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UVA Women's Lacrosse Rallies to Beat No. 17 Princeton 13-11

Matthew Newton|
Virginia Athletics

In their first major test of the season, No. 8 Virginia women's lacrosse (2-0) faced some significant adversity on the road against a ranked opponent, but found a way to close strong in the fourth quarter, finishing the game on a four-goal run to come away with a 13-11 win at No. 17 Princeton (0-1) on Saturday at Sherrerd Field in Princeton.

Virginia got off to a hot start, scoring three goals in the first two minutes and 17 seconds of play, with each goal coming from a different scorer. The fast start was followed by 12 minutes of frustration, though, as the Cavaliers did not find the back of the net again for the remainder of the opening period, and Princeton matched with three goals to tie the game at 3-3 after the first quarter.

UVA got back on track with goals from Kate Galica and Addi Foster to regain the lead and the Cavalier defense held the Tigers scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the second quarter, but Princeton again found an answer, scoring back-to-back goals to make it 5-5 at halftime.

Madison Alaimo found the back of the net early in the third quarter, but this time, Princeton fired back by scoring the next four goals to seize a 9-6 lead. McKenzie Blake scored three goals in that run to give the Tigers their first and then largest lead of the game. Alaimo assisted on the next two goals for Virginia, which were both scored by Addi Foster, and then Kate Miller scored unassisted to once again tie the game at 9-9 entering the fourth quarter.

Princeton scored twice within the first 90 seconds of the first quarter to grab an 11-9 lead and the Cavaliers were on the ropes with the clock ticking towards their first loss of the season.

The Hoos didn't blink. Kate Miller scored to bring Virginia back within one. Less than a minute later, Kate Galica scored on a free position to bring the Cavaliers even at 11-11. A little over a minute after that, Jenna Dinardo dodged from left to right and scored with a bouncer on the run, giving Virginia a 12-11 lead.

Dinardo then scored her third goal of the game off of a dish from Kate Galica on a man-up opportunity to push the UVA advantage to 13-11. The Virginia defense held strong down the stretch, holding Princeton scoreless for the final 13 minutes and 34 seconds of game time to secure the victory for the Cavaliers.

“This was a hard-fought game by both teams, but I love the grit and the focus that we showed in the 4th quarter to take control and earn a great road win," said UVA head coach Sonia LaMonica.

Jenna Dinardo, Kate Galica, Addi Foster, and Kate Miller each scored hat tricks in the game and Madison Alaimo had a goal and three assists. Galica also won 12 draw controls as Virginia won the draw control battle 20-8. Mel Josephson allowed 11 goals and made nine saves.

Up next, Virginia returns home to take on Stanford on Saturday, February 22nd at 12pm ET at Klockner Stadium and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

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Matt Newton
MATTHEW NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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