Twenty-one goal outing powers Hokies to beatdown of Radford

By Will Locklin

Staff Writer

March 2, 2022

BLACKSBURG –– Olivia Vergano charged in from midfield, dodging and weaving her way through Radford defenders at warp speed. She kept charging until she reached the eight-meter fan, where she fired a bullet past Radford keeper Olivia Hunter. The goal gave Virginia Tech a fun-goal advantage, and Virginia Tech smelled blood in the water.

The domination didn’t stop there, as Vergano, Sarah Lubnow, Paige Tyson and the rest of the Hokies (3-3) kept the pressure on to thrash Radford, 21-3, at Thompson Field. The win over Radford (0-4) is Tech’s first in its last three outings.

The Hokies handled business in all phases Wednesday afternoon. In the first period, they controlled the ball for the majority of the 15 minutes, taking 16 shots to Radford’s three.

They converted on half of those shots and held a 8-0 lead after the first period. Tech also dominated defensively, forcing nine Radford turnovers while allowing just three shots in the first period. Vergano and Lubnow both scored two goals apiece in the opening period of play alone.

Hannah Mardiney started the scoring with a goal for Tech, and the Hokies scored on the rest of their six shots in the quarter to head into halftime with a 15-1 lead. That marked the biggest halftime deficit in Radford lacrosse history.

In the second half, Virginia Tech eased up on Radford a bit. It scored six goals –– three in each quarter –– to close out the game. Keeper Morgan Berman didn’t find much action until this point in the game. Tech’s defense kept her from needing to make all too many saves, but it did allow back-to-back goals in the middle of the third.

Radford’s Katie Caroll and River Rupert scored to avoid the second-half shutout.

But the mini surge from Radford wasn't close to enough to have a shot in the game. Tech answered with an onslaught of goals to end the game on a five goal run and put a cap on one of the most dominating wins in program history.

Whitney Liebler and Vergano were the leading scorers, both notching hat tricks. Fourteen Hokies scored goals in the game, and five had two goal performances.

Virginia Tech will play again on Saturday at the Pitt Panthers, who are in their inaugural season, at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, Radford will look to earn its first win against Kennesaw State next Tuesday at noon.