The No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers (5-2) overcame a five-goal deficit, but fell late to the No. 13 Loyola Greyhounds (4-2) on Wednesday night, 19-18, at Ridley Athletic Complex.
“It was a disappointing day for our defense to give up 19 goals,” said Virginia women’s lacrosse head coach Julie Myers. “I give Loyola a lot of credit. They hit some nice shots and they were really a tough team to stop offensively. I am disappointed we didn’t find a better way of disrupting them a little bit. It is hard to win a game when you have to score 20, but I am proud of the girls for being resilient and fighting back. I really thought we had a chance there toward the end. The calls didn’t go our way and we came up a little short.”
The game started with UVA and Loyola trading goals back and forth. Sammy Mueller’s unassisted goal at 18:27 in the first tied the game, 2-2. Avery Shoemaker gave UVA its first lead of the game, 3-2, at 15:48 on an unassisted score.
Loyola responded with a 2-0 run, taking a 5-4 lead at 13:05 in the first. The Cavaliers retaliated with a 2-0 run of their own to retake the lead, 6-5. Olivia Schildmeyer scored her second goal of the game, courtesy of a Mueller helper at 12:06. Kasey Behr followed that with a goal of her own at 10:12 to cap the spurt.
The Greyhounds utilized a 6-0 streak that spilled into the second half to take a commanding 11-6 lead. Elli Kluegel capped the run for the Greyhounds at 28:58 in the second half. UVA rebounded, going on a 5-1 run to cut its deficit to one goal, 12-11, with 21:45 left. Maggie Jackson and Mueller scored twice during the run, while Behr started the streak at 28:29.
A 3-2 run by Loyola gave the Greyhounds a 15-13 lead with 16:47 left. UVA responded with a 3-0 streak that gave UVA its first lead, 16-15, since 10:12 in the first half. Behr, Muller and Shoemaker all scored during the run. Shoemaker capped the streak with her free position goal with 12:22 left.
Loyola used a 4-1 spurt to solidify the win. Shoemaker scored with 51 seconds left to cut the UVA deficit back to one goal, 19-18, but the Greyhounds won the ensuing draw control and ran out the clock.
Virginia won the battle of shots (33-27) and draw controls (27-12), while Loyola won the battle of ground balls (15-8) and saves (8-3). UVA had more turnovers (13-12).
Mueller led UVA with five goals and one assist. Shoemaker and Jackson each scored four goals. Jackson added two assists for six points. Behr added a hat-trick for the Cavaliers in the losing cause. Behr and Jackson each won 11 draw controls
UVA returns to action on Saturday when they return to ACC play at Notre Dame. First draw is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
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Chris Graham
