The No. 14 UVA women’s lacrosse team (10-7, 4-3 ACC) held on for a 6-5 win over No. 19 Virginia Tech (11-7, 2-5 ACC) in a rain-soaked Senior Day to close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia scored two quick goals to open the game, but Virginia Tech came back to tie it at 2-2 with 20:24 left in the first half. Both teams struggled to score over a 14-minute span before the Cavaliers scored two-straight to take a 4-2 lead into the half. The Hokies scored the first two goals of the second half to tie the game at 4-4 with 10:20 to play. Two goals by freshman Sammy Mueller (Pelham, N.Y.) put UVA ahead 6-4. VT scored with 4:32 to play and had possession in the final seven seconds but was unable to get a shot off as UVA took the win.
“This was an important win for us,” head coach Julie Myers said. “It was not a well-played game by our offense, but we did a good job on defense coming up with stops and making some big plays down the stretch. It was not a well-played game by any means but we scored just enough to win the game and it is a huge opportunity to move on.”
Mueller paced the UVA offense with her two second-half goals along with an assist for three points on the day. Senior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) added two goals, while junior Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) and senior Kelly Reese (Severna Park, Md.) each added one goal.
Junior Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) had a solid day in the net for UVA, coming up with 12 saves on 21 shots by VT. Sophomore Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) had four caused turnovers and sophomore Kaitlin Luzik (Alexandria, Va.) and freshman Lauren Martin (McLean, Va.) had three ground balls each to pace the defensive efforts.
UVA out-shot Virginia Tech 31-21 and had a 19-18 edge in ground balls. The Hokies led in draw controls, 8-5, and were 2-of-4 from the eight-meter.
Virginia opened the game with a goal by Dyson on the assist from Mueller at the 28:41 mark. The Cavaliers stretched their lead to 2-0 when Behr scored with 26:45 left in the first. Virginia Tech scored two-straight to tie the game. It would remain tied for nearly 14 minutes until Dyson notched her second of the day to put UVA in front 3-2. Reese added a goal with the assist from fellow senior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) to put the Cavaliers ahead 4-2 heading into halftime.
Out of the break, Virginia Tech scored at the 25:00 mark and added another goal nearly 15 minutes later to tie the game at 4-4 with 10:20 to play. Mueller scored her first goal of the day with 9:42 remaining to give Virginia a 5-4 lead. Mueller found the net again as UVA led 6-4 with 8:01 to play. VT scored with 4:32on the clock to cut it to 6-5. The Hokies had a chance to tie, but Vander Kolk made a key save at 2:28 to keep UVA in the lead. Virginia held possession until a turnover with eight seconds gave VT a chance, but couldn’t get a shot off in time.
Today’s game was sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. With Virginia’s victory, the Hoos have earned a point in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash. The score for the Clash is now University of Virginia – 10 and Virginia Tech – 9. Learn more about Virginia529 and this competition at TheCommmonwealthClash.com.
Virginia will be the No. 3 seed in the 2017 ACC Championship held April 27-30 in Richmond, Va., at Richmond Sports Backers Stadium.
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Chris Graham
