CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — No. 1/1 Notre Dame suffered its first defeat of the season in its ACC opener, falling to Virginia by a score of 11-9 in Klockner Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The loss moves Notre Dame’s record to 6-1 on the season.
A trio of Fighting Irish players finished with two goals, as Josh Yago, Matt Jeffery and Will Maheras each struck twice for the Notre Dame offense. The Irish were a bit unlucky on the afternoon, hitting the post or bar four times in the defeat.
Thomas Ricciardelli finished the day with 11 saves while allowing 11 goals in between the pipes for the Irish.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the first time this season, the opposition managed to score first, as Virginia found the back of the net on the first two possessions of the game to open up an early 2-0 lead.
Notre Dame responded immediately, scoring three times in less than 3 minutes to go on top 3-2. Jeffery scored the first for the Irish followed by strikes from Fisher Finley and Yago. Virginia scored the final goal of the first frame to level the game at 3-3 after the opening 15 minutes of action.
The Fighting Irish scored the first goal of the second stanza, coming off a bouncer from Teddy Lally to give Notre Dame a 4-3 lead. Less than four minutes later Jeffery beat his defender and scored his second goal of the day to make it 5-3 with 8 minutes left in the half.
After a Virginia goal made it a one-score game the Irish struck again, this time in transition. A save and quick outlet from Ricciardelli to Chris Reinhardt sprung a fastbreak and the sophomore called his own number and buried his first goal of the season to make the score 6-4.
The Cavaliers scored once more before the half to cut the Irish lead to one after the first 30 minutes of action at 6-5 as the two sides headed into the halftime break.
The Irish came out of the intermission and scored on the opening possession of the half, as Maheras scored off a dish from Yago to extend the lead to two at 7-5.
The Cavaliers answered with two scores to tie the game back up at 7-7 before Yago took advantage of a Virginia turnover and scored his second of the day to make it 8-7. The Cavaliers managed to score two of the final three goals of the quarter to send the game to the fourth quarter all even at 9-9.
The Fighting Irish offense went quiet in the fourth quarter, as Virginia held them scoreless over the final 15 minutes of play. Virginia scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 3:29 left in regulation and then added another on an empty net in the final seconds of the game to come away with the 11-9 win.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame wraps up the non-conference portion of the regular season schedule with a huge showdown in Evanston, Illinois, against No. 2 Richmond at 12:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. local) on Saturday, April 4. The game will air on ACCNX.
The game will be played at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium as part of the second annual Lacrosse Day in Chicago event. The Northwestern women’s team will take on USC following the men’s game as part of the showcase event. Tickets are available here.
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