March 28, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Despite a big second half comeback and multiple delays on Wednesday night, the Old Dominion University Lacrosse team fell to the ninth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers, 14-13, in a thriller at Klöckner Stadium.
The beginning of the game was delayed nearly an hour and half because of severe thunderstorms in the Charlottesville area. Then on the last play of the first half, junior midfielder Carolyn Burns was injured and after receiving several minutes of medial treatment, was transported to the hospital with an apparent wrist injury.
The loss for ODU (3-7) was the second straight by just one goal and the third by just a single goal in the month of March. For the second consecutive game, three Lady Monarchs recorded hat tricks as senior attacker Rebecca Reymann, senior midfielder Lisa Bernardini and sophomore midfielder Emily Austerberry each scored three goals apiece.
It was the final regular season non-conference game for ODU, who outscored Virginia (7-4) in the second half, 9-5. After trading goals early on, the Lady Monarchs pushed but could never cut the lead to fewer than three goals until the final minutes of the contest.
Austerberry, who scored a career-high three goals, then cut the deficit to three goals before Bernardini drove unassisted with 1:39 to play to make it 14-12. Winning the draw, Austerberry then found the back of the net again on a great assist from Wright to pull within a single goal. In a highly contest draw following a UVA timeout, the Cavaliers were able to maintain possession and run out the clock to hold on for the win.
To start the game off, Wright sliced through the Virginia defense to net the game’s first goal early on. A defensive struggle was in place for much of the beginning of the first half as the Cavaliers were able to take a lead capitalizing on a pair of free position attempts.
Despite ODU’s best effort to close the gap on multiple occasions, the Lady Monarchs were never able to get closer than two goals as the Cavaliers responded each time. Anne Thomas paced UVA with three first half goals. Four different Monarchs scored in the first period as Virginia took a 9-4 lead into the half.
Wright added two goals for ODU while senior midfielder Rebecca Hartrum and senior attacker Mary Bermingham each scored a goal. Senior Sarah Geary collected four saves and three groundballs in goal for the Lady Monarchs. Thomas and Sloan Warren each had three goals apiece to lead Virginia while Josie Owen added two assists. Goalie Kim Kolarik recorded seven saves.
ODU begins CAA action on Sunday as they travel to Williamsburg to face William & Mary at 1:30 p.m. at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field. Live stats will be available and updates throughout the game will also be on Twitter at @ODULacrosse.