Alaimo Leads No. 12 UVA to 16-12 Win Over Pitt

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Behind a career-high nine-point performance from Madison Alaimo, No. 12 Virginia (7-3, 3-2 ACC) downed Pitt (5-5, 1-4 ACC) by a score of 16-12 on Saturday afternoon (March 22) at Klöckner Stadium.

Alaimo (3g, 6a) led the Cavalier attack with a career-high point total while matching her career-high in assists. Jenna DiNardo (3g, 2a) and Addi Foster (3g, 1a) each registered hat tricks while Payton Sfreddo logged her second consecutive multi-goal game.

Kate Galica (1g, 11dc) was a difference maker for the Cavaliers in the draw circle logging her fourth consecutive game with 11-plus draw controls. Virginia edged Pitt in the circle by a margin of 18-14 and won the ground ball battle 16-10.

How It Happened
Virginia dominated the opening period as five different Cavaliers found the back of the net leading UVA to a 5-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Virginia put seven shots on frame while the defense allowed just a pair of attempts, neither of which tested Josephson in cage.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 4-1 scoring run to pull within as few as two goals. Pitt scored on each of the six shots it put on frame in the second period as the Cavaliers went into the locker room with an 8-6 advantage. Alaimo led all players with four assists in the opening half.

The teams traded goals in the early moments of the second half, but Alaimo first goal of the game in the final seconds of the third quarter ignited a four-goal Virginia scoring run to give UVA a seven-goal advantage. Pitt scored the final three goals to make the final score 16-12.

From Head Coach Sonia LaMonica
“Yeah, I mean Pitt’s a great team. You know, they’re hard-nosed. We knew coming in here, they’re physical. And, you know, they’ve played a lot of great teams pretty close. You know, I thought our second quarter was flat. We came out pretty strong. Our second quarter was flat.

We really tried to regroup and, you know, like, we’ve got to bring out fire. We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to drive harder to break down their zone. And, you know, we responded in spurts. But I would have loved to see a little more consistency. However, this is a great win. We’re going to take this and keep moving forward.”

With the Win…

• Virginia improves to 4-0 in the all-time series with Pitt
• The Cavaliers record their third consecutive victory
• UVA improves to 3-2 in ACC play this season

Game Notes

• Corey White scored the first goal of her career
• Madison Alaimo set a career-high with nine points on the day
• Alaimo recorded six assists for the third time this season to match her career high
• Alaimo’s hat trick was her third of the season
• DiNardo recorded her seventh hat trick of the season while Foster recorded her fifth
• Kate Galica finished the game with 11 draw controls marking her fourth consecutive game with 11+ draw controls and her seventh game this season in double figures
• Galica’s career draw controls total increases to 196 moving her into sixth on the UVA career list
• Galica has collected 99 draw controls on the season to surpass her total from 2024 and move her into sole possession of third on the UVA single-season list
• Virginia outshot Pitt 34-22
• The Cavaliers won the ground ball battle by a margin of 16-10
• UVA was a perfect 15-of-15 on clearing attempts while limiting Pitt to 16-of-22
• Virginia held an 18-14 advantage in the draw circle
• Abby Jansen replaced Mel Josephson in goal at the start of the second half
• UVA made just one save in the game while Pitt made 11 saves
• Jansen picked up her second win of the season

Up Next
The Cavaliers are back in action on Saturday (March 29) when the team travels to No. 9 Syracuse. First draw at The JMA Wireless Dome is set for 12 p.m. on ACCNX.