Cavaliers Now

Virginia Women's Lacrosse Fends Off No. 14 JMU for Second Straight Ranked Victory

Aidan Baller|
Virginia Athletics

On the heels of an impressive 16-11 victory over Duke in which the Cavaliers rallied back after trailing 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Virginia women's lacrosse team rode the momentum into Wednesday's game against JMU to secure a 10-3 lead at halftime en route to a 14-11 victory.

The Cavaliers raced out to a hot start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Kate Galica and freshman Payton Sfreddo less than 90 seconds into the contest. JMU's Savannah Derey fired back minutes later before this past week's US Lacrosse National Player of the Week, Jenna Dinardo, netted her first of the day. Dinardo earned the award for her four-goal and four-assist performance against Duke.

Derey added a second goal before Alex Reilly netted a goal less than a minute later, sparking a 5-0 cavalanche to start the second quarter. Galica started the party, dodging between two defenders before finding Addi Foster for a score, who then found Sfreddo for a goal 24 seconds later. Nineteen seconds after that, Gabby Laverghetta scored after a draw control by Dinardo to give Virginia three goals in 43 seconds. 

Laverghetta and Galica then each added their second goals of the day to give Virginia a 9-2 lead. Late in the quarter, the Dukes responded with a goal to end their scoring drought, but a goal from Sfreddo with 16 seconds left gave Virginia a 10-3 lead at the half. The goal gave Sfreddo her first career hat-trick. 

After a 6-1 second quarter for the Cavaliers, it was almost the opposite in the third, with the Dukes rattling off a 6-2 scoring run to rifle themselves back into the game. Savannah added two goals during the run, while Galica and Reilly both scored on free position goals to cut the bleeding as Virginia led 12-9 heading into the fourth quarter. 

To start the fourth quarter, Coach Sonia LaMonica opted for Abby Jansen to take over for Mel Josephson for the second straight game. Against Duke, Jansen entered the game midway through the second quarter when Josephson had three saves and eight goals allowed. On Wednesday, Jansen ran onto the field after Josephson had let in six goals and made one save during the third quarter after Josephson made nine saves and allowed only three goals in the first half. 

Despite the substitution, the Dukes' run forged on as they scored to bring the Virginia lead to a mere two-goal deficit. 

In need of an answer, Jansen made two key saves before Dinardo found Foster to reestablish the advantage. Minutes later, in hopes of making one final push, JMU's Olivia Mattis buried her second goal of the day to once again make things interesting with less than five minutes remaining. 

Olivia Matthews then earned a free-position shot for the Dukes with two minutes remaining, hoping to bring her team within one, but a save from Jansen secured the win for the Hoos. 

With time winding down, Foster added her third goal of the day to give Virginia a 14-11 victory over JMU. 

Offensively, Addi Foster led the way with three goals and two assists, while Kate Galica registered three goals, one assist and 11 draw controls. Jenna Dinardo dished out three assists while also scoring a goal. 

Next, the Cavaliers will host Pittsburgh on Saturday in their One Love Game at Klöckner Stadium. First draw is set for 3 pm on ACC Network. 

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Aidan Baller
AIDAN BALLER

Aidan has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since January of 2023 and covers UVA football, basketball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse. He is from New York and is currently in his fourth year at the University of Virginia, enrolled in the M.S. in Accounting program.

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