Virginia Suffers Defeat in NCAA Second Round

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Despite coming back from a three-goal deficit, the fifth-seeded No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (15-5) fell to No. 10 Florida (19-2) by a score of 13-8 in the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Sunday afternoon (May 12) at Klöckner Stadium.

Mackenzie Hoeg (2g) and Katia Carnevale (2g) led the team in goals while Morgan Schwab (1g, 2a) added three points of her own. Jenna Dinardo (1g, 1a), Kiki Shaw (1g) and Kate Galica (1g) each found the back of the net as well.

Defensively, Mel Josephson put up 11 saves on 24 shots on goal, just one short of her career-high in cage. Josephson and Devon Whitaker led the Cavaliers with three ground balls while Hoeg and Kacy Hogarth each caused a pair of turnovers.

How it Happened
The Cavaliers fell behind early as Florida scored the opening two goals of the game. Schawb halved the early deficit and provided an assist to Hoeg, but Virginia found itself trailing by a score of 5-2 in the late stages of the first quarter. With one minute remaining in the period, Florida was whistled for a yellow card. The Cavaliers would gain a two-player advantage with 24 seconds remaining in the quarter and carried possession into the second period.

UVA cashed in on its advantage less than 30 seconds into the second quarter as Dinardo assisted Shaw to bring the Cavaliers back within two. Florida would end a five-minute scoring drought for both teams with a transition goal to regain a three-goal cushion, but Virginia answered back quickly. Galica would net her first career goal in the NCAA Championship with a free-position attempt before Schwab found Hoeg on the crease in the dying seconds of the shot clock to cut the Florida lead to just one. UVA would trail by a score of 7-6 at halftime.

After five scoreless minutes to start the second half, Dinardo found the back of the net to tie the game at 7-7 for the first time since it was 0-0. The Cavaliers killed a three-player down situation before Florida scored to take an 8-7 lead into the fourth period. The Gators would go on to score five consecutive goals to open the game’s final 15 minutes and end Virginia’s tournament run with a 13-8 defeat.

From Head Coach Sonia LaMonica:
“There was a stalemate there for a little bit. I think at the end of the day, we had some opportunities, and we just didn’t finish some shots that we had to finish. That might have helped shift that momentum. But you could see in that period where it was back and forth, both defenses were standing on their heads. Credit to the defensive unit, I thought our defensive switch up was really effective. I think we just came up a little short in capitalizing on a few offensive opportunities. That would have made a difference for us today.”

Additional Notes

• With two assists on the day, Morgan Schwab moved into third all-time in the ACC with 159 career assists.
• With 11 today, Mel Josephson has recorded double figures in saves for the 10^th time this season
• Virginia drops to 6-4 against top-25 opposition on the season
• The Cavaliers were held to eight goals in the loss, their second-lowest total of the season
• Virginia’s 19 ground balls are its second-highest total in a game this season, winning the ground ball battle by a margin of 19-11
• Virginia lost the draw control battle by a margin of 19-6

Season Notes:

• The Cavaliers earned their highest seed in an NCAA Championship since 2008 and hosted the first two rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2019
• Virginia recorded its most wins in a single season (15) since 2007
• LaMonica’s first season in Charlottesville featured a pair of impressive wins over No. 3 Boston College and No. 4 Notre Dame. The last time UVA took down two top-four teams in the same season was in 2015.
• LaMonica was voted the ACC Co-Coach of the Year marking the first time a UVA coach has received the honor since the 2008 season (Julie Myers)
• Virginia’s Morgan Schwab became one of the most prolific distributors in UVA history setting the program’s single-game assist record (8) and career assist record (159). Schwab became one of just two Cavaliers to surpass 60 assists in a single season. Her 61 assists in 2024 trail only Lindsay Sheehan’s 1986 campaign (66) for the program’s single-season record.