Big 4th Quarter Pushes No. 13 UVA Women's Lacrosse Past UC Davis 16-12

Playing their second road game in a span of three days, the Cavaliers trailed by as many as three goals in the second half and faced a deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Six-consecutive goals later, things were well in hand for the UVA women's lacrosse team.

The Cavaliers outscored the Aggies 6-1 in the fourth quarter to turn a one-goal deficit into a four-goal victory as No. 13 Virginia defeated UC Davis 16-12 on Sunday afternoon at Palo Alto High School in California.

Virginia took the lead twice in the first quarter on goals by Courtlynne Caskin and Rachel Clark, but UC Davis responded with goals each time and the first quarter ended with the score tied at 2-2.

Maureen Duffy gave the Cavaliers the lead again with an unassisted goal to start the second quarter, but UC Davis fired off three-straight goals, the first two assisted by Alex Agnew, who had three assists in the first half. Jaime Biskup scored back-to-back goals to pull Virginia even again at 5-5 before the teams traded goals by Regan Arkless of UC Davis and Mackenzie Hoeg of UVA to make the score 6-6 at halftime.

Virginia outshot UC Davis 14-5 in the second quarter and put nine shots on goal, but UC Davis goalkeeper Ashley Laing made five saves to prevent the Hoos from gaining any separation.

In the third quarter, UC Davis used a 6-4 draw control advantage to gain the upper hand in the possession battle and capitalized on the offensive end. The Aggies opened the second-half with a lightning strike of three-straight goals in the first two minutes and 16 seconds of the third quarter. Ashlyn McGovern and Rachel Clark quickly responded with a pair of goals for UVA to prevent things from getting out of hand, but UC Davis had another answer, scoring another two goals in a row from Alex Agnew and Mia Lawrence, who led the Aggies with four goals in the game.

Lawrence's fourth goal gave UC Davis an 11-8 lead midway through the third quarter. The UVA defense toughened up after that, holding the Aggies scoreless for the next 23 minutes of game time. UC Davis would score just one more goal in the game, allowing Virginia to stage a pivotal 8-0 run that completely reversed the tide of the game.

Rachel Clark assisted on a Kate Miller goal and then Jaime Biskup scored unassisted to bring the Cavaliers within one at the end of the third quarter, trailing 11-10. That momentum carried into the fourth quarter as Virginia rattled off six more unassisted and unanswered goals over the first 11 minutes of the final frame. Rachel Clark scored twice in the fourth and the Cavaliers also got goals from Ashlyn McGovern, Morgan Schwab, Kate Miller, and Kiki Shaw.

UVA dominated time of possession in the fourth, winning seven of the nine draw controls and holding a 7-2 edge in ground balls. For the game, draw controls were 22-11 in favor of Virginia, who used that possession edge to outshoot UC Davis 42-29, including a 29-21 advantage in shots on goal.

UC Davis scored a goal with 25 seconds left in the game, but it was much too little, too late for the Aggies, as the Cavaliers came away with the 16-12 victory.

Rachel Clark led Virginia with four goals and an assist and Jaime Biskup had a hat trick on six shots. Kate Miller and Ashlyn McGovern tallied two goals apiece. Virginia made a key change in cage during the third quarter, as starting goalie Ashley Vernon was subbed out of the game after allowing 11 goals versus just four saves. Sophomore Abby Jansen entered the game and made five saves to just one goal allowed for the remaining 24 minutes of game action.

Virginia went 2-0 to start the season on this California weekend road trip with a 14-11 win at Stanford on Friday night and this 16-12 victory over UC Davis on Sunday. Next up, Virginia plays at No. 16 Princeton on Saturday at 1pm.

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