Virginia Wins ACC Championship for Second Consecutive Year
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April 29, 2007
The Virginia women’s lacrosse team won its second consecutive ACC Championship with a 12-6 decision over No. 5 UNC in Chapel Hill behind a 12-save performance from Tournament MVP Kendall McBrearty. The No. 6 Cavaliers (16-3) shut down the Tar Heel offense, allowing only one goal in the final 30 minutes of play, and that came six minutes into the period. Virginia won 14 of the 20 draws in the game, led by All-Tournament selection Kate Breslin, who had a game-high five. All-Tournament selection Ashley McCulloch led all players with six points on two goals and four assists; her four assists was a record for any game in tournament history and it also gave her the record for assists in a tournament with seven. Brittany Kalkstein not only notched a hat trick but also controlled three draws.
McCulloch controlled the opening draw, setting what would be a tone for the Cavaliers with draw controls. On the opening possession, Virginia worked the ball behind back to the second-year, who hit Megan Havrilla with an opposite post pass for a quickstick, scoring in the first 57 seconds of the game. A McBrearty save popped out of the circle, and she raced out of her circle to grab the loose ball. The Cavaliers worked the ball upfield where they settled it before McCulloch set up behind and fed Megan O’Malley, who quicksticked the ball into the cage for Virginia’s second goal at 23:58, putting the Hoos on top 2-0. UNC pulled within one with an unassisted goal by Chrissy Rude at 21:22. Megan Havrilla was awarded an 8-meter shot but her attempt hit the far pipe and bounced out; Amber Falcone picked up the ball and raced the length of the field before hitting Kristin Taylor, who scored at 16:54 to tie up the game.
The Cavaliers erupted for three goals in 1:17. The first one came much in the same way UNC’s second goal did. An 8-meter shot by Meg Freshwater hit the pipe; Kalkstein collected the ground ball and Virginia cleared it. At the other end, the pass was off slightly and the UNC keeper came out to make a play, but Virginia kept possession and Havrilla dumped the ball back to Breslin, who scored on an empty net for the go-ahead goal at 12:03. Breslin won the ensuing draw and got the ball to McCulloch, who in turn fed Kalkstein, who scored 16 seconds after Breslin for a 4-2 lead. Carolina’s next shot went into the side netting, and the Cavaliers cleared the ball to Kaitlin Duff, who raced up the field and got the ball to Weymouth, who fed the ball back up to Kalkstein, who scored a minute after her first goal for a 5-2 lead. Unassisted goals by Kelly Taylor and Christina Juras pulled the Heels to within one at 4:41.
Breslin won the draw and got the ball to Kalkstein, who in turn fed Jess Wasilewski. The co-captain was fouled on the drive and converted the 8-meter for a 6-4 lead 20 seconds after UNC had pulled within one. The Tar Heels again pulled close off a Kristin Taylor goal with 2:59 to play.
With time winding down in the half, the Cavaliers gained possession and worked for the last shot. A crease challenge by McCulloch met with resistance, but she was able to create a shot out of the broken play and scored with 17 seconds on the clock to give UVa a 7-5 lead at the break.
Jen Holden won the opening draw of the second half with a scrappy effort in the backfield, and the teams traded possessions with the Cavaliers getting the ball back after a McBrearty save. Virginia quickly got the ball upfield and McCulloch drove in from the top on her own, scoring 1:31 into the period for an 8-5 lead. UNC answered as Juras converted an 8-meter four minutes later. McCulloch won the draw and Virginia quickly attacked, scoring as McCulloch hit O’Malley for a goal one minute after UNC scored.
From there the Virginia defense clamped down, and at one point withstood a barrage of shots in a span of 5:02 in which UNC possessed the ball in their offensive zone, but the Tar Heels were unable to beat McBrearty, who had nine saves in the second half. Out of that possession Virginia quickly transitioned downfield and Havrilla scored with 6:49 to play. Jen Holden caused a turnover on the next possession, and McBrearty picked up the loose ball. The Cavaliers advanced the ball upfield where Kalkstein scored on a drive with 4:43 to play for an 11-6 lead. An illegal pick by UNC gave the ball to Duff in the defensive arc, and at the other end of the field Breslin scored again for the final goal of the game.
The win is the second consecutive for Virginia and gives them a five-game winning streak in the tournament. The Class of 2007 has won three ACC titles and Virginia has won eight of its last nine games in the ACC Tournament.
Kalkstein’s three draw controls give her 51 and she becomes only the fourth player in school history to control 50 draws in a season. McCulloch not only set the record for assists in a tournament, but she now holds the record for assists as a second year, breaking Beth Potter’s record of 27 from 1996. Her 29 for 2007 ranks eighth all-time in a single season (all years) in school history. Breslin’s two goals give her 163 career points and she now stands in sole possession of tenth in points in school history.
The Cavaliers now await their seeding in the NCAA Championships. The field will be announced Monday night, May 7.
Linescore 1 2 F (records)Virginia 7 5 12 (16-3)UNC 5 1 6 (15-4)
Scoring summary:29:03 V Havrilla (McCulloch) 1-023:58 V O’Malley (McCulloch) 2-021:22 N Rude (—) 2-116:54 N Kr. Taylor (Falcone) 2-212:03 V Breslin (Havrilla) 3-211:47 V Kalkstein (McCulloch) 4-210:46 V Kalkstein (Weymouth) 5-26:05 N Ke. Taylor (—) 5-34:41 N Juras (—) 5-44:21 V Wasilewski (8m) 6-42:59 N Kr. Taylor (Bosica) 6-50:17 V McCulloch (—) 7-528:29 V McCulloch (—) 8-524:06 N Juras (8m) 8-623:07 V O’Malley (McCulloch) 9-66:49 V Havrilla (—) 10-64:43 V Kalkstein (—) 11-63:08 V Breslin (—) 12-6
Scoring: V : McCulloch 2-4=6; Kalkstein 3-0=3, Havrilla 2-1=3; Breslin 2-0=2; O’Malley 2-0=2; Wasilewski 1-0=1; Weymouth 0-1=2 N: Kr. Taylor 2-0=2; Juras 2-0=2; Ke. Taylor 1-0=1; Rude 1-0=1; Falcone 0-1=1; Bosica 0-1=1
Keepers: VA: McBrearty (60 mins, 12 saves, 6 GA) NC: Hordy (36 mins, 5 saves, 8 GA); Ripley (24 mins, 1 save, 4 GA)
Draws; VA 14, UNC 6Total shots: VA 22, NC 32Field shots: VA 19, NC 28Ground balls: VA 14, NC 17Turnovers: VA 17, NC 8Caused turnovers: VA 4, NC 68-meter attempts: VA 3, NC 48-meter shots: VA 3, NC 4Clearing: VA 17/19, NC 14/14Fouls: VA 14, NC 17