Cavaliers top Tribe in overtime

Whit Hagerman’s next shot for Virginia desperately needed to find its way to the back of the cage.

“I just knew the next one needed to go in,” Hagerman said.

After the junior attacker took five shots, including several near the end of regulation, and couldn’t come up with a score, Hagerman finally connected on a quick move around the cage during the second overtime to help give No. 7 Virginia a 10-9 victory over William & Mary.

But not without a little help from the Cavaliers’ defense.

“I wanted to celebrate, but my immediate reaction was to look at the clock,” Hagerman said.

Her game-winner came with 1:19 on the clock in the second extra period, and because women’s lacrosse doesn’t go to sudden death until the third overtime, Virginia had to hold off a hungry, energized William & Mary squad to preserve the win. The Cavaliers did just that behind a strong effort by reserve Sara Hairfield in their cage. UVa’s defense created some critical turnovers down the stretch and halted a Tribe fast break as time expired in the second overtime.

Hairfield held the Tribe scoreless in almost 19 minutes of play that included a wild, back-and-forth finish to regulation as well as the two overtime periods. The senior goalie had three saves during that stretch.

Virginia clawed its way to the tie at the end of 60 minutes because of Ashley McCulloch’s performance down the stretch. McCulloch, who has been bottled up of late with just two goals in Virginia’s last three games — well below the All-American’s usual output — posted a hat trick, burying all three of her shots, including a game-tying goal with 3:27 to play.

“Even in practice and in warm-ups, her pep was back in her step,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “We worked in practice on getting it through and making sure [McCulloch] touches it several times because that generates a lot of our offense.”

Even with McCulloch finding her rhythm again, it wasn’t an easy road for Virginia. William & Mary attacked Virginia relentlessly and from all different angles, with four different players notching two goals each. That left the Cavaliers down 5-4 at the half, an advantage the Tribe stretched to 9-6 with just under 13 minutes to play on a Clare Dennis goal.

The Cavaliers (6-2) didn’t begin their rally from the deficit until the 8:15 mark. That’s when Jenny Hauser kickstarted the comeback with a one-on-one goal, and after that McCulloch made her mark. The senior won two straight draws, the first of which she quickly moved to classmate Blair Weymouth, who buried a shot to pull the Cavaliers within one just 10 seconds after Hauser’s tally.

The second draw control ended up changing hands four times, during which Hairfield came up with a monster stop at the 6:10 mark. Shortly after that a William &Mary player was called for an offensive foul, giving the ball back to Virginia. McCulloch capitalized again, this time scoring to tie the game at 9-9 when her defender slipped and fell.

Hagerman’s tally in the second overtime followed and allowed Virginia to escape with a victory. It was a much-needed win after losses to Maryland and North Carolina and squeaking by previously unranked Penn State in overtime at home during the last three game stretch.

“Against in-state teams you need to make sure you’re winning for your own mojo,” Myers said. “This is a big win, and it makes practice that much easier.”

Virginia also needed the momentum for this weekend when the Cavaliers take on Princeton at 1 p.m. on Saturday.