Second Half Lifts No. 7 Virginia Past Canisius
March 28, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (8-2) picked up an 18-8 win over Canisius (4-5) on Wednesday night at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia scored the first goal of the game but had to overcome a 4-1 deficit after a run by Canisius. The Cavaliers fought back to score five straight to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. Canisius scored first out of the break, but UVA responded just 13 seconds later. The teams battled back-and-forth until a 7-0 run helped the Cavaliers to a 12-4 difference in the second half.
“I think we did just enough to get the win tonight, the scoreboard makes it look like we played a little bit better than we did,” head coach Julie Myers said. “We grinded through it. We had some moments of clean fast-break transitions and nice defensive stops, but we have some things we need to get better at to be successful in our next game [Boston College] on Saturday.”
The Cavaliers had 11 different players score a goal and nine of the goals were assisted. Junior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) led UVA with five points, scoring three goals with one assist. Sophomore Megan Plain (Pittsford, N.Y.) had a career-high three goals in her first collegiate start.
Sophomore Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) scored two goals and added two assists while picking up a team-high seven draw controls. Junior Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) led the Cavaliers with seven ground balls and added two caused turnovers.
Virginia finished with 43 shots, while the Cavalier defense allowed just 16 shots for Canisius. UVA led in ground balls, 25-17, and was perfect 19-of-19 on clears. The Golden Griffins had a 14-13 advantage in draw controls and led with 18 saves to four for UVA. Virginia capitalized off 26 turnovers by Canisius, and committed just 13.
Virginia was on the board first when Plain scored her first of the day on the assist from Shoemaker at 29:04. Canisius would go on a 4-0 run, with Jen Reininger scoring all three of her team-leading goals in the run, to lead 4-1 with 22:02 to go in the first.
Plain scored again on the assist from junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) to halt the Griffs’ run. Shoemaker converted a free position shot, then senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.), sophomore Nora Bowen (Lovettsville, Va.) and Shoemaker all scored in the 5-0 run by Virginia as the Cavaliers took a 6-4 lead into halftime.
Canisius scored first out of the break to cut it to one, but Shoemaker completed her hat trick with a goal just 13 seconds later to stretch the lead back to two. The Griffs cut it to one again but senior Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.) scored on an eight-meter and fellow senior Ana Hagerup (Washington, D.C.) ran past her defender to give the Cavaliers a 9-6 lead with 19:50 to play. Canisius scored to cut it to two, but Mueller won the ensuing draw and found Hagerup for a fast-break goal 13 seconds later. Mueller snatched the draw again and this time found Behr who ripped one into the net to put UVA in front 11-7 with 18:33 to go. Cansisius scored with 13:11 remaining.
Virginia closed out the game on a 7-0 run, holding the Griffs without a goal for the rest of the contest. Jackson scored her first of the day on a free position, then Mueller had back-to-back goals with the second assisted by freshman Chloe Jones (Slingerlands, N.Y.). Jones then converted a free position shot to make it 15-8 with 8:29 to play. Freshman Olivia Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) was assisted by junior Angie Loynaz (Cos Cob, Conn.), Plain completed her first career hat trick and freshman Katie Railey (Towson, Md.) scored her first career goal with the assist from fellow freshman Taylor Regan (Larchmont, N.Y.) to close out the game.
Virginia will remain at home to host No. 3 Boston College on Saturday, March 31 at noon at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers will have a double-header with Virginia men’s lacrosse, who is set to play at 3 p.m. Fans can attend both games with one ticket.