Virginia Falls 12-10 to Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinals

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 5 seed Virginia women’s lacrosse team (12-6) fell short, 12-10, to No. 4 seed Syracuse (15-3) on Saturday afternoon in the 2019 ACC Quarterfinals at Alumni Stadium.
 
UVA was down 9-2 to at halftime but fought back to outscore Syracuse 8-3 in the second half. Senior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) and freshman Lillie Kloak (Ridgewood, N.J.) each had four points (three goals and one assist) to lead the Cavaliers.
 
Syracuse had the lead in shots (31-24), draw controls (15-8) and ground balls (15-14). UVA was 3-for-8 on free positions, while Syracuse was 0-for-6. Both teams finished with nine saves. Emily Hawryschuk led the Orange with four goals and one assist.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse scored first but Virginia tied it up with a goal by Kloak. Syracuse went on a 7-0 run to lead 8-1 with 6:45 to go in the first half. Kloak scored again to halt the run, but the Orange added a goal before the half to lead 9-2 at the break. UVA opened the second half on a 3-0 run, with Shoemaker scoring back-to-back goals and sophomore Ashlyn McGovern (Phoenix, Md.) with a goal on the assist from junior Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.). Syracuse scored two goals to lead 11-5 with 21:15 to play. Kloak reached a hat trick with a goal at 18:22 then Mueller scored with the assist from Shoemaker to cut it to 11-7. Syracuse scored a man-up goal with 10:57 to play. Senior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) scored on a free position with 4:38 to go. Freshman Courtlynne Caskin (Potomac, Md.) scored to cut the Syracuse lead to 12-9 with 2:27 remaining. Shoemaker scored in the final second to make it 12-10.
 
FROM HEAD COACH JULIE MYERS
“The ACC Tournament is such a great tournament to be a part of. The hardest part is how great the teams are that you are joining and as we found out today, Syracuse is a top-ranked team for a reason. We dug a ditch that was way too big in that first half to get out of. We gave it a great effort. I love that we never gave up and that we didn’t quit on it and kept trying to find a way to the back of the net. I think everyone played a much better second half, but we need to figure out how to start strong and to grow from there because certainly this team is capable of anything. Again, we need 60 minutes to win a game instead of just a half. We’ve learned a lot and we need to make sure we use these next couple of weeks to our advantage to make sure we are happy at the end of the game and continue our season.”
 
NOTES

• Shoemaker finished with her ninth hat trick of the season.
• Kloak recorded her sixth hat trick of the season.
• Mueller led the Cavaliers with four draw controls.

 
UP NEXT
The NCAA selection show will be May 5 at 9 p.m.