Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Paige Petty tied a career-best with seven goals Saturday afternoon as she led the Hokies to their second victory of the season, a 20-5 win over Liberty. She was a part of the starting midfield group that scored 20 of the team's 29 points as Emma Crooks (six goals) and Kayla Frank (two goals) were also all over the scoresheet.
The Hokies move to 2-1 on the season ahead of next Wednesday's clash versus New River Valley foe Radford.
Liberty dropped to 0-2 on the season.
The Flames scored the contest's opening goal and held a 2-1 lead six minutes into the game before the Hokies reeled off three straight goals to take control and they would not look back, scoring 16 straight goals between the 13:26 mark in the first half and the 2:01 mark in the second, holding the Flames scoreless for nearly 41 minutes.
Crooks scored three straight Tech goals at one point and Petty found the net five times in the first half as the teams went to the locker room with the Hokies leading 12-3.
Freshman Kayla Frank added two goals, two assists, three ground balls, five draw controls and caused two turnovers in the game.
Jacelyn Lazore (two), Grace Nelson (one), Sarah Lubnow (one) and Taylor Caskey (one) also added goals in the rout and senior Julia Bolte provided one assist to take her tally to five in 2020.
Angie Benson made five saves in the game and only surrendered three goals on 13 shots faced.
The defensive unit caused 16 total Liberty turnovers with Kendall Welch, Elena Ricci and Jordan Tilley each credited with two. Ricci had five ground ball pickups.
For the Flames, attacker Anna Keebler scored two goals while Carly White, Grace Fletcher and Mia Toscano each scored once.
Starter Aubrie Tarris made six saves in goal before being replaced late in the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Tech held an edge in almost every category in the game, beginning with draws 15-12.
- The Hokies took 33 shots, the Flames just 15.
- Virginia Tech corralled 28 ground balls to the Flames' 21.
- On the clear, the Hokies converted 17-17 (88%) while Liberty was 9-17 (53%).
GAME NOTES
- Tech utilized a different starting lineup for the first time in 2020, with Sara Goodwin earning her first start of the season and freshman Jacelyn Lazore starting for the first time in her career.
- Senior Julia Bolte recorded one assist, bringing her career total to 58.
- With her goal, Taylor Caskey brought her career point total to 115.
- The starting midfield trio of Petty, Crooks and Frank who combined for 20 of the squad's 29 points Saturday have recorded 43 points through three games this season to account for 61% of the team's scoring on the year.
- Petty's nine points are a new career-best and is tied for the fourth-most scored by a Hokie in any single game. She now has 138 career goals and 156 points ranking fourth and seventh in those categories in program history.
NEXT TIME AT THE BEAMER-LAWSON INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY
- The Hokies are back home at the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility on Wednesday, February 19 when they play host to the Radford Highlanders.
- Tech has won all three of the previous meetings between the two New River Valley Schools by an average margin of 16 goals.
- In last season's meeting, the Hokies won 23-8 behind five goals apiece from midfielders Paige Petty and Emma Crooks, while attacker Sara Goodwin had six total points (3 goals, 3 assists). Defender Elena Ricci secured a career-best nine draw controls. Gallery: (2/15/2020) 2020 LACROSSE vs. LIBERTY