As the No. 9-ranked Virginia women's lacrosse team walked off University Hall Turf Field last night, not a frown was to be found on anyone's face.
The Cavaliers handed a severe beating to the Hokies in their season-opener with a 15-2 win, immediately bringing them to first place in the conference with a 1-0 record overall and in the ACC. Virginia also improved its all-time series against Tech to 11-0.
"We were anxious to get off to a good start," senior attack Kate Breslin said, who led the game with seven goals. "It was a little hairy in the first couple minutes, but it felt good once we got into the swing of things. I think a lot of attention focused on Blair [Weymouth] and some other attackers, so we were definitely able to open up things for my teammates and myself."
Breslin started off the game by recording the first four goals for the Cavaliers in a span of less than six minutes.
Virginia's fifth goal came with 13½ minutes left in the first half, when freshman midfielder Brittany Kalkstein passed from behind the goal to the left side for an easy shot in the net by senior midfielder and co-captain Jess Wasilewski.
Wasilewski would return the favor later in the second half when Kalkstein made a sharp cut to the center of the goal through the assist, helping Kalkstein record her first career goal as a Cavalier.
"I think one of our focuses on attack was to be patient, move the ball and look for open players, and it showed up a lot of assists instead of one-on-ones," sophomore attacker Ashley McCulloch said, who recorded four assists of her own last night.
Other than Virginia's dominating offense, what was most impressive was the defense's protection of the net.
"On defense, we did what we were supposed to do," junior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty said. "We followed instructions, we got our doubles, we got the ground balls we wanted, we got the interceptions we wanted and we held them to seven shots. That's fantastic."
It was clear that every time Virginia Tech moved the ball into Cavalier territory, Virginia's defense clamped down hard. The defense hustled all around to prevent any mistakes that might cost Virginia a goal. The offense exhibited real structure and patience as well, taking its time in developing each play to come out with a goal during each possession.
"We tried to play a slowdown offense so we could really go through our systems," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "We really wanted to make sure we could be disciplined and stick to an offense."
Last night's success represented more than season-opening win; to start off with an in-conference victory will boost morale and the squad's intensity in the games to come.
Virginia Tech's two goals were both recorded by junior attacker Kady McBrearty, Kendall's twin sister.
"It was interesting. It's never happened before," Kendall said about her sister scoring the Hokies' goals against her. "I like playing against her [Kady]. I'm happy she got those two goals. If anybody had to have them it was her."
Virginia travels to Philadelphia Sunday for its next match against Temple.
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