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Cavaliers Down Hokies in Season Opener
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team opened its season in dominating fashion, defeating instate rival Virginia Tech, 19-3, in an Atlantic Coast Conference game played in Klckner Stadium Wednesday evening.
Starting the game on a hot streak, the Cavaliers fired five-straight goals into the net before the Hokies were able to get a score of their own. Freshman Josie Owen sparked the streak, notching her first collegiate goal at the 27:36 mark. The senior All-American duo of Blair Weymouth and Ashley McCulloch then teamed up for the next two scores, with Weymouth firing two passes into the back of the net. Junior Whitaker Hagerman made it 4-0 at the 21:28 mark with a goal and Owen capped off the run with her second score at 18:42.
Virginia Tech got on the board at 18:12 with a goal from Jessica Nonn, but the Cavaliers answered with five of the next six scores to take a 10-2 advantage into the intermission. Hagerman, McCulloch, Weymouth and junior Marye Kellermann all scored for Virginia in that span.
Owen opened the scoring again in the second half, notching a score 50 seconds into play, but Rachel Culp answered for the Hokies to bring the score to 11-3. That would be all that Virginia’s defense would allow though, as the Cavaliers scored the final eight goals of the contest.
Freshman Bailey Fogarty tallied her first collegiate goal at the 20:54 mark to start the run. Hagerman then tacked on a goal, off a feed from redshirt freshman Ainsley Baker. McCulloch sandwiched two goals around one from sophomore Molly Millard before Duff scored back-to-back goals to carry the score to 18-3. Freshman Julie Gardner made an impressive cut with three minutes remaining to finish off a feed from Kellermann for her first collegiate goal, bringing the final count to 19-3.
In all, McCulloch led the way with a career-high eight points on four goals and four assists. Weymouth tallied three scores and two assists, while Hagerman had three goals and an assist. Owen notched three goals in her collegiate debut, while Duff contributed two. Kellermann, Gardner, Fogarty and Millard each contributed one goal. Baker and Duff each had two assists and Kellermann had one.
Defensively, junior Brittany Kalkstein won three draw controls and caused three turnovers. Owen scooped up four ground balls, while Hagerman, Duff and Kalkstein each had three.
For Tech, Nonn led the way with two goals and Culp added one. Senior goalkeeper Kari Morrison stopped 13 of the Cavaliers’ shots in cage.
Virginia will return to action on Saturday, as the Cavaliers head to Loyola for a 3:30 p.m. contest.