No. 9 Virginia wins 15-5 over VCU

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 9 Virginia (6-1) opened its home stand with a 15-5 win over VCU (3-3) on Wednesday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.

UVA’s attackers accounted for seven goals, led by redshirt junior Ashlyn McGovern’s (Phoenix, Md.) four goals. Senior Taylor Regan (Larchmont, N.Y.) matched the team-high with five points on three goals and two assists. Junior Lillie Kloak (Ridgewood, N.J.) added three goals.

The Cavaliers led in shots (33-23), ground balls (21-16), draw controls (13-8) and saves (8-6). Juliana George led VCU with three goals.

Regan scored back-to-back goals in 43 seconds to give UVA a 2-1 lead over VCU. Junior Annie Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) added a goal with the assist from McGovern to cap a 3-0 run by the Cavaliers. After a VCU goal, Kloak scored her first on a free position then Regan found McGovern to give UVA a 5-2 lead at the 12:06 mark in the first half. The Cavaliers closed the first half on a 5-0 run. Kloak sparked the run with back-to-back goals. Freshman Morgan Schwab (Fairport, N.Y.) had two goals and Regan notched her hat trick in the run as Virginia led 10-3 at the half.

McGovern scored the first three goals of the second half for the Cavaliers. Sophomore Kiki Shaw (Owings Mills, Md.) scored, and freshman Devon Whitaker (Wayne, Pa.) had her first collegiate goal in the second half.

“It is definitely nice to get back on the winning track,” UVA coach Julie Myers said. “It took an entire team and 60 minutes to find our groove and enforce our will. It was nice to see the defense come up and make big stops, to be able to win draws and to score 15 goals is always a nice feeling.”