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VIRGINIA TECH GAME NOTES I DUKE GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech lacrosse team will open its ACC schedule against No. 15 Duke at Thompson Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised live on ESPN3.

THE HOKIES

The Hokies have been off for a week following a close loss at Old Dominion last Saturday, 10-7. This is the conference opener for both squads.

Tristan McGinley leads the Hokies with 24 points overall with 17 goals and seven assists. Kristine Loscalzo also has 17 goals with three assists. Meghan Macera has 12 goals and Jessi Thon has 11 on the season.

Hannah Sieger has started every game in goal and made 36 saves on 136 shots with a 10.0 goals against average.

Tech had won five of its previous six contests before the ODU game. Against the Monarchs, the Hokies scored all four of their goals in the first half off of free position attempts and trailed 6-4. Despite outshooting the Monarchs 24-23 overall and 19-18 in shots on goal, Tech was unable to close the deficit in the second half.

Macera and McGinley led the Hokies as they each scored two goals while Loscalzo, Zan Biedenharn and Gracee Hendrix each scored once. Macera and Thon each had three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Sieger made eight saves in goal in the loss.

The Hokies were extremely successful on free positions as they converted 4-of-4 in the first stanza and went 5-of-7 for the game. Tech also went 14-of-15 on clear attempts. The two teams both had 15 draw controls and Old Dominion held a slight edge in ground balls at 15-14.

THE BLUE DEVILS

Duke has never lost to the Hokies, holding an 18-0 all-time record. The two teams faced each other in Durham, N.C. last season as the No. 5 Blue Devils defeated Tech, 15-10.

The Blue Devils have lost two of their last three games after losing to No. 19 Southern California and Elon. The two teams have one common opponent in Navy this year. The Hokies lost 12-6 to the Midshipmen in the season-opnener while Duke defeated Navy 19-8 on Feb. 12.

Duke beat No. 13 Penn this past Sunday by a score of 12-6. In that game, Duke had a 7-6 lead early in the second half before going on a 5-0 run to secure the Blue Devil’s win over a ranked opponent, their first this season.

Duke senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea leads the ACC in saves per game at 8.67 and ground balls per game at 3.67. She also ranks in the top 15 nationally in ground balls and save percentage.

Kyra Harney and Kelci Smesko are tied for the team lead with 22 total points. Smesko has a team-high 15 goals to go along with seven assists wile Harney has a team-high eight assists with 14 goals. Oliva Jenner is also a key player with 10 goals and two assists.

For updates on Virginia Tech lacrosse, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Lax