With 22 seconds left in the first half, the No. 3-ranked Virginia women's lacrosse team moved the ball around all sides of the opposing goal and still could not capitalize, even though the team was up 6-2 against No. 23 William & Mary.
Even though the Cavaliers (7-1, 2-1 ACC) did not play as sharply as they did against other top teams earlier in the season, the team was able to rebound off a tough loss against top-ranked North Carolina with a score of 12-3.
"I wish it was a little bit prettier of a game," coach Julie Myers said. "[I wish] it was a little better executed, but they came out and got it done."
The win still signified how the team was still able to come together and come up with a win.
"It's just nice to know we can come back together as a team, grub for ground balls, fight during transition and wait for good looks on attack and just put the ball in the back of the net," said sophomore attacker Blair Weymouth, who recorded two goals and one assist in the victory against the Tribe.
This game increased Virginia's all-time series lead against the Tribe to 24-17-1.
One sign that the Cavaliers did not play to their full potential was that of the 35 shots taken against William & Mary (2-5), only 12 went between the posts.
"I think we had some great looks and we didn't execute on all of our shots," Myers said.
Virginia did, however, control the ball, keeping it on the opposite half of the field for the majority of the game.
The Cavaliers' defense also held strong against the Tribe, helping to cause seven turnovers. Their defense is ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of only seven goals per game.
To bounce back from its hard weekend defeat, Virginia made several adjustments to ensure it would come out strong against the Tribe.
"We really worked a lot on our transition, worked on our fitness, worked on being hungry for draw controls and ground balls," Myers said. "We wanted to make sure that everyone knew where the open seams were on the field and where to attack them."
The lead scorers for the Cavaliers were freshman Brittany Kalkstein, who scored four goals and one assist, and senior Kate Breslin, who recorded a hat trick and an assist.
Now, Virginia must focus on No. 9 Princeton, which will come to Klöckner Stadium Saturday.
"Princeton's coming in hungry. We need to make sure we focus a lot on ourselves, being sharp on attack," Myers said. "We need to make sure our communication's there and that we're really grubby on our ground balls."
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