2 weeks Ago
On Wednesday night the Virginia women's lacrosse team closed its regular season with an impressive 19-9 victory over Virginia Tech at Klöckner Stadium. Kate Galica led the charge with three goals, a school record seventeen draw controls, and set the Virginia single-season draw control record. Madison Alaimo added six assists, showing her presence as the quarterback of Virginia's offense, while Addi Foster netted four goals on four shots.
The victory secures Virginia another point in the Commonwealth Clash, securing the Cavaliers at least a share of the title for the 2024-25 academic year. Despite the final scoreline, the Hokies drew first blood with two goals in the opening stages, seizing the momentum of their upset victory over No. 11 Syracuse last Saturday.
In response, Virginia rattled off six straight goals, which included three from Addi Foster and two from Kate Galica, to give the Cavs a 6-3 lead to close the quarter. One of the goals from Galica saw her split two defenders before finding nylon. The Hoos remained rampant in the second quarter, with Gabby Laverghetta scoring back-to-back goals and Madison Alaimo assisting both.
The second of Laverghetta's goals saw her go behind the back, sparking a 5-0 run. The Hokies pulled one back to close the quarter, but the game was out of reach, with Virginia holding an 11-4 lead at halftime. Out of the break, the downpour of goals continued, with Jenna DiNardo scoring before Payton Sfreddo added her first goal of the evening.
VT fired back with a goal, but waves of Virginia scoring only ensued as the Cavs erupted with a four-goal run as Coach Sonia Lamonica opened up her bench, allowing freshman Livy Laverghetta, twin sister to Gabby, to net her second goal of the season, giving Virginia a 17-5 lead. To ignite the aforementioned scoring run, Kate Galica scooped up a groundball off the draw to earn her 150th draw control of the year, a Virginia single season record, passing Aubrey Williams who set the record in 2024. "I wasn't really going into it thinking like I have to get this, there's more games within the season so I tried not to put that pressure on the game," said Kate Galica on breaking the single season draw control record.
Then, in the fourth quarter, Galica's dominance only continued as she picked up the final three draw controls of the game to give her a total of seventeen on the game, a single-game record in Charlottesville. In the final stages, Lamonica took her foot off the gas, allowing her bench to earn minutes, with 32 players seeing the field on Wednesday night. VT chipped away three goals to Virginia's two in the fourth quarter as the Hoos cruised to a 19-9 victory under the lights of Klöckner Stadium.
"I'm so proud. So proud," said Sonia Lamonica. "I thought it was such a total effort to bounce back off of the hard road loss, and to come up with the fire that this group came out with tonight was just amazing and outstanding all over the field, end to end.
We just didn't allow Tech to have an inch. So, it's a really great way to finish off the regular season today." At the end of the regular season, Madison Alaimo leads the team in points with 68, registering 19 goals and 49 assists, while Jenna DiNardo leads the Cavs in goals with 44 while adding 18 assists.
Kate Galica leads the Hoos in draw controls with 155 while showing her abilities on the offensive end with 40 goals and eight assists. Other standouts include Addi Foster, who had 35 goals and 15 assists, and Abby Manalang, who leads Virginia in groundballs with 25. With the regular season now over, Virginia (11-5, 5-4 ACC) sets its sights on the ACC tournament, which begins on Wednesday, April 23rd in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The bracket is set to be announced on Thursday, April 17th..
