Collegiate Times

On an afternoon that epitomized the unpredictable weather of Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech lacrosse team (7-7, 1-3 ACC) lost two nine-point leads in what turned out to be a three-point victory over Longwood at Thompson Field, 13-10.

In their past three meetings, the Hokies have had no problem handling the Lancers, and for the first 38 minutes on Tuesday - it looked like a blowout.

Some aggressive play by the Lancers, questionable officiating inconsistencies, and Tech struggles, however, almost negated the Hokies' substantial early advantage.

Tech took control from the start and never fell behind.  The Hokies built their lead up with goals by Joanna Kaiser, her first of the season, Allie Emala, Rachel Culp, Liz Carpenter and Jessica Nonn.

The Tech attack was so aggressive that Longwood coach Janet Grubbs switched goal keepers 15 minutes in.

It didn't seem to matter, however.  Culp managed to swipe the ball away from Longwood's second goalie, Eliza Coughter, toss it over her head and place it in the net, putting the Hokies up 10-1 less than 20 minutes into the game.

In the second half, with an 11-3 lead and 30 minutes of dominance behind them, Tech momentum began to fade.  The Hokies scored their first of just two second-half goals off of a free possession shot by Nonn with 21:50 to go.  Then, things started to go downhill.

"We were getting frustrated with bad calls and sloppy play and we started playing down to them," Culp said.

"We just lost all of the little skills and were missing ground balls and passes and stuff, and they were able to work off that and use it to their advantage," said freshman Morgan Widlake.

Longwood, buoyed by senior Dee Warehime and junior Page Farmer, continuously cut into Tech's lead with six goals, the last coming with 16:33 remaining. They were temporarily silenced by Culp's fifth goal of the day around the four minute mark, however, putting the Hokies up by four.

"I think because we had such a lead at halftime, we kind of felt like that was a cushion and we could relax," Nonn said.  "But we obviously shouldn't have been because they came out stronger than us in the second half.  We really just need to step it up."

Surrounded by a series of runs, both in games and throughout the season, Tech has struggled to hold their momentum for the entirety of a game.

"It's just a discipline thing and it comes with having a younger team too," said Culp, the game's leading scorer.  "Just being able to play 60 minutes is a really difficult thing to do.  It takes time, and I think we've come a long way since the beginning of the season, but we obviously still have a lot to work on."

Farmer earned her hat trick on the afternoon with the Lancers' final goal - at 3:29 - but it was not enough to overcome the dominant Hokie first half.

The Hokies return to action this Saturday in Eugene, Ore., against the Oregon Ducks (9-3) at 4 p.m.