Women’s lacrosse: No. 15 UVA falls 16-11 to No. 1 Maryland

The No. 15 UVA women’s lacrosse team (7-6) fell 16-11 to No. 1 Maryland (12-0) on Wednesday night at Klöckner Stadium.

Virginia jumped on the board first with a 2-0 lead and held Maryland scoreless until the 21:50 mark in the first half. The Cavaliers led by two three times and were up 5-3, when Maryland scored four-straight to take a 7-5 lead with 1:19 to go in the first half. UVA scored to head into halftime down one, 7-6. The battle continued into the second half as UVA scored three consecutive goals to take a 9-8 lead with 24:52 to play. The game was tied 10-10 when the Terrapins used a 6-0 run to breakaway and hold on for the win.

Junior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) led the Cavalier offense with three goals and had six draw controls. Sophomore Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) and freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) each scored two goals and had one assist. Sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) and senior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) had two assists and one goal apiece. Caroline Steele paced Maryland with five goals.

Junior goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) tallied 12 saves to match a season-high, while Megan Taylor had 10 for Maryland.

Senior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) scored the opening goal with the assist from Jackson after the Cavaliers took the draw. UVA then took a 2-0 lead with a goal by Behr, assisted from Jackson. Maryland didn’t score until eight minutes into the game to make it 2-1. The Cavaliers took a 3-1 lead when Shoemaker notched her first of the day. The Terrapins cut it back to one, but Dyson scored with the assist from senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) to keep UVA in front by two.

Jackson scored her first goal of the day at the 8:10 mark to give UVA a 5-3 advantage. Maryland then used a 4-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 6-5, with 1:19 to play in the half. Shoemaker converted a free position opportunity to cut the lead to one, 7-6, at halftime.

The teams continued to remain close as Maryland scored first out of the break, but a 3-0 run put UVA ahead 9-8 with 24:52 to play. Reese started the run with a free position goal, and then Mueller hit back-to-back goals for the Cavaliers. Maryland regained the lead with two-straight, but UVA tied the game 10-10 at the 14:32 mark with a goal by Behr on a free position.

Maryland scored six-straight goals in 11 minutes to pull away with a 16-10 lead with 2:35 remaining. Behr scored the final goal with the assist from Mueller to make it 16-11.

UVA trailed in shots (33-27) and draw controls (16-13). Both teams finished with 18 ground balls. UVA had 17 turnovers, while Maryland had 12.

Virginia will play its final road game of the regular season on Saturday, April 8 when it travels to No. 6 Penn State for a 1 p.m.opening draw.