The Hokies Win the Last Regular Season Game at Home Against Furman 17-11

For the last home game of the regular season, the Hokies beat Furman 17-11. During the game, Freshman Sarah Gresham broke Virginia Tech’s record for single-season draw controls. The previous record was 96, and during today’s game, she was able to reach the 100-mark.

Virginia Tech took the field by storm in the first quarter. Paige Tyson scored less than a minute into the game, with Olivia Vergano quickly responding with her own goal right after that. The Hokies had possession of the ball for the majority of the first quarter. Maura O’Malley scored with nine minutes left in the first, and Tyson scored once again with five minutes remaining. Furman had a number of shots on goal during the end of the first, but the first goal came when Anna Roser scored with 39 seconds left. The score at the end of the first was Virginia Tech leading Furman 4-1.

Ella Rishko opened up the second quarter with a goal. Furman’s Hannah Dintino scored two goals less than two minutes apart. Virginia Tech was quick to respond with goals scored by Vergano, Caroline Little, Hannah Mardiney, and Rishko. The Hokies produced a lot of shots on goal during the second quarter. Furman was able to put another goal on the board to end the first half, scored by Molly Faul with 34 seconds left. The Hokies led Furman at the end of the first half 9-4.

After halftime, Vergano completed a hat trick 48-hours after she had a hat trick against Clemson on Saturday. Sophie Shaw scored for Furman, the only goal scored for them during the third quarter. Rishko was able to get her hat trick with a goal with nine minutes left in the game. Tyson, Kayla Rinaldi, and O’Malley all scored as well during the third. Furman’s Meagan Beal received a yellow card for a check to the head, but the Hokies were not able to put any points on the board during the man-up advantage. At the end of the third quarter, the score reflected the Hokies ahead of Furman 14-5.

For the last quarter of the game, Furman stepped up to the challenge. Hokies Whitney Liebler and Maura O’Malley both scored two goals. Furman was able to put six goals up on the board to end the game. Meagan Beal, Sophie Shaw, Hannah Dintino, and Molly Faul all scored one goal a piece, and Anna Roser put two on the scoreboard. The last to score for the Hokies was Olivia Vergano.

In an interview with Sarah Gresham after the game, she said that for their last home game to be a win helps to set the tone for the rest of the season, especially with the UVA game coming up, with all of the players being excited for that. Gresham personally is feeling excited about the UVA game, especially as a freshman. When asked about how she felt about setting the record as a freshman for single-season draw controls, she said that it was a team effort and that she would not have been able to do that without everyone else.

In an interview with Paige Tyson after the game, when asked about how it felt to score the first goal of the game within a minute, she said that it was exciting and it helped set the tone for the rest of the game to power the Hokies to the win. As a senior going into her last UVA game, she feels as though it is good for them to be able to go off of a win to Charlottesville on Thursday.

Head Coach, Kristen Skiera’s feelings about today’s win was that it was productive for the team to be able to have a game right after their loss against Clemson and be able to compete and practice things that they are going to implement against UVA was a good day for them.

Virginia Tech heads up to Charlottesville to take on their rival UVA on Thursday at 7 pm EST.