Virginia Tech Weathers More than One Storm in Close Win over Elon

By Will Locklin

Staff Writer

March 23, 2022

BLACKSBURG – After five first period goals allowed by starting goalkeeper Morgan Berman, Virginia Tech head coach Kristen Skiera had a tough decision to make. With one period down and three to go, Skiera called on sophomore Lilly Kannapell to replace Berman and fortify the Hokies defense.

The change did exactly that as Virginia Tech became the aggressors on offense and surrendered just six goals for the rest of the game.

With the 14-11 victory at Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility, Virginia Tech moved to 8-4 on the season. It’s 5-2 in Blacksburg and 6-2 in non-conference play. Wednesday’s game was moved to the “Beamer Barn” due to muggy weather in the Blacksburg area earlier in the morning through the 4 p.m. start time.

The Hokies found themselves backed into a corner to start the game. Hannah Mardiney drew first blood with a goal at the 13:48 mark but Elon responded with two goals of its own.

That would become a common theme over the course of the game. Elon scored its goals in small two-goal bursts but having those bursts later separated over the full 60 minutes. After Cate Mackel and Hannah McCarthy scored those first two for the Phoenix, it was co-captain Sophie Student who drew Virginia Tech even.

From there, the rest of the period was a back and forth contest with each side not letting up one inch. Gillian Curran, Margaret Stephan, and Kaitlyn Michaud scored for Elon. Sarah Lubnow and Gracie Kennedy netted goals for Virginia Tech, which ended 5-4 in favor of Elon after the first period.

That takes us back to the decision by Skiera to substitute regular keeper Morgan Berman for backup Lilly Kannapell. Berman just wasn’t as sharp as she normally was for the Hokies in this one. She allowed five goals in 15 minutes which was on pace to break her season average of six goals allowed per game.

In the second period, Virginia Tech’s defense sharpened up. It controlled the ball a lot better and kept it on the attack. It forced Elon to tighten its defense which it was unable to do. Tech tacked on four more goals while only allowing one due to the possession dominance.

Paige Tyson scored the first goal of the second, followed by a goal from Elon via Michaud. Then the Hokies snapped by scoring the final three goals of the period. Two were netted by Lubnow and the final one was put in by Mardiney. With a 8-6 halftime lead and a lot of momentum, Virginia Tech was on track entering the break.

Lubnow came out of the break and continued on her torrid path through the Elon defense. She scored her third goal for the hat trick to start the second half. Once again, Elon responded with one of its two goal runs. Just like the first time it was Mackel and McCarthy who kept Elon in the game with back to back goals in the span of less than a minute.

By then it was 9-8 and anyone’s game to lose. Student answered the call with her second of three goals in the game to push the lead back up to two. Schotta for Virginia Tech and McCarthy for Elon finished the third period off with goals to make the score 11-9 entering period four.

At this point, Virginia Tech just needed to stave off one last Elon run before the clock hit zero. After two goals from the Hokies, one by Lubnow and one by Student, that last ditch effort from the Elon Phoenix came.

Kaly Ehnow and Gillian Curran scored back to back goals within the final four minutes of the game to put the pressure on Virginia Tech. Junior Kayla Frank responded to that pressure and iced the game with her sixth goal of the season.

The Hokies were out shot by the Phoenix of Elon 28-26 for the game. However, Virginia Tech was more accurate on those shots, with one shot on goal edge of 19-18. Turnovers and draw controls were even at 15 and 13 a piece, respectively. One area Virginia Tech dominated was in the ground balls category where they had the 20-11 advantage for the game.

Leading performers for the game were some of the usual suspects for Virginia Tech Lacrosse. Team captain Sarah Lubnow scored four goals in the game to put her total at 29 for the season which leads the team. Student scored three goals, increasing her total to 27 for the year which is tied with Vergano for second on the team in that category.

Mardiney and Frank chipped in two points each. Mardiney scored two goals and Frank assisted on a Schotta goal in the third period and sealed the game clinching goal for Tech. Hannah McCarthy led the way for Elon all game long as she scored a hat trick on the road.

Virginia Tech Lax has a massive game coming this Saturday. It travels to Chapel Hill to take on No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels at 11 a.m, marking the Hokies second game in a weeks span against a top three team.