BLACKSBURG, Va. (Feb. 25, 2012) - Playing
in its third-consecutive road game, the William and Mary lacrosse team defeated
Virginia Tech, 9-6, on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Field in Blacksburg, Va.
W&M (1-3)
held the Hokies (2-1) to just two goals in the second half and outscored Tech,
8-2, in the final 35:48.
Senior Maggie Anderson recorded her second hat trick of the season and led the Tribe with
four points on three goals and an assist, while sophomores Taelor Salmon and
Katie Stillwell both totaled two goals apiece.
Defensively,
seniors Sarah Mulvey and Denise Lenihan and sophomore Maggie Bermingham all
tallied three ground balls apiece. In addition to allowing a season-low six
goals, freshman goalie Lucy Ferguson also registered a game-high 10 saves.
Although VT
got on the scoreboard first with goal by Jessica Nonn about five minutes into
the contest, the College knotted the score on Anderson's first score of the
afternoon at the 19:57 mark.
Tech rattled
off three unanswered goals during a 3:36 span midway through the half to build
a 4-1 advantage, but W&M narrowed the gap to just one with goals by junior
Caitlin Murphy and Anderson late in the stanza.
The Tribe
continued its run in the second half and scored the first three goals following
intermission. Anderson and Stillwell found the back of the cage off assists
from freshman Kaleigh Noon during the stretch, while junior Kyrstin Mackrides
scored with 19:11 showing to give W&M a 6-4 lead.
Tech closed
the margin to just one twice, the second time coming following a score by Jake
Boissonneault with 8:42 remaining, but the Tribe held VT scoreless the rest of
the way and got goals from Salmon and Stillwell to preserve the victory.
Although Tech
held a 9-6 advantage in draw controls, W&M owned a 15-13 edge in ground
balls and committed three fewer turnovers (10-13).
Nonn and
Boissonneault led the Hokies with two goals apiece.
With the victory,
W&M extends its winning streak against Virginia Tech to four games and
improves its all-time mark in the series to 5-1.
The Tribe will
return to action when it hosts Longwood on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
