Tweet

GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech lacrosse team will close out the 2016 regular-season against No. 11 Virginia on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Thompson Field. The game will be televised on ESPN3 and is also Senior Day for the five seniors on Virginia Tech's team.

THE HOKIES

The Hokies will be playing at home for just the second time in their last seven games. Tech is led by Meghan Macera who ranks second in the ACC in two major statistical categories. She is second in ground balls per game at 2.56 and caused turnovers at 2.31

Macera ranks first on the team in total points with 31 and is tied for the team lead in goals scored with 27. She also leads the team in draw controls, ground balls and caused turnovers. Hannah Sieger ranks fifth in the ACC in saves per game at 6.19. Kristine Loscalzo has also scored 27 goals to go along with three assists. Tristan McGinley has a team-high seven assists.

Virginia Tech is facing in-state rival Virginia for the 22nd time in program history.

The two teams last met on April 17, 2015 in Charlottesville as the No. 5 Cavaliers beat the Hokies 17-10.

In their last game at Boston College, the Hokies got a career-high five goals from Meghan Macera but couldn’t overcome No. 15 Boston College on Saturday afternoon in a 15-10 loss.

Tech led the Eagles in ground balls 14-7 and the team went 14-of-14 on clear attempts. The Hokies only turned the ball over 10 times while Boston College turned the ball over 11. Boston College had a slight advantage in shots at 26-20 and a 23-4 edge in draw controls.

THE CAVALIERS

Virginia is coming off a 17-6 loss to No. 1 Maryland on Wednesday but overall have won three of their last four games. The Cavaliers will be playing their fourth-straight road contest and fifth in their last six games.

Virginia Tech assistant coach Kim Kolarik played goalkeeper for the Cavaliers under their head coach Julie Myers where she was on the Tewaaraton Watch List and a member of the VaSID All-State Second Team. She graduated from Virginia in 2013.

The Cavaliers have won three straight games over Virginia Tech with the Hokies winning the 2012 game 10-9 in overtime over No. 7 Virginia.

Mary Alati ranks fifth in the conference in ground balls won at 2.29 per game. Alati has 33 ground balls on the season and also has a team-high 20 caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk is second in the ACC in saves per contest at 8.14.

Offensively, Virginia is led by Kasey Behr who has scored a team-high 34 goals with three assists for 37 total points. Posey Vallis has scored 29 goals with five assists and Besser Dyson has 20 goals with a team-high 13 assists.

The Cavaliers have six players who have scored at least 15 goals this season and three players who have at least 21 draw controls.

This game is presented by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of Virginia Tech Athletics. It is also a potential point in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash, the point rivalry series between the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. Currently the score for the Clash is University of Virginia 10 and Virginia Tech 5. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at thecommonwealthclash.com.

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