It may have been raining, but that did not stop the Class of 2007 from shining as the Virginia women's lacrosse team defeated Georgetown last night 14-7 at Klöckner Stadium.
The Cavaliers got off to a fast start, scoring in the second minute and never looking back as they held the lead for the entire game. Virginia extended its lead to as much as eight with 9:10 left in the game.
The lead was secure thanks to a stellar performance by Virginia's five senior players. The group combined for eight goals, including one by senior attacker Kaitlin Swagart in just her seventh game of the season.
The best senior performance however, came from Kate Breslin. Already leading the team in goals and assists, Breslin added fourgoals and three assists to herlofty career totals in defeating the Hoyas for the first time in the teams' last three meetings.
"That was definitely something [the seniors] covered," freshman midfielder Brittany Kalkstein said. "They said 'Guys, we've lost to them the past two years.' Their motivation spread, it's contagious."
One senior, however, did not have the all-star performance most expected, Georgetown's attacker Coco Stanwick. Stanwick is one of the top scorers in the country, but against Virginia senior defender Jessy Morgan, simply could not get into a rhythm. With her lackluster performance, it is little surprise Georgetown was just one goal away from tying its lowest total all season.
"She had a pretty frustrating night," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "I credit our team for really frustrating [her] from the beginning."
It is also hard to score with limited possession of the ball, and Virginia dominated possession. Draw control cost the Cavaliers dearly against Duke the last time Virginia played at home. Despite a two-goal lead with 1:36 to go against Duke, Virginia could not secure the critical draw to hold the ball and coast to a victory. This time, however, Virginia did not repeat its mistake. The Cavaliers won draw control 10-3 in the first half alone, en route to a comfortable 9-3 advantage at half. The lead would never fall below six for the remainder of the contest.
"At halftime what we said was we lost that Duke game for a reason and that was to win this one," Myers said. "We just knew we had to just gut it out and be really tough."
Kalkstein set a freshman record for draw control with nine, which stands out even more because the accomplishment came against a Tewaaraton Trophy candidate in Stanwick.
"We know she's an incredible player, especially with the draws," Kalkstein said. "We just concentrated on her drawing to herself, maybe my size helped, but we just reacted to the ball wherever it went."
Kalkstein was not the only underclassman to steal the show on senior night; sophomore attacker Blair Weymouth notched a hat trick in the first half, giving her 33 goals for the year. Her size and speed posed too many problems for the Hoya defense, as many of her goals came off of fast breaks and broken plays.
Virginia must now prepare for a long series of road trips, beginning at Johns Hopkins (7-5) Saturday.
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