No. 7 Virginia’s Comeback Falls Short to No. 5 Notre Dame

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (8-3, 3-3 ACC) had a 5-0 run in the second half after trailing by six, but No. 5 Notre Dame (6-2, 3-2 ACC) held on for a 12-10 win on Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.

The Cavaliers trailed by one at the half, then Notre Dame opened the second half on a 5-0 run to lead 10-4. Virginia fought back to cut it to one, 11-10, with 6:31 to play but Notre Dame held on to the final possession.

Redshirt junior Ashlyn McGovern (Phoenix, Md.) led Virginia with three goals. Senior Taylor Regan (Larchmont, N.Y.) and junior Lillie Kloak (Ridgewood, N.J.) each had two goals. Graduate student Meredith Chapman (Apex, N.C.) had three caused turnovers and five draw controls.

Virginia led in shots (30-25), ground balls (16-14), draw controls (17-7) and free position goals (6-2). Notre Dame had 14 saves to eight for the Cavaliers. Samantha Lynch led the Irish with four goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia scored three-straight goals after a 3-0 run to start the game by Notre Dame. Regan hit a free position shot to put UVA on the board. Junior Braeden Dial (New Canaan, Conn.) scored a no-look goal with the assist from junior Annie Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) and freshman Morgan Schwab (Fairport, N.Y.) scored on a free position goal to tie the game 3-3 with 9:26 to go in the first half. Notre Dame scored but Dyson tied it up again with a goal on the assist from freshman Maggie Bostain (Richmond, Va.). The Irish scored before the half to lead 5-4 at the break.

The Irish scored five consecutive goals to begin the second half. UVA halted the run when Kloak scored on a free position. Notre Dame scored to lead 11-5 with 17:44 remaining. Virginia’s 5-0 run began with McGovern ripping a free position goal. Kloak then scored on a free position, Regan came from behind the goal for a score and McGovern scored back-to-back goals to complete the run. The Cavaliers scored four of their five in two minutes and 49 seconds. Virginia won the ensuing draw but couldn’t convert. Redshirt senior Charlie Campbell (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) made a save to give UVA another chance, but Notre Dame came up with a save and held on to the ball for the remainder of the game and scored its final goal.

FROM HEAD COACH JULIE MYERS

“It was a battle from the opening whistle. I thought Notre Dame played two consistent halves. We had not a great first half, but a better second half. We dug a ditch that turned out to be a little too big in the end for us to come up with the win. Lots of great takeaways, we competed for draws, ground balls and opportunities, we had plenty of them we just didn’t capitalize. A lot of things we can learn and a lot of positives we can take from this as well as we prepare for Syracuse.

NOTES

• McGovern had a hat trick for the fifth time this season.
• Kloak had her 10th multiple goal game and Regan had multiple goals for the sixth time.
• Chapman had a season-high five draw controls and three caused turnovers.
• Aubrey Williams (Purcellville, Va.) had four draw controls.
• Jillie Quevedo (Pittsford, N.Y.) led the team with three ground balls and had two caused turnovers.

UP NEXT

Virginia is on the road at No. 2 Syracuse on Saturday, April 10 at 11 a.m. at the Carrier Dome.