Virginia women’s lacrosse looked to extend its undefeated away streak against conference rival North Carolina at Dorrance Field Saturday afternoon. The third of three straight road matches for the Cavaliers (4-3, 1-2 ACC) was an opportunity to prove that Coach Sonia LaMonica and her team could hang with — and defeat — the best of the best in the Tar Heels (7-0, 3-0 ACC). However, despite an impressive near-six-goal comeback, Virginia ultimately ceded the contest 8-20.
Perhaps the greatest highlight of the match was the Cavaliers’ dominance on the draw. Sophomore midfielder Kate Galica — who came into the match second in the ACC and tenth in the nation in draw controls — put up what has arguably been the greatest performance of her career, commanding the draw circle with military precision rivaling a seasoned veteran. Sophomore attacker Jenna DiNardo was equally impressive, scooping up several crucial ground balls that helped Virginia retain possession in their offensive third.
North Carolina found the back of the net less than a minute into the contest. Undaunted, Galica notched her first draw control of the game, and the Cavaliers wasted no time on the counterattack, with sophomore midfielder Madison Alaimo firing off a shot to beat sophomore goalie Betty Nelson within the Tar Heels’ eight meters.
Unfortunately, following the injury of senior attacker and captain Kate Miller, Virginia lost their spark. North Carolina would quickly send the ball to senior attacker Olivia Vergano, who fired off a shot at point-blank range that junior goalkeeper Mel Josephson could not stop. Riding that momentum, the Tar Heels forced a turnover and found the net once again to go up 3-1.
As the first half clock wound down, the Cavaliers struggled to find an answer for North Carolina’s rapidly-expanding lead. Between the Tar Heels’ speed on the clear and a handful of turnovers for Virginia’s offense, the Cavaliers simply could not find the momentum that had allowed them to match North Carolina’s energy early on.
The Tar Heels’ six-goal scoring streak finally came to an end when Alaimo capitalized on a man-up situation, completing an early hat trick with a scrappy shot that caught Nelson off-guard.
Alaimo’s goal gave Virginia confidence they sorely needed. Sophomore attacker Addi Foster, freshman midfielder Payton Sfreddo and Galica followed suit, pulling the Cavaliers within three. Even after North Carolina notched its tenth goal of the day with 21 seconds left in the half, Virginia refused to be left behind. Galica won the draw and stormed the Tar Heel circle, slamming the ball into the top left corner to end the half down 7-10.
Yet North Carolina came into the second half swinging, scoring twice in rapid succession to restore a five goal lead. The second goal, a free position shot off of a three-second violation, highlighted the Cavaliers’ biggest weakness in the matchup — far too many of the Tar Heels’ goals came from avoidable three-second errors in the defensive circle.
Hoping to counter North Carolina’s speed, Virginia began to play more aggressively, fighting tooth and nail for contested balls and collapsing on the Tar Heels’ attackers before they could get a shot off. Despite the defensive surge, the Cavaliers could not stop North Carolina from widening the gap to 12.
Virginia’s saving grace defensively was Josephson, who put up a wall between the pipes throughout all four quarters. Her performance in the face of one of the most prolific attack units in the country bailed the Cavaliers on multiple occasions. The final score does not do justice to the immense talent the Virginia shot-stopper displayed in the contest.
While the contest did not go the Cavaliers’ way, the final score is far from indicative of the quality of play. Virginia displayed several moments of incredible play, even after the early loss of Miller. More crucially, the second quarter comeback was some of the Cavaliers’ best lacrosse this season. LaMonica’s young team will undoubtedly utilize this defeat as an opportunity to improve upon what is shaping up to be a strong ACC contender come tournament time.
Virginia is set to host Duke in its fourth conference matchup of the season Saturday at Klöckner Stadium. First draw is slated for noon, and the game will be broadcast live on ACCNX.
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