CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 21 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (2-4, 1-1 ACC) suffered a 16-8 loss against No. 2 Stanford (6-0, 3-0 ACC) on Saturday (Feb. 28) at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cardinal jumped out to an 8-1 lead, taking a 10-3 advantage into halftime.
Junior attackers Addi Foster and Kate Galica scored back-to-back goals to start the second half, narrowing the gap to 10-5, but Stanford built back up an eight-point advantage, 14-6, early in the fourth quarter.
Foster and freshman Kady Flaherty scored two goals apiece to lead the Cavaliers.
Galica won 11 draw controls, helping the Cavaliers to a 17-10 advantage in the circle.
This was the first time the Cavaliers played at their home field, Klöckner Stadium, after playing their first two home games on their practice field, followed by a streak of three-straight road games.
VIRGINIA SCORING
GOALS: Cady Flaherty 2; Addi Foster 2; Jenna Dinardo 1; Kate Galica 1; Payton Sfreddo 1; Madison Alaimo 1
ASSISTS: Jenna Dinardo 1; Megan Rocklein 1; Madison Alaimo 1; Gabby Laverghetta 1
NOTRE DAME SCORING
GOALS: Aliya Polisky 4; Mallory Hasselbeck 3; Lindsey Devir 3; Annabel Frist 2; Ava Arceri 1; Jordyn Case 1; Martha Oakey 1; Lexi Rodell 1
ASSISTS: Mallory Hasselbeck 3; Martha Oakey 3; Ava Arceri 2; Rylee Bouvier 1
FROM HEAD COACH SONIA LAMONICA
“We need to get the focus back on ourselves. I think we've put a lot of focus on our opponent during our prep. I think today was an example of where we just had too much focus on the opponent and what they're doing and how we need to counter XYZ, instead of, ‘let's just focus on what we're doing, what we can do, how we can execute, and take a little bit of the power out of our opponents.’
“I was proud of our draw unit today and Kate Galica with how she dominated. It was unfortunate that we couldn't use that to our advantage today, on the offensive end and capitalize. We had a lot of empty possessions. It’snot for a lack of skill or talent, but we've got to find a way to mentally flip that switch and fight harder. We need to play with a little more fight on offense.”
NOTES
- Virginia committed 15 turnovers, including eight in the first half. Stanford turned the ball over nine times
- Goalkeeper Elyse Finnelle made eight saves. Stanford’s Lucy Pearson made five saves
- Stanford held a 27-19 edge in shots
ON THE HORIZON
- The Cavaliers play a pair of conference road games next week at No. 25 Pitt on Wednesday (March 4) and at Florida State on Sunday (March 8)