No. 15 Virginia Powers Past Louisville 11-7
April 15, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (9-7, 3-3 ACC) scored six goals while allowing just one in the second half for the 11-7 victory over Louisville (10-6, 2-4 ACC) on Saturday (April 15) afternoon at KlÃÆ’Æ‘¶ckner Stadium.
After Louisville scored the first two goals of the game, UVA cut the lead down to one several times. The Cavaliers scored back-to-back goals at the end of the first half to trail 6-5 at halftime. Virginia the scored the first two goals in the second half and finished the game on a 4-0 run to take the win.
“This is a huge win for us,” head coach Julie Myers said. “We are here at home and coming down the stretch we want to go in hot to the ACC Tournament. We needed another ACC win, so I definitely looked at this game as a must-win. The girls rose to the challenge today. It wasn’t a perfectly played game, but they grinded it out and made just enough opportunities go their way.”
Six different players scored for the Cavaliers. Sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) led UVA with three goals and added an assist. Senior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) had a team-high four assists.
UVA’s defense held a Louisville offense that averaged 11.87 goals per game, to just one goal in the second half. The seven goals for the Cardinals matched a season-low. Jackson finished with three caused turnovers, four draws controls and four ground balls. Junior Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) and freshman Lauren Martin (McLean, Va.) each had four ground balls.
“Our defense really stepped up in the second half and Rachel made enough saves at the right time,” Myers said. “We held them for most of their possession clock and were able to cause it to expire a couple of times, so anytime you can make a stop or get a possession clock violation I think it brings good energy and emotion. To hold a team like that to one goal in the second half says a lot.”
Down 2-0, Virginia scored its first goal of the game when Jackson found Dyson in the middle to make it 2-1 at the 22:27 mark in the first half. Louisville scored again to go ahead 3-1. The Cavaliers closed the gap back to one with a free position goal by freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) with 13:29 to play in the first.
The Cardinals scored two more goals before sophomore Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) found the net at the 8:21 mark to cut it to 5-3. Louisville went back up by three, but the Cavaliers scored the final two goals of the half. Jackson scored with the assist from Dyson, and then junior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) hit a shot with eight seconds left on the clock to send UVA into the half down 6-5.
Jackson scored her second goal of the day with the assist from Dyson to tie the game at 6-6 just two minutes into the second half. UVA then took its first lead of the game, 7-6, on a goal by Mueller at the 25:09 mark. Louisville scored its lone goal in the second half by McKayla Conti at 23:47.
Jackson completed her hat trick with another assist from Dyson to put UVA back in front, 8-7. Virginia added to its lead when senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) scored a goal with 12:19 to play with the assist from Dyson. Behr scored her second of the day to give the Cavaliers a 10-7 advantage, and Shoemaker scored with 1:38 remaining as UVA kept possession to close out the 11-7 win.
Virginia out-shot Louisville 38-19, won the draw control battle 13-6 and had 22 ground balls to 17. The Cardinals finished with 14 saves, while UVA had five. The Cavaliers had 16 turnovers to 20 for Louisville.
Virginia will conclude its regular season at home on Saturday, April 22 when it hosts Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. at Kl̮ծԦckner Stadium. It will be Senior Day as well as a Commonwealth Clash game.