Virginia women’s lacrosse looked to start ACC play off on a high note Saturday in a top-15 contest against No. 13 Stanford at Klöckner Stadium. Although the Cavaliers (2-1, 0-1 ACC) initially went up 3-0 over the visitors, the Cardinal (4-0, 1-0 ACC) came storming back to take the match by a 13-7 margin. A stifling second half prevented Virginia from gaining any momentum, ultimately allowing the visitors to come out victorious.
The Cavaliers’ greatest struggle in the matchup was their overtly physical play. Virginia combined for a total of 10 cards in the match, four of which were yellow. Without those cards, Stanford might not have gained such debilitating momentum — the Cardinal’s first two goals were either on free-position or power play opportunities from cards. Coach Sonia LaMonica emphasized the discrepancy.
“I thought our defense had some great stops when we had players down,” LaMonica said. “Ten cards on our side today hurts. Offensively, we were just out of sync and out of rhythm.”
Although the defense performed well in many key moments, Stanford capitalized on nearly every look on goal — clinicality was a large reason why the Cardinal were able to go on such strong scoring runs.
The match started off strong for Virginia, with sophomore midfielder Kate Galica forcing a turnover in the first 10 seconds thanks to a well-placed check from behind. Virginia charged into Stanford’s defensive third intent on getting on the board early, but despite having a two-player advantage over junior goalkeeper Lucy Pearson, sophomore attacker Jenna DiNardo and senior attacker Kate Miller could not find the back of the net.
The Cavaliers responded with a strong defensive performance of their own — junior goalkeeper Mel Josephson thwarted the Cardinal’s attempt to go up by one with a well-placed stick that popped the ball over the net. Junior defender Lara Kology emerged from the ensuing chaos with possession, allowing Virginia to get another look on goal. Another turnover nearly cost the Cavaliers the ball, but sophomore Addi Foster was quick to get it back and keep pressure on Stanford’s defense.
The near-five minute deadlock finally broke when senior midfielder Abby Manalang evaded two Cardinal defenders and found a wide open graduate midfielder Lauren Pederson at the top of the circle. Not one to waste a prime opportunity, Pederson slammed the ball past Pearson before Stanford could react, putting Virginia in front 1-0.
The Cavaliers continued driving forward, increasing their lead to three thanks to exciting combination play between Miller and Dinardo, but things quickly went downhill. The Cardinal found their first score of the game via a free position shot, which sparked a run of six straight goals for Stanford. Virginia managed to even the score at 6-6 in the early minutes of the third quarter, but a blistering second half 7-0 goal run by the Cardinal effectively silenced what has otherwise been a strong offensive unit thus far in the season.
Stanford held Virginia to just three shots in the second half, demoralizing the offense and killing any momentum the Cavaliers tried to build. In the final minute, sophomore midfielder Madison Alaimo scored Virginia’s seventh goal of the game, but with just 56 seconds on the clock, celebrations were subdued.
Despite the disappointing score, the loss highlighted areas of improvement that the team can work on going forward. Learning from mistakes now, rather than the end of the season, will only strengthen an already talented team. LaMonica highlighted how Virginia should look at the loss as beneficial in the long run, however much it stings now.
“It was definitely not indicative of the group we have,” LaMonica said. “So, we are feeling a little frustrated about that, but I’m confident we are going to bounce back, and we are going to learn from it.”
Virginia will look to redeem itself Wednesday against No. 17 Navy at Klöckner Stadium, its third top-20 matchup in as many games. The contest is slated to begin at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACCNX.
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