#12 UVa. women’s lax bests #19 Johns Hopkins

The 12th-ranked Virginia women’s lacrosse team won a road contest at No. 19 Johns Hopkins, 11-7, Wednesday (April 11) at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md. Senior attacker Josie Owen (Gibson Island,Md.) scored four goals and added two assists to lead Virginia with a six-point effort, while junior goalkeeper Kim Kolarik (Riva, Md.) registered eight saves.

The win was Virginia’s sixth victory in its last seven games and improved the Cavaliers’ record to 10-5 overall. With the loss, Johns Hopkins’ record went to 7-5.

Sloan Warren (Philadelphia, Pa.) had two goals and twoassists for Virginia, while Katie Slater (Kensington, Md.) and Julie Gardner (Severna Park, Md.) also had multiple-point games for Virginia with two goals and a goal and an assist, respectively.

In addition to her eight saves, Kolarik collected two ground balls.

Virginia led, 5-3, at halftime. Kolarik had five first-half saves and Warren and Owen each tallied two goals to lead UVa in the first period.

Virginia opened the second half with two-consecutive goals at the 24:17 and 23:22 marks, respectively, by Gardner and Slater.

Johns Hopkins rallied with two goals of its own, both by Colleen McCaffrey, to pull within a two-goal deficit, 7-5, with 15 minutes to play.

From there, Owen scored her third goal of the game at the 13:57 mark, putting Virginia up 8-5 and earning her fifth hat trick of the season.

Johns Hopkins again rallied with two-consecutive goals to make the Virginia lead 8-7 with 13:15remaining in the game.

Ainsley Baker (Corning, N.Y.) scored with 10:40 remaining to give UVa some breathing room, finishing a pass from Warren for her 21st goal of the season.

Owen and Caroline McTiernan (Garden City, N.Y.) added insurance goals down the stretch for Virginia.

The Cavaliers won by a final score of 11-7.

Virginia and Johns Hopkins each recorded 23 shots. Hopkins held a 12-8 advantage in draw controls and Virginia held a 14-11 advantage in ground balls.

Freshman Kelsey Gahan (Towson, Md.) led UVa defensively with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Up next, UVa will have an eight-day break from competition before the 2012 ACC Tournament, being held in Durham, N.C., beginning on April 20 with the quarterfinals.