Cavaliers Complete Undefeated Regular Season at Home
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse teams farewell to its five seniors was played in dominating fashion Wednesday evening in Klckner Stadium. The Cavaliers opened the game on a 14-0 run, holding No. 12 George Mason scoreless until the 17:52 mark of the second half, en route to a 16-3 victory. With the win, the Cavaliers complete their sixth undefeated regular season at home, the first since 1996.
Junior Blair Weymouth led the attack with four goals, while classmate Ashley McCulloch had one score and four helpers for a game-high five points. Fifth-year Kaitlin Swagart tallied three goals and sophomores Kaitlin Duff and Caity Whiteley added two goals each.
Junior Jenny Hauser and sophomore Brittany Kalkstein each had a goal and two assists, while freshman Molly Millard tacked on one goal. Classmate Perrie White tallied her first collegiate goal, while sophomore Yeardley Love contributed her first career assist. Senior Megan O’Malley rounded out the scoring with an assist.
In goal, senior Kendall McBrearty stopped six shots and allowed only two goals. In front of her, senior Alice Hughey caused four turnovers before they could turn into shots and Duff scooped up four ground balls.
On the circle, senior Claire Bordley won four draw controls and Kalkstein won three to help lead the Cavaliers to a dominating 15-6 advantage in draws.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 10-0 lead by halftime, marking the first time this season that Virginia has held an opponent scoreless in a half. Swagart put away two consecutive passes from McCulloch to get the Cavaliers going. Hauser then assisted Duff for a third score, before three straight from Weymouth made it 6-0 by the 20:32 mark.
McBrearty then stopped a point blank shot to keep the Patriots scoreless, and at the other end of the field, Whiteley tallied two consecutive scores to bring Virginia’s lead to 8-0 with 5:41 remaining in the half.
Kalkstein notched her first score, with an assist from Duff at 4:11 and Swagart completed a hat trick at 2:59 to send Virginia into the locker room with a 10-0 advantage.
A bloop play opened scoring in the second half when Duff went to pass the ball to Swagart in front of the cage, but the pass never made it to Swagart and found its way into the back of the net for a Cavalier score.
Hauser then marked her first before McCulloch found the back of the net herself, making it 13-0 in favor of the home team.
Weymouth capped the 14-0 run with a score at 21:33.
Alex Velesz scored for George Mason with 17:52 left on the clock. The Patriot’s drought marked the longest that the Cavaliers have gone without letting in a goal this season.
Millard fired a free position shot into the cage at 12:12 for her second score this season, but the Patriots answered with two straight.
White and Love connected to bring the final score to 6-3. White fired her first collegiate goal into the back of the net, crediting Love with her first career assist, as well, with 55 seconds left to play.
The win caps off a seven-game home win streak for the Cavaliers this season. Virginia has won 10 straight home contests dating back April 11 of last season.
The Cavaliers (12-3, 3-1 ACC) will take a week off before beginning post-season play next Friday. The Cavaliers will play host to the ACC Tournament next week with action beginning on Thursday. Seeding for the tournament will be announced following the last regular season conference contest, but the Cavaliers have already guaranteed a first-round bye.