HARRISONBURG — The Virginia women’s lacrosse team held Stanford scoreless for almost 32 minutes in Friday’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament at James Madison University, and the Cavaliers cruised to a 12-3 victory.
“I was really proud of how the girls opened the game and carried it all the way to the end,” UVa head coach Julie Myers said. “We did a nice job of setting the tone and making sure we were in control of the pace of the game.”
Virginia (10-9) returns to Harrisonburg at noon on Sunday to face third-seeded JMU (18-1) in the second round.
On April 18, the Cavaliers fell, 15-10, at home to the Dukes, who claimed their second consecutive CAA title this season.
“JMU has some great middies and some great attackers, and they can score in a lot of ways,” Myers said. “They come right down your throat, and we’re going to have our hands full.”
The loss to JMU was part of a late-season skid which saw the Cavaliers lose six of seven to close the regular season and bow out of the ACC Tournament early after a loss to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.
Myers said her Cavaliers had to get a little introspective since that loss to the Fighting Irish on April 26, but she knew a daunting schedule prepared her team for what it faced on Friday in Harrisonburg.
“Since the ACC’s ended, we’ve been working really hard at getting better at being Virginia,” Myers said. “When you see some of the teams we faced and the attackers that were on them, clearly we were ready for today because of our schedule.”
“We did just enough to be here in May,” Myers continued, “and we want to make the most of it.”
Virginia’s defense made the most of its opportunities on Friday.
Despite facing Stanford’s Kelsey Murray, who Myers called one of the top attacks in the country, the Cavaliers led, 4-0, at halftime.
Myers credited defender Lauren Martin for holding Murray at bay.
Goalie Rachel Vander Kolk went into the intermission with seven saves, and she finished with 14.
“The defense did a great job of giving me stuff I could save, which was great, and we tried to reward the attack by continuing to get them the ball back,” Vander Kolk said.
Stanford ended a brutal evening with 17 turnovers, 13 of which were caused by the Cavaliers.
“It’s never something I expect of our offense to look hesitant or timid, but credit [Virginia’s] goalie. She had an awesome game and we weren’t making adjustments,” Stanford head coach Amy Bokker said. “I don’t usually worry about our offense. Those girls are fearless, but credit [Vander Kolk] for making them think instead of shoot.”
After the Cardinal (15-5) was held scoreless through the first 30 minutes, Dillon Schoen scored Stanford’s first goal with 28:44 left in the second half.
Virginia answered Schoen’s goal with a 4-0 run, and the Cavaliers outscored the Cardinal 7-2 to end the game.
“[Virginia] did a great job of locking up our great players and keeping us from ever getting in a flow,” Bokker said. “They were playing great man-to-man [defense], their footwork was good and they’re really disciplined.”
Sammy Mueller scored four of her team-high five goals in the second half for Virginia. She notched the Cavaliers’ final four goals, including back-to-back netters on assists from Ana Hagerup to end the game.
Kasey Behr scored two goals during the 4-0 run in the second half and finished the game with four.
“We play really well off each other, and that comes from practice,” Mueller said of her chemistry with Behr. “The attack does a really nice job for us, too, and with everybody moving, it’s easy to get open.”
Maggie Jackson added a goal and four assists.
“She’s dynamic, she’s fast and she’s kind of the heart and soul of a lot of what we do,” Myers said of Jackson. “Maggie has the ball the majority of the game, so she’s in position to make a lot of plays.”
Behr scored less than two minutes into the game. Jackson assisted on Behr’s first goal of the opening half as well as her last. Behr cut to the goal late in the opening half and scored to send the Cavaliers into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
Jackson finished the first half with three assists. Her second led to a goal by Mueller and a 3-0 lead.