It's not how you start; it's how you finish, right?
Well, maybe.
After suffering a 3-2 overtime loss yesterday to in-state rival Old Dominion, the Virginia field hockey team was left wondering whether their lackluster performance in the first half was the deciding factor in a hard-fought physical defeat.
The Monarchs took advantage of the slow start to jump to a 2-0 lead. Senior forward Kim Miller fired a shot past Cav keeper Becky Worthington with 13:17 left to put ODU on the scoreboard. Virginia had constant trouble connecting on passes and was squelched by the Monarch's superior ball handling abilities. Missed opportunities and loose ball control forced the Cavs to spend much of the first half playing defense.
"Their ball handling skills were a factor," Cav forward Rosie Walker said. "But not playing to the best of our ability hurt us the most."
Marina DiGiacomo tallied ODU's second goal on a stroke after the ball got caught in Worthington's pads. The goal came with 7:25 remaining in the half, and when the whistle blew, Virginia headed to the sidelines determined to regroup.
"We got together knowing that we had to do something to pick it up," Walker said. "We weren't playing like ourselves and we had to change that in order to win."
And change they did. Virginia entered the second half like a team on a mission, matching ODU's speed and ball control much more efficiently.
"Our goal was to maintain position in transition plays and to control the ball better than we did in the first half," Cav coach Jessica Wilk said. "We also wanted to take our time and try to pick and choose right times to attack."
As a result, the Cavs managed an early offensive charge, and midfielder Jessica Coleman finally broke the scoring drought when she nailed a straight shot to the right side of the box off a penalty corner.
Second-year Carrie Goodloe did an impressive job throughout the game keeping DiGiacomo under control. DiGiacomo, an offensive powerhouse and the Monarchs' leading scorer, was one of Virginia's main concerns coming into the game.
"Carrie was fantastic," Wilk said. "We knew we had to shut Marina down, and Carrie kept her contained 99 percent of the time. We were able to stay in the game."
Back Julia Richardson lobbed in the Cav's second goal, scrambling through a crowd of players to tie the game with 5:11 left in regulation.
With the score knotted at two at the end of regulation, the two teams battled it out in overtime until a penalty corner in ODU's favor ended the contest with 1:39 remaining.
Because of the loss, Virginia is anxious to get another shot at starting out strong, and with No. 4 Maryland Oct. 2, the team should have a chance to prove itself.
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