Desperate for a win against a ranked opponent, No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse finally pulled through against No. 8 Penn State, winning 12-11. After going back and forth for the first 30 minutes, the Cavaliers (2-3, 0-1 ACC) used a second half surge to survive a late Penn State (2-2, 0-1 ACC) run to earn their first victory in four attempts against another ranked team.
Virginia had failed to put together a complete game in previous contests this season, either falling behind early or losing a second half lead. Coach Julie Myers, recognizing this, was particularly pleased after halting Penn State’s comeback attempt.
“I can tell you, I’m pretty excited,” Myers said. “I thought we were going to do it with some comfort. It’s kind of nice when your back is against the wall to actually come up. I think the teammates really did a nice job supporting one another. We definitely make it harder than it needs to be, but the nice thing is we’re there to bail each other out as well.”
Virginia opened scoring with a goal just 31 seconds into the game by junior attacker Casey Bocklet. Senior attacker Liza Blue followed suit, scoring with 21:58 left in the first half. Penn State scored two goals in 2:30 to even the score at two, but Virginia answered, doubling up the Nittany Lions with goals by sophomore midfielder Mary Alati and Blue, giving the Cavaliers a 4-2 advantage with 10:53 remaining. Penn State would then go on a 3-1 run to knot the score at five.
Virginia took 19 shots in the first half — the most the team has taken in a half against a ranked opponent — 16 of which were on goal. On the game, Virginia finished with 32 shots, including 28 on goal.
“That’s what we practiced this week,” Blue said. “Moving the ball quickly and finding the open girl. We got a lot of shots, we just didn’t finish them in the first half. I think in the second half we smoothed out the kinks.”
Penn State sophomore goalie Emi Smith, meanwhile, recorded 16 saves — two more than she had recorded the entire season, with 11 coming in the first half.
“I think [Smith] played great,” Myers said. “I think we had a tendency of making her look slightly more great than maybe what she is, but I give her credit. She kept her stick in the right spots. It’s easy to miss the easy saves, but she certainly made the easy saves. I think our shooting got better in the second half, and it clearly needs to get much better from here on out.”
Penn State scored the first two goals of the second half, going up 7-5 with 23:21 left to play. From there, Virginia took control with a 6-0 run which stretched nearly 13 minutes, with goals by junior midfielder Morgan Stephens, Blue, Bocklet, freshman midfielder Kelly Reese and junior midfielder Courtney Swan. Reese’s goal was the first of her career.
The run was halted by Penn State sophomore midfielder Madison Cyr, who scored with 4:26 remaining. Cyr’s goal marked the beginning of a 4-1 run for the Nittany Lions. Freshman midfielder Abby Smucker scored with 3:20 remaining, followed by a tally by senior attacker Mackenzie Cyr with 2:00 remaining in the contest. Just 15 seconds later, Madison Cyr cut the Virginia lead the to one with her second goal of the game.
The Cavaliers won the ensuing draw and called a timeout with 1:32 left to play, allowing the team to settle their nerves, hold onto possession and run out the clock to secure the win. In the timeout, Myers preached a simple message with tremendous effect in finishing the game.
“Composure,” Myers said. “Just take a deep breath. Composure. We got possession of the ball and everybody identified who was wide open. … We were able to spread the field and made the catches and made the plays and kept possession at the end of the game, which was really nice to see.”
While Madison Cyr was the only Penn State player to score multiple goals, Virginia had four players tally more than once. Blue finished the day with four goals and one assist for the Cavaliers. Swan, Stephens and Bocklet each added two goals of their own.
Virginia will face No. 1 North Carolina, the reigning NCAA champions, next Saturday in the final game of a five-game home stand. While the wintery weather might create some practicing dilemmas, Meyers is confident the team can keep its eyes on the prize at hand.
“It gives us all a huge deep breath and then a happy, relaxed day that we’re proud of tomorrow, when we get to regroup and get back at it getting ready for North Carolina come Monday,” Myers said. “I think we’ll have a couple of obstacles with this weather, but we’re going to have to block that out as noise that we’re going to pay no attention to and now just focus on North Carolina.”
Though the Cavaliers still require significant work to reach their season goals, the team seems to have no problem savoring this latest victory.
“Winning has never felt so good,” Blue said.
Virginia is back in action Monday at 1 p.m. when it clashes with top-ranked North Carolina at Klöckner Stadium.
Read More
No. 4 Virginia softball knocked out of ACC Tournament by No. 5 Clemson
By Eleanor Lynch | 16 hours agoThe Cavaliers could not get things going on either side of the ball in their loss to the Tigers.
No. 5 seed women’s lacrosse wins big against LIU to open NCAA Tournament
By Peter Kratz | YesterdayThe Cavaliers outscored the Sharks 10-1 in the second quarter on their way to a crucial win.
How Morgan Schwab has helped continue the prestige of Virginia women’s lacrosse
By Peter Kratz | 2 days agoAs the Cavaliers approach the NCAA enactment , they will be relying on Schwab to make a run at a national title.
