VIRGINIA TECH’S 17 GOALS TOO MUCH FOR LOUISVILLE
By Bradley Winterling
Staff Writer
April 8, 2023
Virginia Tech won its second consecutive ACC matchup in its 17-7 win over Louisville. (Virginia Tech Athletics)
BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team scored eight unanswered goals in the first half against Louisville and improved to 7-6 on the season Saturday afternoon. The Hokies (7-6, 3-4 ACC) defeated the Cardinals (4-9, 1-6), 17-7, notching their second consecutive conference win.
Tech caught fire at the end of the first quarter and held a 9-1 lead at halftime. They continued to stay strong later in the game, also outscoring Louisville in the second half, 8-6.
Ella Rishko led the way for the Hokies, scoring a career-high seven goals in just the first three quarters of the game. She gave all the credit to her team for her amazing performance.
“My teammates always fill me with so much confidence, so it’s really amazing to have that,” Rishko said postgame. “I’ll have the ball and Hannah is just so confident in me and it like just gives me so much faith in myself.”
The game had somewhat of a slow start, as it was tied 1-1 with just four minutes left in the first. Rishko then scored her second goal of the game, which ended up starting a Tech run of eight goals in a row.
Scores came from Rishko, Claire Schotta, Maura O’Malley, Caroline Little and Hannah Mardiney on that 8-0 scoring run. Five different players scoring a goal in the span of just a little more than a quarter of lacrosse is a testament to the balance of the Hokies squad.
“Our team goal was to have seven or more scorers a game,” Tech head coach Kristen Skiera said. “We know that’s what our team needs to succeed, and so we’ve had so many games where we’ve met that mark and it's huge for us.”
Seven different Hokies scored in the game Saturday, the exact number that Skiera is looking for. Paige Tyson had two goals of her own in the second half, and Olivia Vergano chimed in with a goal of her own as well.
Louisville had a solid start to the second half, scoring three of the first four goals coming out of the break. However, once the score got to 10-4, the Hokies went on another run, scoring six unanswered goals. Every time the Cardinals showed an ounce of life, Tech shut it down with a dominant run.
Both of those scoring runs had a goal from Mardiney, who had a hat trick with three scores on the day. One of her goals was an insane behind-the-back shot as she was sprinting across the net, and another was fired into the goal as she was falling to the ground.
“It happened so naturally, it’s hard for me to describe what was going through my head in that moment cause it just kind of happens. It's very natural at this point,” Mardiney said.
“I would say [with] my teammates feeding me on those tough angles, I think they’re pretty confident that I might be able to make something happen. Be a little creative with it, so I appreciate them for trusting me in those situations.”
The Hokies have now won four of their last five games after suffering through a four-game losing streak earlier in the season. They are starting to stack some much-needed wins at the perfect time.
“Couldn’t be more happy that we’re getting hot now,” Skiera said. “It was a tough time and we were on them and we always kind of kept saying ‘our best lacrosse is ahead of us, we just need to make sure we’re learning and not losing.”’
A big reason for the Hokies catching fire at the right time is because of their ability to work together and communicate as a team, something that Rishko made sure to talk about after the game.
“That's how games like this happen, where we just do really well is when our defense does amazing and gets the ball for our offense and then we just bring it down,” Rishko said. “But what our defense always likes to say to us is like ‘you do your job, we’ll do ours,’ and that's what they do every game.”
Next up for the Hokies, they’ll take on Old Dominion this upcoming Tuesday in Norfolk. Tech has just four games left of the regular season before the postseason gets underway.
“Honestly, we're really excited,” Mardiney said. “It's just another great opportunity for us. I think right now we’re kind of getting hot, and I'm very confident that the next couple games are going to go our way and we’ll just continue to get better.
“I think ODU is a great team and it's a great opportunity for us to capitalize there playing away, and then also to give us some confidence going into Clemson next week.”