Charlottesville has been the place to play thus far for the Virginia field hockey team, which remains undefeated at home this season.
The No. 8 field hockey team (9-2, 1-0 ACC) returns home to take on Richmond tomorrow at the University Hall Turf Field at 6 p.m.
“We are pretty strong having home field advantage,” freshman midfielder Paige Selenski said. “I feel pretty confident playing at home the next two games.”
The Spiders have had a disappointing season so far going 3-6 (0-0 Atlantic 10) this season. One bright spot was a 2-1 Sept. 26 victory against No. 14 American University in Washington, D.C. The Spiders could not translate the big win against American into momentum, though, as they were dismantled at Maryland to the tune of 7-0 just two days later.
Now, after having just faced one tough ACC squad in the Terrapins, the Spiders have to turn around and take on another strong ACC opponent in the Cavaliers. The Spiders seem to have the talent to play with good teams. They took No. 7 James Madison to overtime and lost, just as Virginia did, and only lost 2-1 to No. 16 Princeton. The Cavaliers cannot afford to overlook the Spiders in trying to remain undefeated at home.
The Cavaliers will regain the support of freshman back Floor Vogels, who pulled her hamstring against Boston College and sat out the Boston University game. Virginia split its last two games in the Boston area, defeating No. 12 Boston College 2-1 and then losing a heartbreaker 3-2 to Boston this past weekend. The loss came in the second set of penalty strokes when the Terriers out-scored Virginia 7-5.
“I felt like our focus going into the games wasn’t really on,” Selenski said. “I think our focus [was more] on Boston College than Boston University so I think we just got caught off guard.”
Despite out-shooting and out-cornering Boston, Virginia was unable to capitalize on many opportunities because of Terrier sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kastuk, who had a career-high 13 saves; however, Virginia senior midfielder Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn and junior forward Traci Ragukas both notched their sixth goals of the season. The game against Boston saw the return of midfielder Michelle Vittese, one of Virginia’s talented freshmen, who contributed with a penalty stroke.
The first half of the trip to Boston was a success as the Cavaliers got their first conference win of the year, defeating Boston College 2-1 in two extra periods. The Cavaliers pulled out the victory despite the fact that Boston College took more corner shots and more shots on goal.
The game marked the first time Virginia had beaten the Eagles (6-2, 0-2 ACC) in the regular season since 2004.
“We have improved on our performance every day and that is what we are all about,” Virginia coach Michele Madison said. “You want to be the best team you can be at the end. It doesn’t matter the opponent you play; it matters what you are doing.”
The Cavaliers will need to continue to improve their play in order to keep pace in the ACC. Their next conference game is against No. 3 Maryland Saturday. This past weekend the ACC beat up on itself, as No. 3 Maryland defeated No. 1 Wake Forest 4-2, and No. 5 North Carolina overcame No. 9 Duke 2-1. The ACC in field hockey is easily comparable to the SEC in football. Every week is a battle; there are no guarantees, and nobody is taken for granted.
“The ACC is a hard conference, so if we lose one, we have to catch up,” Sijpesteijn said. “There are no easy opponents.”
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