The Virginia State men’s and women’s lacrosse teams made their Rogers Stadium debut memorable against fellow Division II HBCU University of District Columbia.
The Trojan women rolled to a 17-7 win in the first-ever game in program history, while the men held off a Firebird rally to win 12-8 for the first time after a 0-3 start to the season.
In the women’s game, first-year attacker Adrien Wise and grad student attacker Sarai Reyes-Roman scored five goals each to lead Virginia State, who had six players find the net. Kayla Carroll-Williams scored three goals for the Trojans, Grace Hall scored twice, and Noel Johnson-Montoya and Rylie Banks also added goals.
The Firebird women scored first on a goal from sophomore attack Shanise Taylor just 42 seconds into the first quarter, but the first official goal in VSU history came from Wise as part of a 6-2 run to end the period.
Reyes-Roman scored twice in the second period, most notably on an attempted pass that somehow banked off UDC goalie Natalia Perkins and into the net for a 9-3 Trojan lead. UDC never got closer than six goals the rest of the way. Junior defender Michelle Mitchell scored three goals for the Firebirds, with Taylor and Williams adding two each. Perkins stopped 20 shots for UDC, while the goalie combination of Maya Cajchun and Callie Thompson combined to record nine saves.
In the men’s game, Virginia State was led by freshman attack Kalani Laughlin, who scored six goals, including four in the fourth quarter after UDC rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game.
Laughlin scored the first home goal in VSU men’s history, followed by Devray Kirkland II for an early 2-0 lead, and three goals from Andre Bingham gave the Trojans a 6-2 lead in the second quarter. Junior attack Dylan Donaldson scored two late second-quarter goals to pull the Firebirds to within 6-5 at the half and tied the game on a Najuane Phillpotts tally two minutes and 18 seconds into the third quarter.
VSU responded with two Donovan Elmore goals for an 8-6 lead, but Donaldson scored two more goals, including one with 10 seconds left in the third to tie the game again.
Laughlin took matters into his own hands in the final frame, scoring 16 seconds into the period on an assist from Kirkland, then adding three more goals in a two-minute and 26-second stretch to put the game away. Kirkland scored a goal and added two assists, Bingham scored three goals, and Donovan Elmore added two for Virginia State, who improved to 1-3 on the season.
Donaldson scored four goals, while Phillpots, Jordan McTeer, Julian Schemm, and Maxwell Hansberry added a goal for the Firebirds, who fell to 0-2.
