No. 14 UVA Women's Lacrosse Falls to No. 3 Syracuse 17-11

The Cavaliers lost to the Orange on a snowy afternoon in Charlottesville

Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications

On a cold, snowy afternoon in Charlottesville, the No. 14 UVA women's lacrosse team faced another top team in No. 3 Syracuse. Due to the inclement weather, the game was moved from Klockner Stadium to the Lower Turf Field at UVA. 

The Orange used a big 5-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game and the Cavaliers were unable to recover as UVA fell to Syracuse 17-11. 

Rachel Clark and Ashlyn McGovern carried the Virginia offense, combining to score seven of UVA's 11 goals. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the rest of the team produced only four goals total and the Hoos could not keep up offensively with the Orange, who posted five goals in each of the first two quarters. 

Mackenzie Hoeg scored the game's first goal to give UVA a 1-0 lead, but that would be Virginia's only lead of the game. Syracuse scored back-to-back goals to go up 2-1, but Rachel Clark scored to tie the game. Clark led the Cavaliers with four goals. Syracuse ended the opening period on a 3-0 run and took a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Ashlyn McGovern, who had three goals in the game, and Kiki Shaw scored unassisted goals for the Cavaliers to get back to within one goal, but the third-ranked Orange responded with a 5-0 run to take a commanding 10-4 lead. Clark scored at the end of the period, but Syracuse maintained a five-goal advantage at halftime. 

Virginia goalkeeper Ashley Vernon was blitzed with 24 shots on goal from the Orange. Vernon made seven saves versus 17 goals allowed. Syracuse goalie Kimber Hower made five saves versus 11 goals against. 

Behind two goals from Ashlyn McGovern, one from Rachel Clark, and one from Kate Miller, the Cavaliers actually outscored the Orange 4-3 in the third quarter and headed to the final period trailing by a manageable 13-9 margin. 

Syracuse scored two quick goals in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to six goals. Rachel Clark scored her sixth goal of the day and Annie Dyson added a goal with three minutes left, but both of those goals were answered with Syracuse scores to keep the deficit at six and the Orange went on to win 17-11. 

Meaghan Tyrrell led Syracuse with five goals and an assist and Megan Carney and Emma Tyrrell each recorded hat tricks. Syracuse outshot Virginia 29-23 and shots on goal were 24-16 in favor of the Orange. UVA had a 20-18 advantage in ground balls and draw controls were even at 17-17, but the Cavaliers had six failed clears and turned the ball over 27 times. 

With the loss, Virginia falls to 4-5 overall and 0-3 in ACC play. The Cavaliers will have another opportunity to pick up their first conference win of the season when they host Pittsburgh on Friday at 5pm at Klockner Stadium. 

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