WISE — UVA Wise continued its dominance in opening round conference tournament games Tuesday as Meghan Dennehy's squad claimed a 8-7 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Carl Smith Stadium.
The win was the fourth consecutive for the Cavaliers (11-6) in conference tournament openers; but the triumph did not come easy as the Bears (7-11) led 6-5 after three-quarters of play.
UVA Wise scored the first three goals of the final period to surge in front. Freshman Caitlyn Schultz dished out two of her season-high-tying five assists in the decisive stretch. Her final assist came on senior Katie Allen's 25th goal of the season with four minutes to play to put the hosts up 8-6.
Sophomore Anna Claire Watt tied the game on a Schultz assist with 7:03 to play before freshman Issie Brown gave her team the lead for good with a free position goal 44 seconds later.
LR would get within a goal with just over a minute to play when Alexa Burghardt found the back of the net but, the Cavs' Ashley Fisher would win the draw control allowing her club to run out the clock and advance to the tournament semifinals.
The Bears led 3-2 at intermission in an opening 30 minutes that was controlled by each school's defense. LR goalie Teanna Sieben registered 11 of her 14 saves in the first half while UVA Wise limited the guests to six shots on goal in the stretch.
Schultz assisted on both of her team's first-half goals. Junior Mallory Trimble got the scoring started with a goal at the 5:58 mark of the first quarter before sophomore Abby Stoffelen netted a goal with 12:19 to play in the half to put UVA Wise back on top at 2-1.
LR's Kaitlyn Cavanaugh and Jolan Morey would provide the half's final two goals allowing their team to take the narrow halftime advantage.
The seesaw affair continued in the opening moments of the third quarter. Sophomore Grace Golatt tied the game for UVA Wise with an unassisted goal at the 9:26 mark of the period.
Schultz gave the Cavs the lead back with a highlight reel goal less than four minutes later. The midfielder came from the side of the cage and fired a shot toward the goal from her ankles while running away from the goal — the shot would get by Sieben to make it a 4-3 contest.
The visitors would score three of the final four goals of the period as Ellie Campbell, Chloe Christensen and Cavanaugh each scored around a Watt goal to take the narrow margin to the fourth quarter.
Schultz added a season-high six groundballs to her stat line to aid UVA Wise to a 24-to-19 advantage in the category. The Cavs also won the turnover battle 23-to-19 while enjoying a 22-to-15 shots-on-goal advantage.
Senior Kameryn Darrington, the reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Week, led all players with four caused turnovers with Trimble tallying a game-high eight draw controls.
"They never gave up, and that was most important," Dennehy said. "To be able to come back after being down and do the little things when it mattered is all I can ask for from these ladies."
Friday, UVA Wise will tangle with top-seeded and regular-season champion Wingate. First draw from Matthews, N.C. is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
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