No. 9 Virginia tops No. 16 Virginia Tech, 12-10

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (3-0, 1-0 ACC) topped No. 16 Virginia Tech (2-2, 0-2 ACC) 12-10 on Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium.

Virginia scored two goals at the end of the first half that proved to be the difference in a game that saw six ties. Annie Dyson (Alexandria, Va.) and Ashlyn McGovern (Phoenix, Md.) each had hat tricks to lead the Cavaliers. Maggie Bostain (Richmond, Va.) and Kiki Shaw (Owings Mills, Md.) added two goals apiece and Mackenzie Hoeg (Mattituck, N.Y.) had one goal and two assists.

Virginia led in shots (31-25) and draw controls (17-8). The Hokies had the edge in ground balls (18-9), free position goals (2-1) and saves (12-11).

Virginia struck first as Hoeg found McGovern for a goal just 25 seconds into the game. Virginia Tech responded to tie it up. The teams traded goals until VT had back-to-back scores for its only lead of the game, 4-3, at the 23:21 mark in the first half. The Cavaliers scored two-straight, with Taylor Regan (Larchmont, N.Y.) finding Hoeg and Lillie Kloak (Ridgewood, N.J.) feeding Dyson to put UVA back in front, 5-4. There were two more ties before Shaw and Bostain scored in the final 10 minutes of the first half to give UVA an 8-6 lead at the break.

McGovern completed her hat trick with a goal just 40 seconds into the second half to give UVA a 9-6 lead. The teams traded goals again, but Virginia scored back-to-back goals with Regan finding Kloak and Dyson running through the defense for the score to put give the Cavaliers their largest lead of the game, 12-8, with 10:23 to play. VT scored two goals to cut it to 12-10, but goalkeeper Charlie Campbell (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) came up with a big save with a minute to play as UVA ran the clock out.

“A really important win to get,” UVA coach Julie Myers said. “It was a hard-fought game. I thought Virginia Tech made us earn everything and work for every opportunity and they did a great job. Luckily, we had just enough possessions and scored on just enough shots. Annie Dyson did a great job on with draw controls and earning possessions for us, along with scoring goals. All-in-all it was a total team effort. Charlie Campbell made some huge saves when we really needed her to make a big stop.”