No. 7 Virginia Falls 15-12 to No. 3 Boston College
March 31, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (8-3, 3-2 ACC) fell 15-12 to No. 3 Boston College (13-0, 4-0 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia struck first and jumped out to a 4-1 lead just nine minutes into the game, with junior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) scoring three goals in the run. BC used a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 lead, but the Cavaliers scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at the half. BC scored two goals out of the break to take an 8-6 advantage. Virginia cut it to one twice, but the Eagles had another 5-0 run to lead 14-8. Sophomore Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) scored three consecutive goals to cut it to 14-11 but UVA couldn’t complete the comeback.
“I thought we were doing a great job on early draws and pushing the fast break and transition to start the game,” head coach Julie Myers said. “BC did a nice job of sending some extra defenders back and getting in our way. They put extra feet back on the draw and did a nice job of closing down on our fast-break transitions. I thought the game was won today in their transitions. We turned the ball over when we had opportunities and we didn’t have enough opportunities on the attacking side. I am really proud of our defense for locking up and doing a great job on one of the best attackers in the country in Sam Apuzzo. Some great things to take from the game, we just need to clean up our transition game.”
Shoemaker led UVA with four goals and Mueller had three goals along with two assists. Senior Ana Hagerup (Washington, D.C.) and freshman Chloe Jones (Slingerlands, N.Y.) each had two goals and senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) had one.
Shoemaker scored back-to-back goals to open the game and give the Cavaliers the early lead. BC scored its first goal at 24:23. Behr sent a shot into the net then Shoemaker completed her hat trick with 21:53 to go in the first half. The Eagles had a 5-0 run over almost 10 minutes to lead 6-4.
Jones scored her first of the afternoon with the assist from Behr and freshman Olivia Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) found Shoemaker for a fast-break transition goal as Virginia tied the game 6-6 heading into halftime.
Boston College scored two straight to begin the second half. Jones scored to cut it to 8-7, but BC responded just a minute later. Hagerup scored to make it 9-8 with 17:19 to play. Boston College stretched its lead to 14-8 with a 5-0 run.
Mueller scored her first of the day after junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) won the ensuing draw. Jackson, who finished with a game-high seven draws, had the draw again after a foul by BC on the previous goal and found Mueller who ran past BC’s defense for another goal just 19 seconds later.
BC won the next draw, but Shoemaker forced a turnover and junior Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) picked up the ground ball. Mueller scored her third goal in a minute and 35 seconds to cut BC’s lead to 14-11 with 2:59 to play. BC scored to halt UVA’s run. Hagerup scored on the assist from Mueller to cut it to 15-12 with 39 seconds, but the Cavaliers couldn’t complete the comeback.
Along with seven draws, Jackson had five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Mueller added three caused turnovers with four draw controls and Luzik had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Sophomore Charlie Campbell (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) came in to pick up five saves in goal for the Cavaliers. UVA held the nation’s top-scoring offense to its third lowest score of the season and held the nation’s leading scorer, Sam Apuzzo, to just one goal on three shots.
BC led in shots (31-24), ground balls (17-16), draw controls (16-13) and saves (7-6). UVA had 14 turnovers to 16 for the Eagles.
Virginia will be on the road at No. 2 Maryland on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.