CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Virginia (8-9) suffered an 11-9 loss against Syracuse (13-4) on Wednesday (April 22) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship at American Legion Memorial Field in Charlotte, N.C.
Virginia trailed by as many as five goals in the game, but narrowed the gap to one, 10-9, on a goal by sophomore Gabby LaVerghetta with 5:22 remaining in the game. Her sister, Livy, took a shot on goal with 4:04 remaining, but the attempt was saved by Syracuse’s Daniella Guyette and gave possession to the Orange.
Syracuse’s Molly Guzik scored on the opposite end with 2:34 remaining to push the advantage back up to two. The Orange won the ensuing draw control, but turned the ball over, giving UVA possession with two minutes remaining. Virginia turned the ball over on an errant pass near the goal with a minute remaining. Syracuse was able to run out the clock to come away with the victory.
With the loss, the Cavaliers finish the season with a sub .500 record (8-9) and will not qualify for the NCAA Championship, snapping a streak of 29-straight tournaments that the Cavaliers have competed in.
VIRGINIA SCORING
GOALS: Megan Rocklein 2; Fiona Allen 2; Kate Galica 1; Cady Flaherty 1; Livy Laverghetta 1; Gabby Laverghetta 1
ASSISTS: Kate Galica 2; Madison Alaimo 2; Jenna Dinardo 1; Megan Rocklein 1; Fiona Allen 1
SYRACUSE SCORING
GOALS: Emma Muchnick 4; Molly Guzik 3; Bri Peters 2 , Alexa Vogelman 1 ; Courtney Mclay 1
ASSISTS: Ashlee Volpe 4; Caroline Trinkaus 2; Emma Muchnick 1; Gracie Britton 1; Mackenzie Rich 1
FROM HEAD COACH SONIA LAMONICA
“This team has endured and worked through injury after injury. We lost Payton Sfreddo to an injury at the end of our Virginia Tech game last week. Despite these setbacks, this group remained positive and just kept grinding with strength, resilience and a never-give-up attitude. I am proud as heck of this team. Win or lose, these kids showed up the next day for practice, ready to work at it and play the game. I’m sorry it’s over for our seniors, but they should know that this will go down as a transformational season, and I thank them for that. I also want to thank our alumni who have stood by us and supported us through the ups and downs. It is hard to win championships in this modern landscape, but we will get there, and this team will be the catalyst for why and how. Go Hoos.”
NOTES
- Virginia goalkeeper Elyse Finnelle had six saves. Syracuse’s Daniella Guyette had five
- Virginia held a 12-10 edge in draw controls
- Kate Galica won nine of Virginia’s 12 draw controls
- Each team took 20 shots
- This will be the first time since 1995 that the Cavaliers have not made the NCAA Championship field. The Cavaliers also did not play in the postseason in 2020 because the tournament was canceled that year due to COVID-19