BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Elon women's lacrosse team (2-2) raced out to a four-goal lead early in the second quarter Friday at Virginia Tech, but the Hokies (4-2) stormed back and held off a late Phoenix rally to win, 17-13.

Six different Phoenix scored in the first quarter to propel Elon into the lead and an Anna Hackett goal in the opening minutes of the second quarter gave the Phoenix a 7-3 lead, Elon's largest of the contest. However, the Hokies finished the first half on an 8-0 run to take control of the contest.

The Hokies took a four-goal lead of their own early in the second half, but the Phoenix cut its deficit to just one early in the fourth quarter after back-to-back free position tallies from Maddie Engelkraut. However, Virginia Tech scored four of the game's final five goals to escape with the win.

Hackett and Engelkraut were two of four Phoenix with multiple goals, with the sophomore duo of Lillian Austin and Danielle Swietoniowski each netting a pair. Elon's 13 goals matched its most ever in 11 meetings against the Hokies.

The Rundown

• The Hokies opened the scoring, but Elon notched the next four goals to take early control of the contest. Austin got the Phoenix on the board before MJ Santa Barbara gave Elon the lead with a goal assisted by Mia Zebley. A free position tally by Zebley followed, with Gwen Eilender making it 4-1 for Elon with a goal of her own just over a minute later.
• After Virginia Tech responded with a pair of goals, Hackett and Swietoniowski each found the scoresheet to give the Phoenix a 6-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
• Hackett gave Elon its biggest lead of the day with a free position goal with 13:27 remaining in the second quarter. The Hokies answered with an 8-0 run to take an 11-7 lead into the break.
• Swietoniowski scored the first goal after halftime to stop Virginia Tech's scoring run. The Hokies netted two of the next three goals before Elon mounted a 3-0 run late in the third and early in the fourth to pull back within a goal. Hackett started the stretch before Engelkraut converted consecutive free position goals to make it 13-12 for the Hokies.
• Elon won the ensuing draw after Engelkraut's second goal, but the Hokies forced a turnover and then scored a woman-up goal to go back up by two. Virginia Tech scored again shortly after to take a three-goal lead, and after Austin cut Elon's deficit back to two at the 6:03 mark, the Hokies scored the final two goals to close out the win.

 
Notable Numbers

• Hackett scored her third straight hat trick to pace the Phoenix offense. The redshirt junior is currently on her longest streak of hat tricks since her freshman season in 2023 when she had five in a row.
• The hat trick extended Hackett's team lead in both points (13) and goals (11).
• Austin and Swietoniowski both turned in her second multi-goal efforts of the season. Austin now has two goals in consecutive games after missing Elon's season opener.
• Engelkraut scored for the first time since the 2024 season, netting her third and fourth career goals against the Hokies. It was her first career multi-goal game.
• Santa Barbara's first-quarter goal extended her career-long scoring streak to four. She is one of three Phoenix to score a goal in all four games this season along with Hackett and Swietoniowski.
• Addie Gilner and Mia Zebley both notched their first goal of the campaign, with Zebley adding an assist. Zebley is now tied for second on the team with two assists on the season.
• Eilender rounded out Elon's goal scoring, netting goals in consecutive games for the first time in her career. The junior scored her first goal of the season last weekend at East Carolina.
• Jessie Penner, Reagan Kuehn and Caitlin Walsh tied for a team-high two ground balls. Kuehn also led the Phoenix with a pair of caused turnovers.
• Santa Barbara picked up a team-best three draw controls. Austin and Arianna Kouchalakos each controlled two of their own.
• Walsh made eight saves goal, her second most in a game this season after stopping nine in Elon's season opener at Queens.
• For the first time this season, Elon went perfect on clear attempts, successfully converting all 14 of its clears. It was Elon's first time finishing perfect on clears since March 29, 2025, against Campbell.
• The Hokies won the draw control battle, 22-10.
• Elon went 7-of-9 on its free position attempts. The seven goals were the most in a game for the Phoenix since scoring nine against William & Mary on April 14, 2024.
• The 13 goals were tied for the most Elon has scored in 11 meetings against Virginia Tech. The Phoenix previously scored 13 goals in its lone win in the series, a 13-12 overtime triumph on March 1, 2017.

 
Up Next
Elon returns home for a game against High Point on March 5 at Rudd Field. Opening draw is slated for 5 p.m.
 
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