Hokie ClubBLACKBURG, Va. – Rachel Culp (Sr., Kent, Ohio) and Allie Emala (So., Baltimore, Md.) both recorded seven points and the Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team broke out for a season-high in goals, knocking off George Washington 20-10 in a non-conference match played on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Field.
The Hokies have now won two in a row and improve their record to 2-4 overall (0-1 ACC). George Washington falls to 0-6 on the year with the loss.
Tech won the opening draw control and never looked back, outshooting GW 41-27 on the day. Julie Wolfinger (Fr., Finksburg, Md.) led off the contest with a goal 16 seconds into the first half and added another score at the 26:36 mark for the first multi-goal game of her career. Goals by Culp and Caitlyn Wier (So., Cockeysville, Md.) pushed the Hokie lead to 4-0 early on before George Washington got on the board six minutes into the match. The Colonials put together a 2-1 run over the next 4:18 to narrow the score to 5-3, but Tech would answer with 3-0 run started by Culp and ending with two goals from Emala.
Culp would tally another score, along with a goal from Jessica Nonn (Fr., Catonsville, Md.), however, the Colonials responded with three goals of their own, bringing the score to 10-6 at the end of the first half.
Virginia Tech put the game away with a 7-1 spurt to open the second half. A Morgan Widlake (Fr., Catonsville, Md.) pass resulted in a goal by Nonn to begin the run with 28:43 remaining and Ryan Rotanz (Fr., Salem, Va.) capped off the streak with her third goal of the season at the 11:11 mark. Three consecutive goals from the Colonials cut the margin to 17-10 with 2:33 to play, but the Hokies closed out the match with three goals of their own to secure the 20-10 victory.
Culp led the Hokie attack with six goals and an assist. The senior tied her career high, set against Longwood on April 9, 2008, for both goals (6) and points (7) in a match. Emala also turned in a stellar performance, setting career highs in goals (5) and points (7) in a single game. Nonn, Rotanz, Widlake and Wolfinger all tallied two scores in the match, while Wier added a goal and an assist.
Kari Morrison (Sr., Springfield, Va.) made her sixth start this season and collected 11 saves on the afternoon.
Virginia Tech hits the road for a non-conference match at Davidson on Tuesday, Mar. 10, at 6 p.m.