#8 UVa. women's lax storms back to beat #16 W&M

The No. 8 Virginia women’s lacrosse team erased a seven-goal second-half deficit against No. 16 William and Mary Wednesday night at Klockner Stadium, en route to a 14-13 victory. Down 12-5 with 25:23 to play, the Cavaliers scored nine of the game’s final 10 goals to improve to 15-1 against their in-state rival under head coach Julie Myers.

Virginia (4-3) was led by its junior attackers – Ainsley Baker, Charlie Finnigan, Julie Gardner and Josie Owen – all of whom have scored in every game for the Cavaliers this season. Owen led the way with four goals and one assist, while Finnigan notched four goals. Baker tacked on two goals and a career-high three assists, while Gardner also tallied two goals and three assists.

Sophomore Annie Thomas contributed two scores for Virginia, while freshman Lauren Goerz earned her first collegiate point, with an assist.

For William & Mary (3-2), Grace Golden led the way with four goals and one assist. Maggie Anderson, Ashley Holofcener and Kyrstin Mackrides all contributed two goals for the Tribe, while Jenny Michael had the remaining score.

For the fourth time this season, the Cavaliers gave up the first goal of the game, but for the first time this year, Virginia earned the win. Holofcener opened scoring in the contest for William & Mary, with a free position goal at 27:17, before Finnigan knotted the score at 1-1 with a goal from Baker at 25:50.

From there, the Tribe scored back-to-back goals to spark a 10-4 run to close the half. Golden notched her first at 24:58, followed by a free position goal from Mackrides at 23:48. Thomas scored for Virginia at 23:31, but a score from the Tribe’s Anderson gave W&M a 4-2 lead.

Baker responded to keep Virginia within one, at 4-3, but four-straight from the College gave W&M an 8-3 advantage with 8:34 remaining in the opening half.

Owen converted a free position shot at 4:56, before three-more unanswered goals from the Tribe pushed William & Mary ahead 11-4 with 34 seconds left. Gardner capped off the scoring in the opening half with a goal from Finnigan with just 13 ticks on the clock.

The Tribe opened scoring in the second half with a goal at 25:23 to extend their lead to 12-5 at 25:23, but Finnigan scored three-straight for the Cavaliers in a span of 1:02 to cut W&M’s advantage to four, at 12-8, by the 23:41 mark.

The Cavaliers continued to chip away at the Tribe’s lead after Golden scored her fourth goal at 19:57, as Owen sandwiched two scores around one from Thomas to bring Virginia within one, 13-12, at 13:39.

Following eight minutes and 30 seconds of scoreless action, Baker converted a free position shot to even the score at 13 all, before Gardner found Owen weaving through the defense for the game-winner with 2:46 to play. The goal marked the Cavaliers’ first lead of the contest, 14-13.

Junior Bailey Fogarty led the defense by tying a career-high six ground balls, in addition to causing four turnovers and winning three draw controls. Freshman Lauren Goerz – making her first collegiate start – won a personal-best four draw controls and caused a career-high three turnovers.

In goal for Virginia, sophomore Kim Kolarik stopped a game-high seven shots.