Virginia Tech Pulls Away from George Washington
from press release
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech returned
to its winning ways using two big scoring runs, one in each half,
to pull away from the George Washington Colonials, topping them
18-8 at Thompson Field on the dreary Saturday afternoon. Tech was
led by sophomore Julia Heaps and junior Morgan Widlake, who each
tallied four scores. The Colonials were paced by Megan Seidman, who
also scored on four occasions.
The game began with back-and-forth play, as neither team took a
lead larger than two goals until halfway through the first half.
With a goal from Widlake and another by junior Ryan Rotanz in the
26th, Tech (5-1) took its first lead of the day besides the opening
goal to make it 2-1. The scores were followed by a three-goal rally
in four minutes by GW (1-5), that would give the Colonials their
second lead of the afternoon at 4-2, and force a Tech timeout.
After trading goals out of the regrouping, the Hokies turned it on
and took off on a five-goal rally, three of which were free
position shots. Five different players were a part of the run, as
Heaps was the only Hokie to be in on more than one of the goals,
scoring two of her career-high four.
Siedman broke up the Tech run in the seventh minute on a pass from
Audrey Joy, but goals from Heaps and junior Jessica Nonn pushed the
Hokies out to a 10-6 lead at the half.
Senior Allie Emala, who was scoreless in the first half despite
numerous attempts, finally caught a break and scored her first of
three second-half goals to open the new period.
Emala struck again in the 19th minute on a pass from Heaps to spark
another Tech run. The six-goal rally saw five different players
score, while seven Hokies earned points during the stretch that
established a lead the Colonials would be unable to overcome.
Tech outshot its opponent by more than double, 31-13, and held the
edge in nearly every other statistical category except saves.
Both teams relied on keepers that were not the starters as
sophomore Alex Gale made the start for Tech, but after letting up
five goals in the opening 15 minutes, she was relieved by classmate
Alexis Carey. Carey finished out the game and made four saves on
the day. Liz Hoffman got the start for the Colonials, playing most
of the game, and made 10 saves in her 50 minutes of action, but was
replaced by Jess Hicks for the final ten minutes of the game.
Tech returns to action on Wednesday, March 9, traveling to American
for a 3 p.m., game in the nation’s capital.
