’s game.”
Senior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) led the UVA offense with three points, scoring one goal with two assists. Sophomores Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) and Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) along with junior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) each scored two goals. Shoemaker also picked up four draws. Katie O’Donnell led Penn State with four goals.
Junior goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) finished with 12 saves and had six grounds balls.
After Penn State scored first, the Cavaliers tied the game 1-1 when senior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) converted a free position opportunity. UVA scored again quickly after Shoemaker picked up the draw then found Dyson who lost her defender to score and make it 2-1 at the 21:33 mark. The Nittany Lions hit right back to tie the game at 2-2.
Neither team scored for nearly five minutes, until Behr found the net to put UVA in front 3-2 at the 14:46 mark. The Cavaliers added to the lead after winning the ensuing draw when Dyson found Jackson in front of the net for a goal as UVA took a 4-2 lead. A turnover in the midfield by Penn State was picked up by Shoemaker to give UVA possession. Valis then found Jackson who ran past the Nittany defense to score her second of the day. Virginia capped off its run when Shoemaker picked up a loose ball and scored to take a 6-2 lead with 8:02 to play in the first half.
The Cavalier defense held Penn State scoreless for nearly 17 minutes as the Nittany Lions did not score again until the 2:53 mark to cut UVA’s lead to 6-3. Penn State scored another goal to cut Virginia’s lead to 6-4 at the half.
The Nittany Lions continued their run into the second half with the first two goals to tie the game 6-6 with 21:31 to play. UVA scored its first goal of the second half when Dyson found Shoemaker as the Cavaliers led 7-6, but Penn State countered with a goal to tie it once again. The Nittany Lions scored two more to lead 9-7 with 14:07 to play.
UVA cut the lead back to one, 9-8, when Behr scored her second of the day. However, Penn State scored three goals to close out the 12-8 win.
Penn State led UVA in shots (24-22), draw controls (13-9), ground balls (21-20) and saves (14-12). The Cavaliers had eight caused turnovers on the afternoon.
Virginia will close out the regular season at home in its final three games, starting with a Wednesday, April 12 matchup with Navy at 7 p.m. at Kl̮ծԦckner Stadium.