The No. 6 UVa. women’s lacrosse team (0-2) opened up the 2014 home slate with a 16-12 loss to No. 9 Loyola (1-0) on Saturday (Feb. 15) at University Hall Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.
Virginia led 5-3 at halftime, but the Greyhounds scored 13 goals in the second period to win their season-opener.
“This was definitely a disappointing outing for us,” Virginia head coach Julie Myers said. “I thought we played really sloppy from start to finish. There were a couple of moments where I thought we would get our rhythm going and our feet under us, pick up some of those balls and shoot a little bit better, but time and again, we just blew the opportunity. Loyola was as sloppy as us in the first half, but they cleaned it up in the second. I give them credit for winning that game.”
Three Cavalier players logged hat tricks with senior Maddy Keeshan (Greenwich, Ct.) and juniors Courtney Swan (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Casey Bocklet (South Salem, N.Y.) each scoring three goals. Loyola’s Hannah Schmitt scored six goals with Taryn VanThof posting a hat trick. Marlee Paton had five assists for the Greyhounds.
Virginia jumped out to a 2-0 lead with junior Morgan Stephens (Olney, Md.) and sophomore Kelly Boyd (Baltimore, Md.) scoring goals 18 seconds apart at 22:10 and 21:52 remaining in the first. Bocklet added a score with 15:26remaining to give UVa a 3-0 edge.
Virginia took a 5-2 lead with 51 seconds left in the first on an unassisted goal by Keeshan. Loyola won the ensuing draw, racing down and scoring 10 seconds later to make it a 5-3 Virginia advantage at the break.
Loyola tied the game by scoring two goals in the first 1:45 of the second half. After Bocklet gave Virginia the lead back five minutes later on a free position goal, Loyola struck back quickly, scoring three goals in less than a minute to take an 8-6 lead. After Swan scored a goal with just over 20 minutes remaining to pull UVa within one, Loyola scored five unanswered goals, taking a 13-7 lead with 11:04 remaining.
With Loyola holding a 15-10 lead heading into the final minute, the two teams combined to score three goals in the final 30 seconds of the game, with a pair of Cavalier scores flanking a Greyhound goal.
Senior goalkeeper Liz Colgan (Cockeysville, Md.) had 14 saves, including nine in the first period. Loyola’s keeper, Molly Wolf, logged 11.
Junior Morgan Stephens (Olney, Md.) won three draw controls, picked up four ground balls and caused two turnovers. Keeshan, in addition to scoring three goals, also won four draw controls, picked up three ground balls, caused a turnover and had an assist.
Both teams had 15 draw controls and 19 ground balls.
The game was originally slated to be played at Klöckner Stadium, but was moved to Turf Field behind University Hall because of weather-related issues. Fans who have already purchased single-game tickets for this game can exchange the ticket(s) for admission to another game this season.
The Loyola game is the first of five-straight home games for the Cavaliers. Virginia will next host Richmond onWednesday, Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.
Single-game reserved seats are available for all women’s home games for $7. Single-game general admission adult tickets for women’s home games are $5, while youth (18 and under), seniors (60 and over), and UVa faculty and staff tickets are $4 each.
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Chris Graham
