The UVA women’s lacrosse team (1-2) fell 17-10 to No. 12 Princeton (2-0) on Saturday evening at Klöckner Stadium.
Just before the originally scheduled start time of 1 p.m., a storm blew through causing a delay until 5:30 p.m. After Princeton scored first, the Cavaliers tied the game up twice, but were not able to take the lead. UVA trailed by two with 18:31 to play, when a 5-0 run for Princeton over 10 minutes put the game out of reach.
“We were chasing them most of the game, always within one or two goals,” head coach Julie Myers said. “I think if we had tied the game in the second half it could have been different, but when Princeton went on their run, Olivia Hompe went on a tear. Everyone tried to make a great play on her instead of just playing solid defense and she got the best of us. The great part was we fought in different parts of the field so I don’t think we put our heads down and stopped playing. Certainly we didn’t play smart when we needed to and didn’t get to the back of the net on the offensive end often enough.”
Freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) and senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) led UVA with three goals each. Senior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.), juniors Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) and Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.) and sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) each added one goal.
Jackson led the Cavaliers with a career-high eight draw controls and six ground balls. Behr added six draw controls and sophomore Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) had two caused turnovers.
Princeton struck first with a goal by Olivia Hompe, who led the game with six goals. UVA tied the score at 1-1 when Behr found the net on a free position shot. The Tigers scored two-straight goals, but Virginia countered with goals by Reese and Mueller to knot it up at 3-3 with 15:53 to play in the first.
Mueller and Reese both added another goal in the first half, but Princeton scored four to head into halftime with a 7-5 lead. Out of the break, Hompe scored her fifth of the night to give Princeton an 8-5 lead. Mueller recorded her second-straight hat trick with a goal at the 25:56 mark to cut it to 8-6.
The teams then traded goals. Jackson scored for the Cavaliers on a free position shot and Valis tallied her first of the season on an eight-meter as UVA trailed 10-8 with 18:31 remaining. Princeton then used its 5-0 run to take a 15-8 advantage with 8:29 on the clock.
DiNardo halted the Tigers’ run with a free position goal at the 8:13 mark in the second to cut it to 15-9. Princeton scored two more goals before Reese hit the final goal of the night to make it 17-10.
Virginia led the game in shots (36-32) and draw controls (19-10). Princeton had an edge in ground balls (24-18) and saves (13-9).
Virginia begins a three-game road trip next week at William & Mary on Thursday, March 2. The Cavaliers then open ACC play at Syracuse on Sunday, March 5 and North Carolina on Saturday, March 11.
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Chris Graham
