RICHMOND -- After a humbling 3-1 loss to No. 5 James Madison on Sunday, the field hockey team wanted to return to the field with a bang in last night's game against Richmond. But what the team produced sounded more like a thud.
In their 2-1 loss to unranked Richmond (2-4), the No. 9 Cavaliers (4-2) stumbled their way to their second straight defeat.
The Spiders attacked early and scored the game's first goal only 4:30 into the contest on a corner. Junior forward Brittney Parrish entered the ball to senior forward Jill Murphy. Murphy then set the pass for senior back Sarah Adams, who sent a slapshot past Virginia goalie Emily White.
For the next 45 minutes, neither team mounted a significant offensive attack. The Cavaliers had plenty of opportunities to capitalize, but frequently forced their offense, pushing passes into congested areas.
"We were definitely forcing the ball," Virginia Coach Jessica Wilk said. "I thought we had a lot of careless turnovers because we were forcing the ball. We weren't able to generate an attack because of it."
With a little under 20 minutes remaining in regulation, Richmond earned the first of three consecutive corners against Virginia. The Cavaliers stopped the first two, but on the third corner, Adams struck for her second goal of the game, putting the Spiders ahead 2-0 with 16:30 left in the game.
The Cavaliers countered with a brief rally of their own. In the 58th minute of play, senior back Kelli Hill slammed a shot from the top of the circle into the back of the cage.
"Unfortunately, after we were down 2-0, we kind of settled in and decided we might need to play a little," Wilk said. "We got back to basics and back to the game plan."
Virginia managed one more corner, but Cara Unterkofler's entry pass slipped past Emily Beach, and with that, the team's best chance to knot the game rolled away.
Virginia's inability to pass and possess the ball led to limited offensive opportunities. For the second straight game, Virginia produced only three shots on goal.
"Six shots in two games is really not going to get it done for you," Wilk said. "I think we have the ability to be a good team, but we won't be a good team if we can't be disciplined and take care of the little things."
Defensively, the Cavaliers weren't much better.
Richmond players advanced the ball upfield without pressure from Cavalier defenders. For the game, the Spiders shot on goal 11 more times than the Cavaliers, a telling statistic of Richmond's offensive dominance.
"We needed to mark better," Hill said, shaking her head in disgust. "We needed to stay strong on the ball. We didn't get it done. I mean, plain and simple, we didn't get it done."
Possibly more importantly, Virginia appeared to be out-hustled by its opponent for the second straight game.
"I think we really wanted to be ready for the game," Parrish said. "We played hard. I think we beat them to the ball. We out-hustled them."
Wilk conceded the same.
"I don't think we played as hard as we could have," she said. "I don't think we competed for the full 70 minutes."
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