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Virginia ends two-game losing skid

The Virginia field hockey tallied a much needed victory over Radford last night to halt a frustrating two-game losing streak. The 4-2 triumph gives the team a confidence boost heading into a pair of road matchups this weekend.

The No. 11 Cavaliers dominated initially, displaying superior ball movement and mounting a successful offensive attack that the team thought would seal a victory.

"Our ball movement has been much better over the last couple of games," third-year forward Lorraine Vizzuso said. "We've been practicing it a lot and the improvement gives us more offensive opportunities."

Fourth-year forward Meredith Elwell started the scoring by knocking in a feed from Vizzuso six minutes into the game. But Vizzuso wasn't satisfied with an assist and notched her own goal six minutes later off of a pass from Carrie Goodloe. The trend seemed to be catching, as Goodloe knocked home the third Cavalier goal unassisted.

With a 3-0 lead, it looked like the Cavs (10-5) would have no problem staying on top, but a lull in the waning minutes of the half gave the Highlanders (2-15) the break they were hoping for. As the Cav passing game broke down, Radford orchestrated a comeback that brought them one goal short of a tie at the half.

"We got in the lead and we just fell back on our heels," Vizzuso said. "Radford definitely stepped up and took it to us."

The Highlanders had a chance to tie the score on a penalty corner with no time left on the clock, but Jumbelic's shot was wide. Cav coach Jessica Wilk then regrouped her team to talk it over at halftime.

"We talked about just keeping it simple, keeping the field spread out, and trying to maintain possession on the attacking end," Wilk said. "They really came out in the second half and executed the things we've worked on. We've finally been able to take what we do in practice and to put it in a game setting for an entire 35 minutes and not just bits and pieces."

Virginia came out strong in the second half, as Vizzuso added another goal to the scoreboard to bolster the Cavalier lead.

Radford goalkeeper Brooke Peterson had an impressive night, allowing four goals but stopping all 19 of Virginia's penalty corners to help keep her team in the game. Peterson attributed the solid performance to strong support from her defense.

"They are a really quick team, but our defense really stepped up and did a great job of cutting to the ball and clearing it before they could score," Peterson said.

While Virginia is not completely disappointed with their corner execution, Elwell said it is something the Cavs will need to improve on for post-season play.

"I think we could have done a better job today as far as corners go," Elwell said. "But compared to last season we've made tremendous improvements.

"We have to put our best play together for 70 minutes," she said. "Those lulls really hurt us at the end of the day, and we cannot afford to be sporadic for the rest of the season."

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