CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The No. 4 Virginia women's lacrosse team held off a late rally by the James Madison Dukes to come away with an 11-9 victory Saturday evening in Klockner Stadium. The win moves the Cavaliers to 7-2 on the season, while James Madison falls to 3-5.

Junior Jenny Hauser led the attack with four points, notching three goals and an assist. Sophomore Brittany Kalkstein also contributed three scores, while classmate Kaitlin Duff added two. Junior Katie Shannon, redshirt sophomore Whitaker Hagerman and sophomore Caity Whiteley each tallied one goal. Senior Claire Bordley and Megan O'Malley and junior Ashley McCulloch rounded out the scoring for the Cavaliers, each with a helper.

The Cavaliers snapped their six game streak of giving up the first goal, scoring the first five straight, taking a 5-0 lead by the 12:45 mark. Bordley dished out her first assist this season, second of her career, to Duff at the 28:08 mark to start the run. Whiteley then made it two straight at 27:28, before Hauser tallied two consecutive scores for Virginia. Hagerman capped off the run with a goal at 12:45.

Wagner converted a free position shot at 10:31 to give James Madison their first score, before Kalkstein and Shannon made it 7-1 with free position goals for the Cavaliers.

Annie Wagner and Emily Haller scored the final two goals of the half, cutting Virginia's lead to four at 7-3 going into halftime.

The Cavaliers opened the second half rattling off four straight scores, one from Hauser, sandwiched between two from Kalkstein and another from Duff by the 14:12 mark for an 11-3 lead.

The Dukes won the ensuing draw control and Jaime Dardine fired two shots into the back of the net for James Madison in a span of 43 seconds. The goals sparked a six goal run for the Dukes, but time expired before JMU could pull any closer than two, leading Virginia to an 11-9 final score.

Dardine led James Madison with three goals and an assist, while Haller and Wagner each had two goals.

Defensively for the Cavaliers, senior Alice Hughey and Duff each collected three ground balls, while Kalkstein won four draw controls. Bordley scooped up two ground balls and had two caused turnovers.

Virginia (7-2, 2-1 ACC) will travel to No. 5 Duke for an ACC contest Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C. Opening draw is slated for 1:00 p.m.

2008-03-27