Hokies Beat Pitt for Their First ACC Win of the Season

The Hokies took to Thompson Field Saturday against the Panthers and did not disappoint, as they won their first ACC win of the season, while simultaneously broke a record in doing so: Virginia Tech had extended the program's largest margin of victory to 13 goals in ACC competition.

This match proved that Virginia Tech is a multi-faceted team that works efficiently in sync, as the Hokies put the pedal to the medal in the first quarter starting off with a 5-2 lead. Olivia Vergano and Claire Schotta, two of Tech’s strongest attackers had goals in the opening quarter, along with Lauren Render, Kayla Rinaldi, and Paige Tyson.

The Hokies did not let up in the second quarter: they went on to score six more goals, bringing the score to 11-3. Going into the second half, Virginia Tech was confident in their play and it showed on the field.

The second half proved to be dominant for the Hokies, as they continued to further their lead, outscoring the Panthers by a margin of five goals. By the end of the game, the Hokies led 19-6. The Virginia Tech offense had an amazing performance as they had gotten 39 shots off, the most they had all season. Sara Gresham also showed off her skill on the field with a career high of 10 draw controls.

Ella Rishko, Maura O’Malley, Kayla Frank, and Jordan Tilley were the goal scorers of the second half. Overall, the Hokies had five women score multiple goals in Saturday’s match. Vergano and Schotta each had four, freshman Rishko had three, followed by O’Malley and Tyson each with two.

The Hokies seem to have found their momentum and hopefully they can maintain it throughout the busy week that is ahead of them. They travel to South Bend, Indiana for another important in-conference game to play No. 12 Notre Dame on Thursday. Shortly after, the Hokies take to the road again to Akron to face Akron University on Saturday.