At the end of an eight-day stretch during which it played four games in four different cities, the No. 11 Virginia women's lacrosse team started fast against rival Virginia Tech and held on for a 12-10 win. The Cavaliers (8-5, 1-4 ACC) used a big first-half offensive outpouring to defeat the Hokies (8-6, 1-3 ACC) for the 17th consecutive time, thus keeping their perfect record in the all-time series intact.
Apart from the rivalry, this matchup seemed to have extra meaning for the two teams as the squads vied for a chance to earn a higher conference tournament seeding. The ACC Tournament is now just two weeks away, and Virginia was hoping to earn some last-minute momentum during its final conference tilt of the regular season.
"It's a good feeling to pull out a win, even though it was only by two goals," junior attacker Julie Gardner said, "It's awesome to have an ACC win under our belt."
En route to the victory, the Cavaliers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead against the Hokies during the first half by dominating possession and dictating the flow of play. Gardner scored twice in the opening four minutes to ignite Virginia's attack. Her second goal - which put the Cavaliers up 2-1 - capped a sequence during which junior attacker Charlie Finnigan opened up space for her teammate by making a deft move to draw the defenders toward her before dishing to Gardner.
Following Finnigan's impressive assist, the Cavaliers went on a 6-0 run as the attack ran through its sets with workmanlike efficiency. Sophomore midfielder Caroline McTiernan tallied the final goal of the onslaught to put her squad ahead 7-1 with 6:54 remaining during the first half. Finnigan, who assisted again on McTiernan's score, curled around a Virginia Tech defender to the outside before lobbing a high pass into the middle for McTiernan. McTiernan snagged the ball out of the air in traffic and rifled a close-range shot by the Hokies' sophomore goalkeeper, Alex Gale.
Virginia Tech junior midfielder Morgan Widlake finally ended the Hokies' nearly 23-minute drought by converting on a free position goal with 3:30 remaining in the half. Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kolarik narrowly missed the save as she managed to deflect the ball but then allowed it to trickle meekly over the goal line.
Widlake's goal would be Virginia Tech's last score of the opening period. Virginia, meanwhile, notched two more goals during the final 13 seconds before halftime to extend its lead to seven.
"We came out strong in the first half and bobbled a little in the second half, but we stuck in there," Kolarik said. "This was our chance to show everyone we're not last. We're ready to go into [the ACC Tournament] and give it our all."
Following the intermission, the Cavaliers appeared complacent and flat. Myers attributed the poor second-half showing to the team's fatigue, which had resulted from an intense traveling schedule.\nThe Hokies took full advantage of the Cavaliers' lethargic play and clawed their way back into the game by earning control of the possession battle.
Kolarik essentially handed Virginia Tech its first goal of the second half as she tried to intercept a pass across the cage. Instead of forcing a turnover, Kolarik deflected the ball into her own net to breathe life into the Hokies' hopes of a comeback.
After benefitting from the fluky play, Virginia Tech went on to outscore the Cavaliers 8-3 during the second half. Emala and Widlake, who each registered a hat trick, exposed several seams in the Cavaliers' backline.
But the Cavaliers' defense managed to step up in the clutch. With two minutes remaining on the clock, Kolarik notched a crucial save on a shot off the stick of senior attack Caitlyn Weir. The shot proved to be the Hokies' last opportunity as the Cavaliers ran the clock out on their final possession to secure the win.
"They scored a couple low on me," said Kolarik. "As she was coming down ... I just knew it was going there."
The Cavaliers return to action next Wednesday as they travel to George Mason for their final game of the regular season.
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