It was cold and windy, and for the handful of Virginia faithful that made the game last night, it was about time when Katie Jo Gerfen blasted a shot home to give the Cavaliers (2-1) a 3-2 double-overtime victory over the RedHawks of Miami, Ohio.
In a tense game in which Miami just wouldn't give up, Virginia saw its lead cancelled out twice by some gritty play from the visitors. In a scoreless first half in which Virginia did everything but put the ball in the back of the cage, the Cavaliers saw 11 of their 15 shots saved by the stellar Kerri Orr in the Miami goal.
Virginia's defense also kept Miami's offense in check, holding them to only three shots in the entire first half. The game burst into life in the second period with three goals in five minutes. The Cavaliers broke a deadlock in the 41st minute when a shot off a short corner was tipped up and into the goal by a RedHawk defender.
It took Miami a little less than four minutes to answer. Taking advantage of the RedHawk's second corner of the contest, Meredith Lee tipped in a shot to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, Allison Flynn latched onto a loose ball just outside the circle and smashed her shot past Orr to restore the Cavaliers' one goal advantage.
Conditions turned from bad to worse as heavy rain made play difficult and disrupted Virginia's rhythm. In the closing minutes, the Cavaliers spurned countless opportunities to close the game and Orr made brilliant saves to keep the RedHawks in contention.
On the last possession of the game, Miami sent the ball upfield and earned a corner, only their third of the entire match. Danielle Perrecone picked up a layoff by Keri von Kalinowski and struck a shot past Katherine Blair in Virginia's goal as time expired, sending the game into overtime.
Virginia dominated in the extra period, easily out-shooting their opponents, but they failed to find the back of the net. Miami absorbed the pressure and launched increasingly dangerous counter attacks.
The second period of overtime followed the same pattern. Virginia earned its 20th corner of the game and finally made one count, as Gerfen took a hold by Sarah Miller and found the board to end the game.
The hero of the game, Gerfen felt Virginia lacked consistency.
"Definitely we were up and down today."
she said. "We had to continue to find a way to stay on a high level."
Virginia coach Jessica Wilk said she thinks the team is still improving.
"I thought we had some issues", she said. "We created a lot of scoring opportunities but we were only able to convert three of them."
Wilk also said the Cavaliers have to capitalize better on their set plays, a problem she said haunted the team in its 6-2 loss to Michigan State Sunday.
Virginia continues it schedule with a trip to Waltham, Mass. this weekend to take on Boston College and the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
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