No. 6 Virginia Earns 14-7 Win at No. 18 William & Mary
Story Links
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 6 Virginia women’s lacrosse team used a four-goal surge late in the opening half to take control of its contest against No. 18 William & Mary Wednesday evening at Albert-Daly Field, en route to a 14-7 victory over its in-state rival.
Virginia, facing its sixth nationally ranked team this season, had a season-high 10 Cavaliers record a point in the contest. Redshirt sophomore Ainsley Baker and sophomore Charlie Finnigan each notched three goals to lead the way, while senior All-American Kaitlin Duff, senior Caity Whiteley and sophomore Josie Owen all tallied three points. Owen had two goals with an assist, while Duff and Whiteley had one goal and two assists.
Sophomore Julie Gardner added two scores, while senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein and freshman Caroline McTiernan each chipped in one goal. Redshirt senior Whitaker Hagerman and freshman Erin Laschinger rounded out the scoring with an assist each.
William & Mary (3-3) got three goals from Grace Golden and 12 saves from Emily Geary.
The Tribe was the first to amend the scoreboard, converting a free position shot at the 28:50 mark, before Baker stuck an 8-meter shot into the top corner to get Virginia on the board at 23:44. Kalkstein then mirrored the shot with a free position goal of her own 36 seconds later, giving Virginia its first lead of the game.
Baker tacked on her second score of the game at the 20:08 mark, converting another free position shot.
Following almost 11 scoreless minutes and scrappy play in front of the Cavaliers’ goal, the Tribe was able to find the back of the net for their second score, with 9:14 remaining in the half.
Owen gave Virginia a three-goal advantage, 5-2, with back-to-back scores – the first assisted by Whiteley at 6:23, the second from Duff at 3:03. The Cavaliers then closed out the half scoring two goals – from Duff and Finnigan – within 10 seconds of each other to give Virginia a 7-2 advantage at the intermission.
Baker started the scoring for Virginia in the second half again, completing the second hat trick of her career at 4:49. William & Mary tallied its first score of the stanza at 19:52, before Finnigan converted a pass from Owen into a goal at 18:45.
Junior Molly McClintic won the ensuing draw control. The defender then found Duff who assisted Whiteley on the Cavaliers’ 10th goal of the game at 18:22.
William & Mary scored the next goal at 17:35, before Gardner sandwiched scores around another from the Tribe. Gardner’s first goal was at 12:58, assisted by Whiteley, with her second from Hagerman at 12:53, bringing the score to 12-5.
Finnigan then completed the third hat trick of her career at 6:51, before McTiernan and Laschinger connected for their first collegiate points at 5:11. Laschinger dished out her first assist to McTiernan – who recorded her first goal of the season.
The Tribe closed out the contest, scoring two-unanswered goals, bringing the final score to 14-7.
The Cavaliers played every player on their roster and were led defensively by redshirt junior Lauren Benner in goal – who stopped a season-high 10 shots, while only allowing five goals.
Kalkstein helped defensively, collecting a season-best five ground balls and six caused turnovers. Sophomore Bailey Fogarty, Benner and Finnigan each had three ground balls, while Gardner won a season-high three draw controls.
Virginia (5-2, 1-1 ACC) will face a quick turnaround, heading to No. 13 Princeton on Saturday for a noon contest.