The No. 14 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (1-0) cruised to a 17-4 win over No. 21 Elon (0-2) to open the 2018 season on Saturday (Feb. 17) at Klöckner Stadium.
The Cavaliers jumped out to the early lead with two free position goals in the first two minutes. Virginia then went on a 6-0 run to lead Elon 8-1 with 16 minutes to go in the first half. The Phoenix had back-to-back goals before UVA scored four straight to lead 12-3. The Cavaliers limited Elon to just one goal on eight shots in the second half and closed the game with five-straight goals.
“I’m excited, I think we made a statement today all of the field,” head coach Julie Myers said. “Certainly there are areas we can improve on, but I thought we were very scrappy and rose to the challenge. We brought a really good game to a frustrated opponent that fouled a lot today. What I loved is we kept our pace, we kept our character in check and we kept playing the game of lacrosse.”
Virginia had eight different players score a goal. Junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) led all players with four goals and added three assists, while sophomore Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) and senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) each finished with three. Nicole Sinacori led Elon with two goals.
Behr put UVA on the board at the 29:25 mark with a free position goal, then Mueller added a free position goal to make it a 2-0 Cavalier lead. Elon scored before a Behr ripped her second goal of the afternoon.
Freshman Olivia Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) scored the first collegiate goal of her career at the 25:00 mark. Junior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.), Mueller, Jackson and senior Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.) all scored to complete the 6-0 UVA run. Elon scored twice before Behr notched a hat trick at the 3:06 mark that sent Virginia into the half with a 9-3 advantage.
The Cavaliers continued their hot shooting as Jackson found sophomore Nora Bowen (Lovettsville, Va.) for a goal to open the second half. Mueller scored a goal on the assist from Jackson, then Jackson added a goal to give UVA a 12-3 lead with 22:09 remaining. Elon had its lone goal of the second half with 20:51 to play.
Senior Ana Hagerup (Washington, D.C.) scored with the assist by Mueller, then Hagerup found a driving Jackson for another score to give the Cavaliers a 14-4 lead with 14:28 to play. Schildmeyer netted her second goal with the assist from Shoemaker. Bowen converted a free position shot and Jackson capped off the scoring with a goal on the assist from Shoemaker with 46 seconds remaining.
Behr and Jackson each picked up five draw controls, while Behr, junior Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) and Schildmeyer had two caused turnovers.
Senior Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) had 10 saves in the net for the Cavaliers. Elon finished with five saves. Virginia’s defense held Elon to just 19 shots, eight in the second half. UVA led in draw controls (13-8) and ground balls (17-11).
Virginia will remain at home to host Richmond on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.
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Chris Graham
