The No. 5 UVA women’s lacrosse team (11-5, 4-3 ACC) closed out the regular season with a 17-10 victory over Virginia Tech (6-10, 0-7 ACC) on Friday (April 17) at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia held a 10-2 lead at halftime, outshooting Virginia Tech 23-8 in the first 30 minutes. The Hokies outscored the Cavaliers 8-7 in the second half, including netting two goals in the final 16 seconds of the game.
“I thought we did a good job of starting strong, even though it wasn’t perfect, we were resilient and stayed with it,” said Virginia head coach Julie Myers. “We moved the ball well, made some plays, and transitioned the ball cleanly. In the first half, we were up 11-2 on draw controls, but not as much in the second half. I give Virginia Tech a lot of credit. They came out of the locker room at halftime and played a much-better second half. Overall, I am very pleased with our efforts and now look forward to playing in the ACC Tournament here at Klöckner Stadium next week.”
Virginia’s seven seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony with the momentum carrying into the game as they combined to score 14 of UVa’s 17 goals and contributed eight of its ten assists. Senior Casey Bocklet (South Salem, N.Y.), the reigning ACC Player of the Week, scored a career-high six goals with an assist. Redshirt senior Liza Blue (Butler, Md.) scored four goals with an assist. Senior Courtney Swan (Vero Beach, Fla.) scored two goals with four assists, also winning eight draw controls.
Virginia Tech’s Megan Will scored five goals with an assist.
With the game tied 1-1, Swan scored an unassisted goal with 22:16 remaining in the first half to start a streak of eight unanswered goals, including two goals by Bocklet scored on behind-the-back shots. Will stopped the scoring streak with an unassisted goal with 3:55 remaining. Bocklet pushed it to a 10-2 UVa advantage on a feed from junior Mary Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J.) 1:41 before the break.
In the second half, the two teams traded goals with Virginia holding a 17-8 advantage with 10:22remaining. Neither team scored again until Virginia turned the ball over with 41 seconds remaining and Virginia Tech got the ball back into the offensive zone with Cawley Bromley scoring with 16 second remaining. The Hokies won the ensuing draw control and drew a foul and an eight-meter opportunity with two seconds remaining, scoring to narrow the UVa margin of victory to seven.
Virginia had an 11-2 advantage in draw controls in the first half, but the Hokies had a 12-4 edge in the second half. The Hokies also outshot the Cavaliers 18-10 in the second period.
All of Virginia’s available players appeared in the game.
With the victory, the Cavaliers earned one point in the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529, a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams at Virginia and Virginia Tech, giving UVa a 10-7 lead. The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. Fans are also encouraged to support their team through a fan-based point. The school that accumulates 11.5 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. Visit www.TheCommonwealthClash.comfor more information.
The Cavaliers will be hosting the ACC Tournament at Klöckner Stadium April 23-26. All-session tickets are $14 for reserved seats, $10 for general admission adult tickets and $8 for students and seniors. Single-session tickets are $7 for reserved seats, $5 for general admission adult tickets and $4 for students and seniors.
The conference will announce the complete tournament bracket, including the opponent and game time for Virginia’s quarterfinal match-up on Thursday, on Sunday (April 19) afternoon.
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Chris Graham
