Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG — The Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team saw its season come to an end with a 13-5 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers in the first round of the ACC Women’s Lacrosse Tournament played Thursday afternoon at Thompson Field.
With the loss, the Hokies finished the season with a 7-10 record. The seven wins, though, marked Tech’s best season since the 2006 team won eight games. The ninth-ranked Cavaliers improved to 11-6 overall and advanced to the semifinals to play Maryland on Friday at 4 p.m.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 16 minutes of the game, with four different players scoring, and never trailed. Kaitlin Duff, Jenny Hauser, Ashley McCulloch and Julie Gardner accounted for the goals in the Cavaliers’ hot start.
Tech got on the board with a free position goal from Caitlyn Wier (So., Cockesyville, Md.) at the 9:08 mark, but McCulloch answered with a goal four minutes later. Gardner and Hauser added goals in the final five minutes and the Cavaliers took a 7-1 lead at intermission.
The Hokies got another goal when Allie Emala (So., Baltimore, Md.) scored just a minute into the second half. But that would be as close as Tech would come, as the Cavaliers’ Brittany Kalkstein and Blair Weymouth tallied goals at the 27:55 and 23:39 marks, respectively, to extend the lead to 9-2.
Tech got three goals in the second half, with Wier scoring again and both Liz Carpenter (So., Lewes, Del.) and Rachel Culp (Sr., Kent, Ohio) scoring. Emala led the Hokies with five draw controls.
Culp, the Hokies’ outstanding senior, had a goal and an assist in the final game of career. The senior from Kent, Ohio finished the season with 54 goals, a number that ranks third on Tech’s single-season list. She finished her career with 119 goals – second on the all-time list – and 29 assists.
McCulloch, a senior from Annandale, Va., paced the Cavaliers with four goals and two assists. Hauser added three goals and an assist and Gardner finished with two goals. Kalkstein added five draw controls and the Cavaliers topped Tech 12-8 in that category.
In goal, Sara Hairfield made her third start of the season for the Cavaliers and had five saves. Senior Kari Morrison had 11 saves in her final game with the Hokies.