Virginia Defeats Stanford to Advance to NCAA Second Round
May 11, 2018
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The No. 18 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (10-9) advanced to the 2018 NCAA Second Round with a 12-3 win over No. 11 Stanford (15-5) on Friday night at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Va.
Virginia was on the board first and dominated defensively to lead the Cardinal 4-0 in the first half. The Cavaliers came out to score first in the second half and would use a 4-0 run to lead 9-1 with 21:18 to play. The Cavaliers outscored Stanford 8-3 in the second half to take the 12-3 win.
“I’m really proud of the way we played tonight,” head coach Julie Myers said. “We did a good job of controlling the game against a talented Stanford team. We made consistent stops and our defenders played well as a unit. We have been working really hard and getting better as Virginia. I think all the work the girls put in really showed tonight.”
Sophomore Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y) scored a game-high five goals. Junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) dished out four assists and had a goal to score five points. Senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) finished with four goals.
Mueller led the Cavaliers with four draw controls and Behr added three. Senior Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) was solid in the net with a season-high 14 saves. The Cavalier defense held Stanford scoreless for 32 minutes in the game.
Virginia jumped on the board first when Behr ripped her first goal of the day with the assist from Jackson. The Cavaliers extended their lead when Jackson converted a free position at 18:05. Mueller made it a 3-0 lead as Jackson found her driving in front of the net. Jackson then connected with Behr again, who scored to make it a 4-0 lead with 8:37 to go in the first half and the Cavaliers would take that lead into halftime.
UVA took a 5-0 lead when senior Daniela Kelly (Rumson, N.J.) scored a behind-the-back shot on the assist from Jackson. Stanford scored to cut it to 5-1. Behr completed her hat trick after scoring on a free position. Freshman Chloe Jones (Slingerlands, N.Y.) then scored on a free position to push UVA’s lead to 7-1. Just 17 seconds later, freshman Taylor Regan (Larchmont, N.Y.) connected with Behr for a goal. Mueller extended the run for the Cavaliers with a goal at 21:18 as UVA led 9-1. Stanford put another on the board to make it 9-2.
Regan connected with Mueller as she completed her hat trick to make it 10-2 with 16:19 to play. Stanford scored to make it a 10-3 game. Mueller made it an 11-3 lead for the Cavaliers as senior Ana Hagerup (Washington, D.C.) found her in front of the net. Virginia capped off the game when Hagerup found Mueller again to complete the 12-3 win.
Virginia led the game in shots (31-24), draw controls (11-6) and saves (14-6). Stanford had the edge in ground balls, 25-18.
Virginia will play No. 3 seed James Madison on Sunday at noon in the NCAA second round at Sentara Park. The winner will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals.