The Virginia field hockey team faced its first major test of the season Sunday afternoon against No. 5 Michigan State, the first of ten future contests against nationally ranked opponents. While the Cavaliers were able to keep the Spartans at bay for the majority of the first half, Michigan State extended its lead in the final 35 minutes of play to win 6-2.
Down just 2-1 at the break, Virginia steadily lost momentum throughout the second half. Instead of controlling possession as they did in the first 35 minutes, Virginia found itself fighting for the ball from the outset of the second half. A Cavalier transformation occurred during the second half which was vastly at odds with the output Virginia had received during the first 35 minutes.
"We stopped moving for each other [in the second half] in terms of supporting the ball," coach Jessica Wilk said. "And that got us into some trouble."
Michigan State received its first penalty corner of the game in the 40th minute and scored on this attempt to extend their lead to 3-1. For the next 10 minutes, the Spartans pounded the Cavalier goal, forcing the Virginia defense to clear the ball out of bounds several times to get out of trouble.
Overall, Michigan State earned four penalty corners and scored three times, while the Cavaliers lined up 13 times for corners and scored only once. While Virginia held possession for a majority of the game, the offense could turn those advantages into scores just twice during the contest.
"I thought we had some great moments today," Wilk said. "But we also made some critical errors, especially defensively, and we didn't finish particularly well."
The turning point in the game occurred with just one minute left in the first half, as Michigan State appeared to be holding possession in an attempt to drain the clock before halftime. From deep in their own territory, however, the Spartans defense completed a long pass to forward Kathryn Elenz-Martin, who saved the ball from going out of bounds.
From there, the Cavaliers were outmatched and goalkeeper Katherine Blair was drawn outward as Elenz-Martin scored on an open goal with 40 seconds remaining. The goal was the second of four consecutive scores for the Spartans following an early Cavalier lead provided by a score from Mia Link just three minutes into the contest.
Link and captain Allison Flynn notched one goal apiece for Virginia, but two scores would be no match for a lively Spartan offense that scored four times in the second half against the Cavalier defense.
"We just couldn't finish today," senior Katie Jo Gerfen said. "We definitely came out with an attitude, we were hungry to score, but the ball just wasn't going in today for us."
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