After defeating Virginia Tech in an early season showdown, Virginia faced its rivals once again in the regular season finale. The Cavaliers (8-7, 3-7 ACC) continued their struggles against ACC teams, as the Hokies (5-10, 1-8 ACC) won their revenge game on Virginia’s senior night.
Coming off four consecutive losses to ACC teams all ranked in the top five in the country, the Cavaliers looked to end the season on the positive note against a bottom-dwelling Hokies team. However, Virginia Tech played nothing like a team sitting at the bottom of the conference, punching Virginia in the mouth early and often.
Just as she did in the first matchup, senior attacker Sarah Lubnow opened the scoring for the Hokies, although this time it was the first goal of the game. Lubnow’s strike was all the Hokies needed to get going, as the goal was part of an opening 6-0 run that saw Virginia Tech’s offense kick into high gear.
Senior midfielder Paige Petty and sophomore attack Paige Tyson each scored on the run, while senior midfielder Emma Crooks netted a pair of her own. Lubnow also scored her second goal of the game on the run.
After a sluggish start both offensively and defensively, the Cavaliers finally got things going with freshman midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg finding the back of the net for Virginia’s first goal of the game.
Virginia Tech thwarted any plans of a Virginia bounce back, following up the Hoeg goal with two of its own to extend the lead back to seven.
Freshman attack Morgan Schwab scored again for the Cavaliers, but once again the Hokies responded with two of their own, countering every Virginia strike with their own counter. Junior midfielder Annie Dyson scored her 20th of the year to respond, but Petty matched that with a goal of her own.
The Cavaliers and Hokies would end the half on a 2-2 run with Virginia Tech up 13-5.
The Hokies dominated nearly every statistical category — most notable in the shot category, where they held a 23-9 advantage. Virginia Tech also heavily controlled the draw controls, leading 15-4 in that category in the first half.
Virginia managed to come out of the second half gates with a more competitive fire than it did in the first half. Despite conceding the first goal of the half, Virginia responded with a small 3-1 run that got the offense going, behind goals from Dyson, Schwab and junior midfielder Ashley Mcgovern.
The Hokies responded with a quick 2-0 run in just 1:03 to erase the efforts of the Cavaliers’ run, but with the offense now in high gear, Virginia was having it a lot easier on that end of the field.
The Cavaliers followed with a 4-1 run, where junior attack Lillie Kloak scored her first goal of the game. Virginia was down 18-12 with 10:44 remaining, and there was certainly hope for a late second half push.
Virginia Tech would hold Virginia scoreless for the next 3:55, before scoring their 19th goal of the game to essentially put it out of reach. The Cavaliers went on a 3-1 run in the last five minutes of play, but it was not enough, and the Hokies emerged victorious, 20-15.
Virginia will play the first round of the ACC tournament April 28, hoping to make a run to earn a bid in the NCAA tournament.
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