Virginia Women's Lacrosse Falls to Duke in NCAA Tournament

Despite the goal from Hem, Jenna DiNardo scored immediately for the Hoos, picking up a groundball off the draw before streaking down the field to score to cut the Duke lead to one. 

Then, Duke scored two quick goals to close the first quarter and another two to start the second, dealing a punishing blow to the Hoos. 

Looking for a spark, Coach Sonia LaMonica opted for Abby Jansen in net, who made three saves and allowed zero goals to close the first half. Jansen finished with seven saves.

On the offensive end, DiNardo and Addi Foster found the back of the net to cut the Duke lead to three at halftime. To add, the Blue Devils won all five draw controls in the second quarter which proved costly. 

"They made it challenging for us on their circle play," said Coach Sonia LaMonica. "And, you know, we really battled hard, but ultimately that put us on a lot of deep possessions and not as many offensive possessions."

The Blue Devils were the antagonizers to start the third as they scored three straight goals, all by Callie Hem, as she continued to find herself open on the crease. 

Kate Galica fired back to spark a 3-1 run for the Hoos, which included Jenna DiNardo picking up an assist to Addi Foster before she scored her third goal of the day to cut the Duke lead to four.

The Hoos were then faced with a long defensive set, making two stands, but they failed to clear the ball on both occasions, leading to an eventual goal from Duke to close the third quarter. On the day, the Cavaliers were 12/16 on clears.

In the fourth, Jansen made two early saves to inject momentum into the Cavaliers. Still, the Hoos offense failed to produce on multiple occasions, including a two-minute man-up situation. 

After that, Duke netted two goals to silence the Cavs and take a commanding 15-8 lead midway through the fourth quarter as the Hoos fell to Duke 17-9. 

"I just think that we made some really tremendous stops, but I think over the course of the game, we just played too much defense in general," said LaMonica. 

On a positive note, the Hoos return six of their eight top goal scorers, which include Kate Galica, Jenna DiNardo, Madison Alaimo, and Addi Foster. 

"I know that those players returning, this is going to help them continue to develop that fire and ability to just execute in pressure moments," said LaMonica about what the Hoos can take from the loss. "So, you know, it's been a really great journey this year, a lot to be proud of, and I'm super proud of this team and what they've accomplished to get to this point." 

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