No. 6 Virginia Dominates No. 13 Princeton, Wins 14-7
Story Links
PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 6 Virginia women’s lacrosse team snapped a two-game one-goal losing streak to Princeton Saturday afternoon, using eight-unanswered scores to defeat the 13th-ranked Tigers, 14-7, at Princeton Stadium. The win marks the fourth-straight for the Cavaliers over a nationally ranked team and improves Virginia to 6-2 on the season, while the Tigers fall to 2-4 on the year.
Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein led the way with four goals and two assists for a career-high six points. Three Cavaliers added two scores each – senior All-American Kaitlin Duff, redshirt sophomore Ainsley Baker and sophomore Josie Owen, while senior Caity Whiteley had one goal and two assists. Sophomore Julie Gardner tallied one goal and one helper. Sophomore Charlie Finnigan and freshman Anne Thomas rounded out the scoring with one goal each.
Princeton was led by a hat trick from Barb Previ and Cassie Pyle, who contributed two scores.
Virginia’s seniors started the scoring, with Whiteley assisting a goal from Kalkstein at 26:33 for Virginia’s first score. Duff, scoring in her 16th-straight contest, followed that up with a goal of her own at 25:24 to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 advantage.
The Tigers worked to even the score at two all, with Previ notching back-to-back goals before the home team tallied another score to take a 3-2 lead with 11:54 on the clock.
Those would be the only goals Princeton would score in the opening half. Thomas tied the score at three with her first collegiate goal. Kalkstein then had a hand in Virginia’s final three goals of the half – assisting Owen at 7:31 and Finnigan at 5:30, before finishing a pass from Gardner with 12.7 seconds on the clock, marking her 28th multiple goal game. The flurry of goals gave Virginia a 6-3 halftime advantage.
The Cavaliers continued their scoring spree into the second half. Kalkstein had Virginia’s first goal, before goals from Duff, Gardner and Baker put the Cavaliers up 10-3 with 18:08 left to play.
Princeton rallied to tally three-straight goals within three minutes, but Whiteley snapped the streak with her first goal of the game at 11:21. Baker, Owen and Kalkstein wrapped up the scoring for the Cavaliers, before Princeton tacked on one final goal, bringing the final score to 14-7.
In goal, redshirt junior Lauren Benner improved to 4-0 on the year, stopping a season-high 11 shots. Erin Tochihara collected 10 saves for Princeton.
Virginia will return to action on Wednesday, hosting James Madison. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.