COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It doesn't get much closer than this. After a marathon double-overtime battle with No. 1 Maryland, Cavalier freshman Emily Beach put the fifth and deciding penalty stroke into the cage to lift No. 11 Virginia over the Terrapins, 3-2, and give the Cavalier field hockey program its first- ever defeat of a No. 1 team.
Beach stepped up to take the final stroke of the best-of-five tiebreaker after Maryland had left the door open by missing its fifth attempt.
"I was just trying to keep my head together and keep it simple," Beach said. "I wanted to go the way I always go on my stroke. Really, I was just thinking about a hard push into the corner."
It worked.
Stellar Virginia defense and the phenomenal work of sophomore goalie Emily White throughout the first 100 minutes of play kept the Cavaliers within striking distance.
Maryland could get only three of its seven penalty strokes by White and was unable to convert a single one of its 13 penalty corners. White, celebrating her 20th birthday, also threw in a spectacular over-the-head hand block with 18 seconds left in the first half.
Cavalier junior Molly McManus got in on the blocking action, too, throwing her stick up against a Maryland shot after her teammates scrambled desperately on the ground to keep the ball out of the net.
On the offensive end, senior co-captains Jessie Coleman and Carrie Goodloe put the Cavaliers on the board when Goodloe found Coleman with 9:49 left in the first half. Both Goodloe and Coleman padded their team-leading stats on the play: It was Goodloe's sixth assist of the season and Coleman's 11th goal.
Three minutes later, junior Katie Slocum stole the ball from the Maryland offense and scored unassisted to give Virginia a little breathing room and a 2-0 lead.
Maryland roared back in the second half, however, with an Aussie attack. The Terps first scored 15 minutes into the game on senior and Melbourne native Rachel Hiskins' penalty stroke. Then, with 2:17 left in regulation, freshman Lucy Morris, from Ascot Vale, Australia, capitalized on a pass from freshman Sara Silvetti.
The score remained 2-2 as the game headed into the first 15-minute sudden death overtime. Maryland forced three penalty corners during the period, but neither team was able to put the ball in the goal.
In the second sudden death period, Maryland was able to get off a solid shot on goal with 8:50 left to play, but the rock-solid White got her body in front of it.
The second period ended with the score still tied at two and only penalty strokes left to decide the game. Virginia took the best-of-five round, 3-2, and toppled its long-time nemesis.
"It was incredible and when [Beach's] ball went in, tears came to my eyes," said Goodloe, who still was choked up after the game. "You've asked me before about my most memorable sports moment: You can put that one down. We were the underdogs, no one expected us to win. I'm so proud of my team today."
"This is a huge boost for us mentally," said Virginia coach Jessica Wilk, a former Maryland All-American. "Today, we played smart. We didn't have many opportunities, but when we did, we finished them"
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