/
.
No. 4 Virginia Uses Balanced Attack to Defeat George Mason, 17-8
Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team once again counted on a balanced attack to overcome an opponent, as the Cavaliers defeated in-state rival George Mason, 17-8, Tuesday evening in Klöckner Stadium. The contest marked the final regular season home game for Virginia.
All 10 Cavaliers that played on attack for Virginia scored a goal. Senior All-American Kaitlin Duff led the way with four points on three goals and an assist, while freshman Caroline McTiernan had three goals. Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein contributed a point for the 16th-straight game, notching two scores to go with one assist.
Sophomore Julie Gardner added two goals and one assist, while redshirt senior Whitaker Hagerman tacked on two scores. Senior Marye Kellerman had three points on one goal and a team-high two assists, while senior Caity Whiteley, junior Molly Millard and freshmen Kelly Austin and Erin Laschinger rounded out the scoring with one goal each.
For George Mason (3-9), Madalyn Jamison led the way with a game-high six points, scoring three goals and dishing out three assists. Emily Ellisen tacked on three goals, while Callie Hoyt accounted for the other two.
A pair of free position goals from Kalkstein and Duff got things going for the Cavaliers less than four minutes into play. But it wasn’t until a little over 10 minutes of scoreless action that Hagerman found the back of the net for Virginia – assisted by Whiteley, to mark the third goal of the contest.
Another 10 minutes passed before Duff made the score 4-0. Hagerman then notched her second at 3:48, before Kalkstein converted another 8-meter shot to give the Cavaliers a 6-0 lead.
McTiernan capped Virginia’s scoring in the opening stanza with a goal at 1:57 before the Patriots got on the board at 1:32 – marking the slowest start for a Cavalier opponent this season and giving Virginia a 7-1 halftime edge.
The Cavaliers scored the first three goals of the second half – beginning with one from Gardner at 28:41 and two from McTiernan, with her second being a scrappy loose ball play in front of the goal at 27:17.
George Mason held the Cavaliers scoreless for the next five minutes before the Patriots were able to string together three-unanswered goals to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to six, 10-4, at 16:47.
Two quick goals from Virginia pushed the Cavaliers back ahead eight, 12-4. Kellermann found Whiteley wide open on the crease for the first score, before Gardner fired a shot past the Patriots keeper just 20 seconds later.
Millard made it a 3-0 run for Virginia, recording her first goal of the season at 14:51, and from there – the two squads traded the next six goals. The Patriots scored the first at 12:52, before Duff tallied her third goal of the evening at 11:28. George Mason fought for another score following Duff’s, before Kellermann was able to weave through defenders and contribute a goal for the Cavaliers with 9:51 remaining. The Patriots tacked on another nine minutes on the clock.
Laschinger notched her first career goal at 6:52 – assisted by Kalkstein, before Austin tacked on her first of the day at 5:22 to give the Cavaliers a 17-7 advantage. George Mason closed out the scoring in the game with a goal at 1:10.
Kalkstein once again led the team in draw controls, collecting five, while Austin and McTiernan won a career-high three draws each to help the Cavaliers to an 18-9 advantage over the Patriots in the category. Duff also won two in her final regular season home game to become just the second Cavalier to reach 100 in five different statistical categories. Former All-American Lauren Aumiller was the first to do so from 2000-03.
Heading into next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, Duff has 106 career goals, 154 points, 170 ground balls, 100 draw controls and 119 caused turnovers.
Match-up’s for the 2010 ACC Tournament at the University of Maryland will be announced Saturday, April 17, following the final regular season ACC contest between Maryland and Virginia Tech.