WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (March 15, 2014)—The William and Mary lacrosse team was edged by Virginia Tech, 11-10, at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Tribe (1-5) owned a pair of three-goal leads in the first half, but VT (3-4) outscored W&M, 5-2, in the final 30 minutes to earn the narrow victory. The College nearly tied the contest in the final second of play, but junior Amanda Johnson's shot on goal was stopped by the Hokies goalkeeper, Hannah Sieger, as the buzzer sounded. The exciting scoring opportunity came after senior Hannah Clarke forced a turnover inside W&M's own third and raced down the sideline to find Johnson for the potential tying goal.
W&M controlled most of the statistical categories, as it owned advantages in shots (22-19) and ground balls (19-13) and committed six fewer turnovers (12-18). However, Virginia Tech held a 13-10 edge in draw controls.
Senior Taelor Salmon led the Tribe with four goals, two draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball, while junior Kaleigh Noon totaled three goals.
The College opened the contest playing well and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after a pair of goals by Salmon and a score by junior Alexi Farmakis.
However, VT responded by scoring four of the next five goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:05 remaining in the first half.
W&M reclaimed a three-goal advantage with a quick 3-0 spurt that included two scores by Noon and a one by Salmon in a span of just 1:27 to lead, 7-4, with 8:17 showing.
The score remained close, however, as the Tribe held a narrow 8-6 lead at halftime. Both Salmon and Noon came up big in the opening 30 minutes of action and recorded three goals apiece.
After trading goals in the opening 1:14 of the second half, Virginia Tech rallied back with a 4-1 run to lead 11-10 with 15:35 remaining and neither team would score again down the stretch.
The Tribe appeared to tie the game at 11-11 on a free position goal by Farmakis with 7:46 remaining, but the score was not allowed due to an illegal stick.
Prior to Johnson's game-tying attempt, Farmakis had another shot on goal in waning minutes of play but it was stopped by Sieger.
Megan Will led Virginia Tech with six points (4g, 2a), while Meg Bartley recorded a game-high six draw controls.
The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Albany on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
