Enter the game as a sub, sprint to the opponent's goal, receive a pass, flick the ball under the goalkeeper's crosse, and celebrate. Check.
Sophomore midfielder Caity Whiteley of the Virginia women's lacrosse team made doing just that and goal-scoring look easy. Her effort mirrored that of the entire team at Klöckner Stadium last night against Old Dominion. In doing so, the Cavaliers added another victory to their resume by a score of 15-3.
Virginia lit up the scoreboard five times before Old Dominion found the net 10 minutes into the game. Coming out quickly from the start was junior attacker Jenny Hauser, scoring the first two goals of the game. Hauser, last week's ACC Player of the Week, scored another goal for her third straight hat trick and added an assist.
Hat tricks were the story of the day for the Virginia squad. Four Cavaliers scored three goals apiece in the contest. Whiteley's aforementioned effort was the first goal of her hat trick. Sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Duff also found the net three times, while she helped on two more goals. The other Cavalier in this group was junior attacker Blair Weymouth, who also had an assist. This was Weymouth's first game in two weeks, having sat out the team's previous two matches because of an injured ankle. Also finding the net for Virginia was junior attacker Whitaker Hagerman, who did so twice, and sophomore midfielder Brittany Kalkstein, who had one goal and added an assist. Rounding out the points column was senior attacker Megan O'Malley with an assist.
Despite achieving the first hat trick of her Virginia career, Whiteley was quick to defer attention from herself.
"It was exciting but I'm just glad that we played well overall," Whiteley said. "I just was open and in the right place a lot of the time."
Echoing that sentiment and also displaying a team-first attitude was Duff.
"It's exciting," Duff said of her first three-goal performance at Virginia. "I think our team really worked well with each other and was always looking for people that were open. It's kind of like you're in the right place at the right time."
The No. 4 Cavaliers (9-2, 3-1 ACC) handed the Monarchs their first loss of the season, dropping them to 4-1. Virginia was able to accomplish this through ball possession and patience. It won 14 draw controls to Old Dominion's six and controlled 13 ground balls to the Monarchs' 11. Because of this, much of the game was played around Old Dominion's goal, as Virginia passed the ball around while creating opportunities on drawn-up plays.
"We knew that possession time was going to be important but we wanted to make sure we were stepping forward," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "We wanted to play sharp and clean and really generate good looks and not force anything. We wanted to not take too many chances but just be really solid. Tonight we did a great job in showing discipline as a team all over the field, being organized and really playing a clean game of lacrosse."
Virginia also brought a great deal of excitement and energy into the match.
"It's always nice to come back home, and this is one of the greatest places to play," Myers said. "The fact that they can stay in their normal day routine and then come play the game, I think that really was a great thing for us tonight. The kids warmed up sharp and they played sharp."
The Cavaliers were not tested by the Monarchs' offense often, as senior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty allowed just two goals in 50 minutes. Also getting time in goal was junior goalkeeper Sara Hairfield, who made a few timely saves and allowed only one goal in 10 minutes.
Myers was impressed with her team's performance, saying, "We started the game strong and we finished the game strong, and everybody was able to rotate through over the course of 60 minutes"
Read More
Virginia baseball boasts the best catcher in the country — a Division III transfer
By Xander Tilock | 15 hours agoFerence has replaced Teel admirably, and will look to lift Virginia back to the College World Series.
Lacrosse defenseman Cole Kastner announces transfer to Stanford basketball
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayKastner is reviving a hoops career that has lain dormant since he graduated high school.
Virginia gets second Notre Dame rematch in a dynamic ACC Tournament bout Friday
By Michael Liebermann | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers will get a shot at redemption against a vaunted ACC foe, in a game with serious postseason seeding implications.
