Women’s lacrosse: No. 16 Virginia defeats Richmond, 15-7

Three players finished with hat tricks to lead No. 16 Virginia (2-0) to a 15-7 win over Richmond (2-1) on Wednesday (Feb. 21) evening at Klöckner Stadium.

Richmond scored the first goal of the game, but Virginia tied the game up less than a minute later. The goal sparked a 5-0 Cavalier run that included two goals for freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.). Richmond scored again at the 6:38 mark in the first, but three-straight goals sent UVA into the half up 8-2. Virginia scored two goals out of the break to lead 10-2. The teams traded goals for the remainder of the game as UVA took the 15-7 win.

“I thought Richmond was a great opponent tonight and really made us step up our game in many ways,” head coach Julie Myers said. “Overall, we played very well for about 80 percent of the game. We had a couple of lapses on defense and some hiccups on the attack end as well. To be able to put 15 goals in and hold a good attack in Richmond to just seven, feels good. We have things to clean up, but are excited to get a win and get ready for Princeton.”

Senior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) and Mueller each finished with four goals, while junior Avery Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Pa.) had all three of her goals in the first half. Senior Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.), junior Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) and sophomore Nora Bowen (Lovettsville, Va.) also added goals.

Senior goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) had 11 saves in the net and added four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Jackson and Mueller each had four draw controls. Freshman Olivia Schildmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio), Jackson and junior Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) each picked up three ground balls.

After Richmond got on the board first, Virginia quickly answered with a goal by Mueller at the 22:24 mark in the first half. Both teams had a scoring drought before the Cavaliers scored four goals in just over two minutes. Jackson gave UVA its first lead of the game, then Mueller and Shoemaker scored 30 seconds apart followed closely by Behr’s first of the evening as Virginia took a 5-1 lead with 11:32 to go in the first. Richmond scored again to make it 5-2.

Virginia closed out the half with a 3-0 run. Behr sent one into the net from just inside the eight-meter, then Shoemaker completed her hat trick with back-to-back goals. Virginia took an 8-2 lead into the break.

Bowen opened the second-half scoring with a goal on the assist from Mueller then Mueller notched a hat trick that gave UVA a 10-2 lead with 25:42 to play. Richmond scored back-to-back goals before Behr responded with back-to-back goals to push the UVA lead back to 12-4. Two more goals for Richmond cut it to 12-6, but Mueller converted a free position shot and DiNardo scored on the assist from Jackson, who forced a turnover by the Spiders. Richmond had its final goal at 5:31 and DiNardo closed out the 15-7 game with a goal with 2:15 to play.

Virginia led in shots (28-23), ground balls (20-19) and draw controls (14-10). UVA finished with 11 saves and Richmond had six.

The Cavaliers will take their first road trip of the season to No. 9 Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 24. The game is set for 1 p.m. at Sherrerd Field in Princeton, N.J.