No. 8 Virginia Powers Past No. 21 Notre Dame
March 17, 2018
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 8 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (6-2, 2-1 ACC) used a balanced offensive attack to pick up an ACC road win, 17-10, over No. 21 Notre Dame (5-5, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Arlotta Stadium in Notre Dame, Ind.
Virginia was on the board first when Notre Dame came back to take a 3-1 lead. The Cavaliers responded with a 6-0 run to lead 7-3. The Irish halted the run with a goal, but UVA closed out the half with a 4-2 run to lead 11-6 at the break. The Cavaliers remained in control, holding Notre Dame scoreless for 18:20 in the second half, while scoring five goals in the span. UVA had five players with three or more goals in the win.
“It is certainly nice to win a big game, especially a big game in the ACC against a talented and tough team like Notre Dame,” head coach Julie Myers said. “I am proud of our girls for coming out and doing such a good job of getting loose balls, draw controls and setting that tone. It was nice having a lead going into halftime. We knew Notre Dame was going to come back hard at us. We needed to make sure we were tightening up defensively as well. Maddie Howe had a bunch of goals for Notre Dame and we were able to lock her down a little bit by changing our defense. I think that made a huge difference. We came up with some huge saves and scoring 17 goals always makes you feel like you are going in the right direction to win a game.”
Senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) and junior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) led the Cavaliers with four goals apiece. Junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) scored three goals with two assists for a team-high five points. Sophomore Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) had four points (3 goals, 1 assist) and freshman Olivia Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) scored a career-high three goals. Senior Ana Hagerup (Washington, D.C.) dished out a career-high three assists.
The Cavaliers converted 17 of their 27 shots on goal and led with 18 draw controls to 11 for the Irish. Behr had a team-high seven draws and Hagerup paced UVA with a career-high four ground balls. Goalkeeper Charlie Campbell came in to pick up four saves in the second half, as UVA held Notre Dame to just two goals in over 22 minutes.
Mueller put UVA on the board first with a goal at the 27:01 mark. Notre Dame hit three straight goals to lead 3-1 with 20:47 to go in the first. Mueller found Jackson for a goal that would spark a 6-0 run by the Cavaliers. Hagerup connected with Schildmeyer to tie the game 3-3. Shoemaker scored her first of the afternoon, Jackson and Mueller scored goals in a 44 second span and Behr completed the run with a goal at 13:08 to give UVA a 7-3 advantage.
Notre Dame scored its first goal in a nine-minute span to cut it to 7-4, but Shoemaker scored her second of the day then Behr had back-to-backs goals in 17 seconds to put UVA in front 10-4 with 9:14 to go in the half. The Irish cut it to 10-6, before Shoemaker completed a hat trick in the first half to send Virginia into the break up 11-6.
After a Notre Dame scored to begin the second half, UVA picked up the ground ball on a turnover for the Irish and ran the field as Jackson found Schildmeyer, who scored her second of the afternoon, to put UVA back up 12-7. The Irish scored two consecutive goals to cut it to 12-9 with 22:21 to go.
Virginia remained in control as it stretched its lead to 17-9 with a 5-0 run over the span of 18:20 in the second half. Hagerup found Jackson, who reached a hat trick on the afternoon. Shoemaker scored her fourth of the day, then Hagerup found Schildmeyer as she scored again for her first career hat trick. Mueller and Behr each added goals during the run. Notre Dame scored with 4:01 remaining as UVA took the 17-10 win.
Virginia led in shots (42-25), ground balls (21-16) and draw controls (18-11). The Cavaliers were 20-20 on clears and converted three of eight free position shots, while limiting Notre Dame to one of four. The Irish had 11 saves to six for UVA. Maddie Howe led Notre Dame with four goals.
The Cavaliers will return home to host in-state foe James Madison on Wednesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.