Rachel Clark Leads No. 13 UVA Women Lacrosse to 20-11 Win at No. 16 Princeton

Clark scored six goals to lead the Cavaliers to a road win over the Tigers on Saturday at Princeton

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

After winning ACC Freshman of the Year last season, Rachel Clark has stepped it up a notch to start her sophomore campaign. Clark scored three goals in the season-opener against Stanford, four goals against UC Davis, and then followed that up with a brilliant six-goal performance to lead the No. 13 Virginia women's lacrosse team to a 20-11 road victory over No. 16 Princeton on Saturday in Princeton, New Jersey. 

The Tigers started their season-opener strong, scoring the game's first goals and taking a 5-4 lead at the end of the first period. It was all Virginia after that though, as the Cavaliers flipped the script by scoring the final three goals of the first quarter and then outscoring the Tigers 6-2 in the second quarter. Rachel Clark scored three unassisted goals in the second period and UVA also got goals from Ashlyn McGovern, Mackenzie Hoeg, and Morgan Schwab to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. 

The dominance reached a remarkable peak in the third quarter as the Cavaliers bulldozed the Tigers to the tune of an 8-0 third period to open up an 18-7 lead. Clark started off by scoring back-to-back goals and Ashlyn McGovern added three-consecutive goals later in the quarter, with all three coming off of assists from Morgan Schwab. Princeton finally fought back with a four-goal fourth quarter, but it was much too little and way too late as UVA cruised to the 20-11 win. 

Rachel Clark led the way with six goals and Ashlyn McGovern had five goals. Morgan Schwab had one goals and five assists, while Kiki Shaw and Mackenzie Hoeg each had a hat trick. The difference in the game was draw controls, as the Cavaliers won the draw control battle 26-9, giving UVA a 46-26 edge in shots and a 32-17 advantage in shots on goal. 

Now 3-0 on the season, Virginia hosts Louisville to start ACC play in UVA's first home game of the season next Saturday at 1pm at Klockner Stadium. 

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