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Virginia Earns First Win of the Season, Defeats Richmond 17-8
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 12 Virginia women’s lacrosse team earned its first win of the season Wednesday evening, defeating in-state rival Richmond, 17-8, at the University Hall Turf Field.
Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein collected six draw controls in the contest to tie the ACC’s all-time record for draw controls, equaling Maryland’s Dana Dobbie’s total of 205 from 2007-08.
Offensively for Virginia (1-1), senior All-American Kaitlin Duff and sophomore Charlie Finnigan led the way with four goals and two assists each. Sophomore Josie Owen contributed three goals and two assists, while sophomore Julie Gardner had three goals.
Kalkstein added two goals, while senior Caity Whiteley had one goal and two assists. Sophomore Ainsley Baker and freshman Kelly Austin rounded out the scoring with an assist each – Austin’s first career point.
For Richmond (0-4), Mary Flowers led the way with four goals, four ground balls and three draw controls.
The Cavaliers got out to another quick start tonight, tallying a goal just 19 seconds into play. Owen was responsible for the goal, as she fired a pass from Whiteley into the back of the net, sparking a 5-0 run for Virginia.
Duff converted a free position shot for the Cavaliers’ second score, at 27:18, before Whiteley tallied a goal at 24:08. Back-to-back goals from Finnigan within 28 seconds of each other accounted for Virginia’s 5-0 start, forcing Richmond to call a timeout.
Following the intermission, the Spiders recorded two-straight goals, but Finnigan converted an 8-meter shot to push Virginia ahead four, at 6-2. Duff made the score 7-2 with her second goal at 13:42.
Richmond then sandwiched goals around one from Kalkstein to keep within four at the 3:35 mark, but Owen broke up a clear attempt by the Spiders and went one-on-one with the goalie at 2:47 to give Virginia a five-goal cushion.
Finnigan found the back of the net for a fourth time before the intermission, giving Virginia a 10-4 advantage at the break.
Virginia wasted no time getting on the board in the second half, as sophomore Annie Taylor won the opening draw control and passed ahead to Finnigan, who found Kalkstein for the score just 20 seconds into play.
Three minutes later, Finnigan dished a pass out of an 8-meter attempt to a wide-open Owen in front of the goal for a score. Owen then found Gardner for a third-straight Cavalier goal at 22:48.
Virginia extended its lead to 11 off back-to-back scores from Duff, before four-straight Spider goals made the score 15-8 with 8:17 to play.
Gardner snapped the streak at 6:15 and finished the scoring in the game with another goal at 1:46, finishing a feed Austin.
Defensively, 12 Cavaliers scooped up ground balls, led by Owen’s three, while Kalkstein and freshman Caroline McTiernan each had two.
In goal, freshman Kim Kolarik stopped three shots to pick up her first collegiate win, while Benner came provided relief for Kolarik and stopped two shots without allowing a goal.
The Cavaliers will close out their three-game homestand this weekend, hosting No. 6 Syracuse on Saturday at noon. The game will be played at the UHall Turf Field.