When Virginia faced off against in-state rival Richmond last February, it found itself on the losing end of the matchup for the first time in 14 years. The game was back-and-forth until overtime, when the Spiders scored a last-second game-winner and won 15-14.

So as the Cavaliers prepared for the rematch in 2021, coach Julie Myers said her returning players had one message: “There’s no way we’re going to let that happen again.”

Then-No. 18 Virginia followed through on that promise, taking down then-No. 10 Richmond 15-9 on Friday. The majority of its goals came from veteran players who remembered the bitter taste of last year’s loss, and they did what they could to ensure the end result would be different this time around. Virginia jumped to No. 7 in the rankings as a result, while Richmond fell to No. 12.

Junior midfielder Annie Dyson and redshirt-junior attacker Ashlyn McGovern led the Cavaliers with three goals each. McGovern, who scored twice in her team’s loss last season, needed only about 15 minutes to reach the hat trick mark in this one.

“Ash really asserted herself and worked so hard early to get the ball back and make sure we had another chance to go and score a goal,” Myers said. “That really kind of lit a fire under all of the other attackers and middies.”

McGovern’s back-to-back scores — the first from the eight-meter arc, where Virginia went 7-for-12 on the afternoon — helped the Cavaliers build an 11-3 advantage with nine minutes left in the first half.

In its six games last season, Virginia held a lead of more than six goals only once, a 17-7 win over Cal. The Cavaliers hadn’t been up that big — or up big at all — the last time it faced Richmond. Instead, they spent much of the second half in 2020 trying to catch up to the Spiders’ lead, including with a five-goal rally near the game’s end.

This year was different. Virginia treated the big early lead just as it would a deficit or a tie game, Myers said, staying focused on the next possession and making sure things went its way.

And that focus paid off after the halftime break. Goalie Charlie Campbell saved eight shots, thwarting any hopes of a Richmond comeback. The Cavaliers found the back of the net four more times, bringing their list of scorers to seven, a strong showing after 12 different players scored in a season-opening win over East Carolina on Feb. 15.

“Offensively in particular, we’re incredibly deep and we have a lot of scoring threats,” Myers said. “We spent a lot of time attacking the zone and really working our two- and three-man games, finding that extra pass and I think that showed.”

Now sitting at No. 7 nationally, Virginia will hope the energy from the early non-conference win carries over into ACC play, which starts Saturday against No. 18 Virginia Tech. Nearly every year is a good year for the ACC, but 2021 is shaping up to be a great one — seven of the conference’s eight teams were ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20 after the first weekend of play.

The Cavaliers haven’t finished higher than third in the ACC since 2010. Myers said in the preseason that this team was ready to “sneak up from behind” on its opponents, and with its first big takedown of the season already under its belt, the victory in Richmond might just be the start for Virginia.

“The girls that were there on the field last year [against Richmond] did play with a chip on their shoulders,” Myers said. “We’re going to need to make sure we do that against opponents we’ve played against, haven’t played against, no matter what the score has been in the past. We need to make sure we do that to every opponent.”