Virginia’s women’s lacrosse team lost to Syracuse 11-9 on April 22 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship at American Legion Memorial Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The loss means Virginia ends its season with a record of eight wins and nine losses and will not qualify for the NCAA Championship. This result breaks a streak of 29 consecutive tournaments in which the Cavaliers have competed.
During the game, Virginia trailed by as many as five goals but managed to close the gap late. Sophomore Gabby LaVerghetta scored with just over five minutes remaining to bring Virginia within one goal. Despite opportunities, including a shot by Livy LaVerghetta that was saved by Syracuse goalkeeper Daniella Guyette, Syracuse maintained their lead. Molly Guzik scored for Syracuse with two and a half minutes left, pushing their advantage back up to two goals. The Orange then held possession until time expired.
Head coach Sonia LaMonica said after the game: “This team has endured and worked through injury after injury. We lost Payton Sfreddo to an injury at the end of our Virginia Tech game last week. Despite these setbacks, this group remained positive and just kept grinding with strength, resilience and a never-give-up attitude. I am proud as heck of this team. Win or lose, these kids showed up the next day for practice, ready to work at it and play the game. I’m sorry it’s over for our seniors, but they should know that this will go down as a transformational season, and I thank them for that. I also want to thank our alumni who have stood by us and supported us through the ups and downs. It is hard to win championships in this modern landscape, but we will get there, and this team will be the catalyst for why and how. Go Hoos.”
Virginia goalkeeper Elyse Finnelle made six saves during the match while Guyette had five saves for Syracuse. The Cavaliers led draw controls 12-10 with Kate Galica winning nine draws herself; both teams took twenty shots each.
This marks only the second time since 1995 that Virginia has not played in postseason competition; they also missed out in 2020 when COVID-19 caused tournament cancellation.
