March 2, 2002

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Virginia Tech women's lacrosse team (1-1, 1-0 BIG EAST) used late-game heroics in its' 9-8 win over Rutgers University (0-1,0-1 BIG EAST) Saturday afternoon. Lacey Dieringer's (Davidsonville, Md.) goal with 20 seconds left in the game awarded Tech its' first BIG EAST win of the young 2002 season.

The Hokies jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Katie Madden (Gaithersburg, Md.) scored off of a pass from Samantha Sybert (Reston, Va.). The Scarlet Knights answer with a Kate Slotman goal. Tech pushed its' lead to 3-1 courtesy of Kellyn Hentz (Hampstead, Md.) and Lauren Kenney (Clifton, Va.) goals. Rutgers responded with two back-to-back goals. The first came from the stick of Cali Wojdyla while Cristina Curiale's goal knotted the score at three apiece. Dieringer scored the first of her two goals before the halftime buzzer, giving the Hokies a 4-3 lead at the break.

The Scarlet Knights wasted no time evening the score as Slotman notched her second goal of the afternoon less than a minute into the half. Tech responded with three unanswered goals to make the score 7-4. Hentz started the scoring spree with her second goal of the day, Lisa Givens (Crofton, Md.) bumped up the lead to two and Lindsey Welch (Englewood, Colo.) ended the rally with a goal. Rutgers' Lisa Savage pulled her team back in it with the first of her two goals on the afternoon, but Tech slowed the momentum when Kate Threadgold (Largs Bay, Australia) responded with a goal of her own. The Scarlet Knights then went on a 3-0 run that would tie the game at eight apiece. Jess Gallogly spearheaded the attack with a two goals and an assist during the run. With the game knotted at eight apiece, Dieringer snuck the ball past the Rutger goalkeeper with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Hokies close out a two-game road swing tomorrow with a stop in West Long Branch, N.J., to take on Monmouth University. The game is set for a noon start.