Armed with a balanced offensive attack and perhaps a little bit of the luck on St. Patrick's Day, the No. 6 Virginia women's lacrosse team soundly defeated in-state rival No. 18 William & Mary by a score of 14-7. With the win, the Cavaliers (5-2, 1-1 ACC) notched their fifth win against a ranked opponent and downed the Tribe for the ninth consecutive season.
William & Mary struck first in the contest, scoring its first goal within the first two minutes of the game. But the Cavalier defense - anchored by senior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein, who forced six turnovers and gathered five groundballs on the night, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Benner - surrendered only one more goal to the Tribe during the first half.
By halftime, the Cavaliers had built a solid five-goal lead that they never relinquished.
Sophomore attacker Charlie Finnigan and redshirt sophomore Ainsley Baker each tallied three goals on the night to lead the Cavaliers offensively. The performance marked the second time in Baker's career that she registered a hat trick. The sophomore, recently named ACC and WomensLax.com Player of the Week, has contributed a total of eight goals during Virginia's last two victories - including a game-winning score to put the Cavaliers on top against No. 3 North Carolina last Saturday.
But Baker and Finnigan were not the only members of the Virginia squad to contribute offensively. A total of eight Cavaliers found the back of the net yesterday night against Tribe goalkeeper Emily Geary.
Virginia heads to New Jersey this Saturday to face No. 13 Princeton, hoping to avenge last season's narrow 8-7 loss against the Tigers.
-compiled by Stacy Kruczkowski
Read More
Virginia baseball falters, drops series to NC State
By Jacob Tisdale | YesterdayVirginia dropped a crucial ACC series, endangering a top seed in the conference tournament.
Women’s lacrosse upset in season-ending defeat against Florida
By Matthew Ryeom | YesterdayThe Cavaliers kept it close until the fourth quarter, where they ultimately came up short.
No. 6 men’s lacrosse trumps Saint Joseph’s 17-11 as Cormier breaks NCAA scoring record
By Ben Istvan | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers snapped their four-game losing streak with a comfortable win over the Hawks.
