Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech lacrosse team (7-9, 1-5 ACC) concluded its season on Thursday afternoon at Thompson Field by losing to the No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers (11-6, 3-3 ACC) by a score of 13-5.

In the opening game of the 2009 ACC Tournament, the fifth-seeded Hokies were unable to handle the speed of the fourth-seeded Cavaliers.

The Hokies got frustrated early, as the Cavs racked up two quick goals in the first four minutes. Tech was able to play it even for about 10 minutes after that, but the always-strong UVa lacrosse team would soon pull away.

"I think it was a combination of things," said sophomore Allie Emala. "It only took a couple minutes for them to get up, but I think our defense played really well overall. There were a few times in the beginning that they [Virginia] just got open and we weren't prepared for it."

Virginia, who out-shot the Hokies 30-17, racked up seven different scorers on the afternoon.

Frustrated by their early and constant deficit, Tech began swinging their sticks and over-committing, which only made matters worse.

Hokie sophomore Cailtyn Wier gave a spark to the Tech attack, scoring her team's lone goal in the first half. Unfortunately it was match with three by Virginia, leaving the halftime score 7-1.

The second half opened up in an optimistic fashion for the Hokies. Tech won the opening draw control and sophomore Allie Emala scored one minute in off of a free possession shot.

The Cavaliers were able to weave in and out of the Hokie defense and seemed to take give-and-go shots at will.

Despite a strong performance by Tech's goalkeeper, senior Kari Morrison, the Hokies could not keep the ball on attack long enough to make things happen.

"Forget the score," Wier said, the team's leading scorer on the afternoon. "We're a lot more experienced now than we were in the beginning of the season when we played them [Virginia]."

Even though they ended the season on a loss, this is not the same Tech team that fans have seen in the past, or even at the beginning of this season.

In arguably their best season since the program went to varsity level in 1995, this underclassmen-dominated group has proven, by claiming its first Atlantic Coast Conference win, that it will be able to challenge its league opponents in the future years.

"I think we learned to work with each other a lot this season," Wier said. "We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, so we knew when to back each other up and where to be."

"We have more composure now, on offense especially," Culp said.

Tech will lose just two players from this year's roster. However for the Hokies, the two departures are their leading scorer, Culp, and their three-year starting goalkeeper, Morrison.

Culp scored a total of 54 goals on the season, which accounted for 31.2 percent of the Hokies' attack.

Morrison, on the opposite end of the field has started every game since she transferred to Tech from Colgate with head coach Katrina Silva in the fall of 2006. She is second on the team in ground balls and has played every minute of the past two seasons in goal.

"I think they just need to play over the summer and gain more experience," Culp said, regarding the team's prospects next season. "There was time and time again where we were making mistakes just because we hadn't been in that situation before."

"I think we need to work on our stick work overall," Emala said. "You can see the stick work in all of the other teams and how everyone has it; it's something that we lack."

Although many ACC teams will wait to hear their name called for the NCAA tournament, the Hokies and their under-.500 record are certain not to merit qualification.

Virginia, with the victory, will face the No.1-seed Maryland in the ACC tournament semifinals tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Thompson Field.