For the second consecutive season, the Virginia women's lacrosse team bowed out in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament after falling to rival Maryland by a score of 10-6 Friday.
Although they eventually lost, the No. 3 Cavaliers (13-4, 4-2 ACC) brought a good deal of intensity to their matchup against the reigning conference champion and No. 2 Terrapins (15-1), especially during the first half of play. The first period was marked by dominant defensive performances by both squads and ended with the two rivals knotted at a mere two goals apiece. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Benner bolstered the Virginia defense between the pipes, stopping several point-blank shots on goal and registering five saves before the half to stifle the Maryland attack.
Meanwhile, senior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein led the Cavaliers on the offensive side of the ball during the first 30 minutes en route to her second consecutive four-goal game. Kalkstein netted the first goal of the game at the 23:30 mark and then added another just before halftime.
The Virginia squad stumbled coming out of the intermission, however, surrendering five unanswered goals. A good deal of Maryland's ability to find the back of the net during the early portion of the second half can be attributed to the Cavaliers' failure to clear the ball. The team only cleared one out of six attempts during the second half and only six out of 13 on the day - the Cavaliers' lowest percentage of successful clears on the season. As a result, the Terrapins managed to control the tempo and score from fast break and quick shot attempts.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Dipper also helped thwart Virginia's attempt to earn its first tournament title since the 2008 season and its third in four years. Dipper tallied six saves for the Terrapins and only allowed the Cavaliers to score six times - the second fewest goals the team has scored all season.
"I credit [Dipper] - she had a great game," Kalkstein said. "I think their defense played well and shut down some of our top players. I think if we had the ball a little longer and were better on clearing it could have been different."
Virginia coach Julie Myers agreed the outcome could have been different if the squad had managed to push the ball up the field successfully and score against Dipper and the Maryland defense.
"If our transition game could have been cleaner, if we could have generated a few more opportunities for our attackers to do their thing and if we hit some of our eight-meter shots, I think the game would have had a much different ending," Myers said. "All in all, I think our girls battled. They rose to the challenge of really trying to match up with one of the best teams in the country, but we just came up a little short [Friday]."
Even though the team exited the tournament earlier than it wanted to, there were some bright spots during the Cavaliers' weekend in College Park, Md. To get to the Maryland matchup, Virginia crushed Virginia Tech in an 18-6 rout Thursday afternoon with a heavy dose of offense from senior midfielder Kaitlin Duff and Kalkstein. Duff tallied a career-high seven points in the victory while Kalkstein scored four times and dished out two assists.
In addition to scoring eight goals in the tournament, Kalkstein also gathered a total of eight draw controls, as well, increasing her career total to 346 - a mere seven shy of the NCAA all-time record set by Vermont's Kristen Millar.
Kalkstein will have a chance to chase that record in the Cavaliers' upcoming matchup against the reigning NCAA champions Northwestern April 30 - the team's final regular season game before the NCAA Tournament slated to begin May 16.
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