Virginia women’s lacrosse took care of business Wednesday evening at Klöckner Stadium, as the No. 13 Cavaliers (6-1, 1-1 ACC) easily defeated No. 23 Richmond (4-2, 0-0 A10) by a 20-5 margin. The Virginia offense was unstoppable during the matchup of two ranked teams.
Despite the lopsided final scoreline, surprisingly, it was the Spiders who opened up the scoring in the first quarter. Senior attacker Ali Susskind found junior midfielder Maggie Jordan to put Richmond up 1-0. However, this was the last time the Spiders would command a lead.
Freshman attacker Jenna Dinardo would answer for the Cavaliers less than a minute later, starting a 3-1 Virginia run that included goals from senior midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg, freshman attacker Madison Alaimo, junior attacker Kate Miller and graduate attacker Katia Carnevale. Senior attacker Morgan Schwab picked up an amazing four assists during this first quarter span. Only Richmond’s Susskind found the net to interrupt the scoring frenzy for the Cavaliers, as Virginia was up 5-2 and in charge of the contest when the buzzer rang at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter followed the first with complete domination by Virginia. Carnevale scored again less than a minute into the period, followed by two goals back-to-back from freshman midfielder Kate Galica. Later in the quarter, Galica started the attack with a forced turnover and ground ball pickup, leading to another goal for Carnevale that completed a first-half hat trick. Graduate midfielder Kiki Shaw scored on a free-position shot to end the Cavaliers’ 5-0 run. The half ended with Virginia up 10-2 and showing no signs of slowing down.
The third quarter was once again all Cavaliers, as they went on a 7-0 run — Shaw, Carnevale, Dinardo, Hoeg and Galica all added to their totals. With just ten seconds left, Schwab’s seventh assist — tying her personal record along with Virginia’s single-game record — went to sophomore midfielder Devon Gogerty for her first goal of the season. The Cavaliers’ streak of unanswered goals was now approaching two and a half quarters.
The fourth quarter was generally quiet until senior defender Maggie Bostain grabbed her first goal of the season with just 11:30 left. Miller would score again to stretch the lead to 19-2, assisted by Schwab’s eighth to break the single-game assist record. The Spiders finally answered back with a goal of their own to end Virginia’s streak of 16 unanswered points, as Jordan registered her second goal of the contest with six and a half minutes left in the game. To end the game, senior midfielder Leah Kenny would score twice for Richmond, while Gogerty would score her second of the game and season for Virginia. The final score was 20-5 in favor of the Cavaliers.
Virginia outclassed and outpaced the Spiders in all areas of the field. On the offensive end, the Cavaliers had double the shots and triple the shots on target compared to their opponents. While Galica, Dinardo and Carnevale all picked up hat tricks Wednesday, Coach Sonia LaMonica was most impressed by her team’s defensive performance.
“This group has been unbelievably consistent from start-to-finish, game-to-game and quarter-to-quarter,” LaMonica said. “Defensively, they are remaining locked in. They’re putting good pressure on the ball carrier. So the defensive scheme across the field in our riding game has just been tremendous. They don’t quit on the play and that’s what we ask of them.”
The star of the game was undoubtedly Schwab, who dished out an unthinkable eight assists. The attacker from Fairport, N.Y. has been crucial for Virginia’s success all season and was recently put on the watchlist for the Tewaaraton Award — an honor that recognizes the best male and female college lacrosse players in the country. LaMonica appreciates how Schwab’s skills have helped the team.
“Morgan has [a] phenomenal lacrosse IQ,” LaMonica said. “She is just a fierce competitor. She’s got great vision of the field and she has a lot of people to get the ball to. The group collectively, there are so many threats and they are all playing a role in that which just allows Morgan to find lots of options.”
Following this stellar Cavalier performance, Virginia goes on the road to South Bend, Ind. Saturday to face No. 4 Notre Dame. The first draw is at noon and will be broadcast live on ACCNX.
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