McCulloch leads No. 2 Cavaliers to 16-7 win over Richmond

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RICHMOND – The No. 2 Virginia women’s lacrosse team used a dominating attack and stingy defense to overcome the Richmond Spiders, 16-7, Wednesday afternoon at First Market Stadium.

Junior Ashley McCulloch tallied a game-high six points on three goals and three assist to extend her scoring streak to 25 straight contests. Sophomore Kaitlin Duff tied a career-high four points on three goals and an assist, while senior Megan O’Malley notched three goals to record the 50th of her career. Junior Jenny Hauser contributed three goals also. Redshirt sophomore Whitaker Hagerman and sophomores Brittany Kalkstein and Caity Whiteley rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.

Defensively, Duff collected five ground balls and caused four turnovers and Kalkstein won five draw controls. In goal, senior Kendall McBrearty stopped four shots, while junior Sara Hairfield, playing in her hometown, stopped one in 4:31.

For Richmond, Mandy Friend had two goals and two assists, while Allison Furstenburg had three goals. Friend also won nine draw controls and had six ground balls. In goal, Erica Marrocco stopped 15 shots.

The Cavaliers tallied nine goals in the opening half while holding the Spiders to just three shots and 11 turnovers to take a 9-2 advantage into the intermission. O’Malley opened the scoring 4:40 into the game, firing a shot past Marrocco, sparking an 8-0 run for Virginia.

Richmond got on the board at the 3:27 mark with a goal from Erin Kennedy. Hauser responded with another score for the Cavaliers before a loose ball in front of Virginia’s goal got past senior Kendall McBrearty for Richmond’s second point, bringing to score to 9-2.

Hagerman opened a 3-0 scoring run for Virginia in the second half putting a pass from McCulloch into the back of the net at 29:06. The two squads traded the next few goals before Duff broke open a 10:09 scoring drought for either team, with a goal to put Virginia up 16-6. Bria Eulitt tallied the final goal of the game for Richmond with 20 seconds to play, bringing the final score on the day to 16-7.

Virginia (2-0, 1-0 ACC) will return to action this Saturday, Mar. 1, playing host to No. 4 Syracuse in the Cavaliers’ first home game of the season. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m.