No. 11 Virginia women’s lacrosse fell to No. 1 Syracuse 21-9 Saturday evening at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. The Orange (13-0, 6-0 ACC) dominated offensively throughout the game, outscoring the Cavaliers (8-4, 4-2 ACC) in all four quarters and putting up a larger total than any other opponent Virginia has faced all season.
The Cavaliers opened the scoring just a little over a minute into the game when sophomore midfielder Kate Miller found graduate student attacker Ashlyn McGovern off a pretty pass to give Virginia the initial lead. However, The Orange responded quickly with two goals to take the lead back from the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers jumped ahead again towards the end of the first quarter when junior midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg found the back of the net off a crafty assist from junior attacker Morgan Schwab to take the 4-3 lead. With 3:29 remaining in the first quarter, this would be the last lead of the game for Virginia, as Syracuse went on an 11-2 run over the next quarter and a half.
This offensive onslaught was sparked by an unassisted goal from Syracuse sophomore attacker Olivia Adamson who scored with a minute remaining in the first quarter. Adamson’s goal gave the Orange a boost of momentum that was sustained throughout the rest of the first half as Syracuse took a 12-6 lead into halftime.
The first half was completely controlled by the Orange in terms of scoring opportunities. Syracuse more than doubled Virginia in shots in the first half with a 23-10 margin and also benefited from an 11-8 edge in draw controls. Defensively, the Orange was stout as well, forcing the Cavaliers into 10 turnovers in the half, which further hindered Virginia’s ability to keep up with the nearly constant threat to score.
The Orange scored two more goals to open the second half before Virginia could respond. McGovern, who is ranked eighth in the country for goals, scored the lone goal in the third quarter for the Cavaliers, her 44th of the year.
Syracuse graduate student attacker Megan Carney scored back-to-back goals to start the fourth quarter, increasing the Orange lead to 20-7, their largest lead of the game. Miller responded with a goal of her own, followed by a quick goal from Schwab, assisted by Miller for Virginia’s final goal of the evening. The 21-9 final score marked the largest defeat for the Cavaliers this season.
One of the few bright spots for Virginia was the play of McGovern, who scored three goals to lead the team. In addition, Schwab dished out five assists on the night, a season-high for her.
With three more ACC opponents looming in the regular season, the Cavaliers have to find a way to create more scoring opportunities against superior opponents. If Virginia cannot win one on one matchups, off-ball movement and different offensive schemes must be a priority offensively for Virginia the rest of the season.
After finishing this challenging stretch of games, though, the Cavaliers have an opportunity to come into the ACC Tournament on a hot streak. Only one of their remaining four opponents — No.7 Boston College — is ranked higher than the team currently, which bodes well for Virginia to fix some of its issues before single-elimination play begins.
The Cavaliers return to action Wednesday when they travel to Richmond to take on in-state foe VCU. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
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