The Virginia field hockey team will face a challenge against No. 1 Maryland at College Park, Md., at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
After a disappointing loss Sunday against No. 2 Old Dominion (6-2), and an uplifting win Wednesday afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth (1-7), the Cavaliers (5-2) are looking for a win.
The Terrapins (7-1) bring to the table three senior All-Americans in Rachel Hiskins, Autumn Welsh and Caroline Walter. Welsh leads the defense, along with senior goalkeeper Ashley Hohnstine, who has allowed only three goals this season. Hiskins and Walter head the offense with help from freshman Colleen Barbieri. Barbieri leads the Terrapins in scoring with eight goals and just earned her second ACC player of the week award this season.
However, the No. 11 Cavaliers have weapons of their own. Senior co-captain Jessie Coleman ranks second nationally with 10 goals. She netted one of two Cavalier goals against ODU and scored both of Virginia's goals against VCU. Coleman was also a huge factor in defending the Virginia cage against ODU, twice intercepting and clearing the ball at the end of the first half.
Senior co-captain Mason White and sophomore goalkeeper Emily White lead the Virginia defense. Emily White has recorded three shutouts so far this season.
Following the disappointing home loss to ODU, Virginia's match against VCU boosted team confidence and helped the Cavaliers prepare for Maryland.
"We corrected a lot of things from the ODU game" in the VCU game, sophomore Kiersten VanHooser said. "It was a huge step in preparing for Maryland."
One thing the Cavaliers will have to focus on against the Terps is keeping defensive penalty corners down and forcing as many offensive corners as possible. On Sunday, ODU forced 16 penalty corners, compared to the Cavaliers' four.
In contrast, at VCU, Virginia forced seven and allowed none. Additionally, Coleman scored both goals off corners. The Cavaliers also completely shut down the Rams' offense, outshooting them, 8-0.
Maryland is coming off of two victories over top 10 teams. The Terrapins defeated both No. 6 Michigan State and No. 7 Wake Forest by a score of 4-1.
Last season Virginia faced Maryland twice and came up short on both occasions. The Cavaliers lost, 5-0, in regular season play, and 3-0 in the ACC championship game.
Needless to say, the Cavaliers are intent on working hard to come up with a victory on Sunday.
"The most specific thing we're concentrating on [for Sunday] is consistency," VanHooser said. "We had great spurts of energy against ODU, but it was hard to keep it up. Against Maryland we just want to start out strong, set the tone and keep it up the entire game"
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