Virginia Falls 13-8 to 5-seed Notre Dame in NCAA Second Round

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Virginia women’s lacrosse team’s (9-9) season came to an end with a 13-8 loss at 5-seed Notre Dame (11-6) on Sunday afternoon at Arlotta Stadium.

The game was tied 2-2 when Notre Dame had a 6-0 run over 27 minutes of play. UVA cut it to three, 8-5 early in the second half but the deficit was too much to overcome. Redshirt junior Ashlyn McGovern (Phoenix, Md.) led the Cavaliers with four goals and sophomore Jaime Biskup (Manorville, N.Y.) had two goals.

Virginia had a 14-9 advantage in draw controls and both teams had 10 saves. Notre Dame led in shots (29-27), ground balls (19-13) and caused turnovers (12-3). Jackie Wolak led Notre Dame with four goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After two Irish goals, Virginia’s McGovern scored back-to-back goals in 38 seconds to tie the game 2-2 with 20:07 to go in the first half. Notre Dame closed the first half on a 5-0 run to lead 7-2 at the break.

Notre Dame added to its lead out of the break with a goal. Virginia had a 3-0 run over four minutes to cut the Irish lead to 8-5 at the 19:50 mark. Junior Lillie Kloak (Ridgewood, N.J.) found freshman Morgan Schwab (Fairport, N.Y.) for a score to spark the run. McGovern completed her hat trick with another free position goal and Biskup took it to the net to cap the run. Notre Dame responded with a 4-0 run to lead 12-5 with 9:29 remaining. Biskup scored her second for the Cavaliers and McGovern notched her fourth on the assist from Schwab to cut it to 12-7 with 5:13 to play. Freshman Devon Whitaker (Wayne, Pa.) scored with 34 seconds left to close out the game.

FROM HEAD COACH JULIE MYERS

“It was a great game by both teams. Notre Dame’s pressure in that midfield transition is what we struggled with the most and that really rattled us more than I had hoped. We had too many turnovers because of that pressure. We played a much better second half in terms of finding the back of the net. We dug a bit of a hole because of those turnovers in transition. Credit to Notre Dame, they played that ride better than any team we have played all year. I am proud of my girls’ efforts in terms of getting to this point, playing in an NCAA tournament and really sticking together all year long through the ups and downs of a COVID year. I have a lot to be grateful for, a lot to be proud of. This is a team I would keep together forever if I had that option. Love the girls, love their effort that they kept fighting through the end and just really proud of them.”

NOTES

• McGovern finished the season with eight hat tricks.
• Biskup matched a career-high with two goals.
• Freshman Aubrey Williams (Purcellville, Va.) had a team-high five draw controls.
• Graduate student Meredith Chapman (Apex, N.C.) led the team with four ground balls.
• Virginia is now 38-30 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.