As the Virginia field hockey team awaited the seeding announcement for the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament in the depths of John Paul Jones Arena last night, there was a sense of madness in the air — November Madness. Though not highly publicized, it felt as if March had come early for the Cavaliers, as Virginia was anxious to see who it would be matched up with in the first round. The Cavaliers received their third straight bid under coach Michele Madison and are paired with in-state rival James Madison University in their 15th NCAA Tournament appearance.
Coincidently, the Cavaliers have already played JMU this season, losing a heartbreaker in Harrisonburg 1-0 in overtime. The No. 12 Cavaliers finished fourth in the ACC, while the No. 4 Dukes won the CAA Tournament, beating Old Dominion 1-0. The Cavaliers secured their at-large berth in the tournament with a second win against Duke last Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
“To beat a team like Duke two times in a row was big,” Madison said. “We were able to create multiple scoring opportunities to put them away.”
Despite losing to Maryland in the semifinals 3-2 in overtime, the team regained confidence that had been shaken by losses in five of its last seven games.
“It gave us a lot of confidence,” junior forward Traci Ragukas said. “We were losing close games and we knew we had to pick it up. It’s now or never. We know that we have to go and put everything out there now and that is what we did at Duke.”
The games against Duke and Maryland are just two of the challenges Virginia has had to face this season. Its schedule is rated as the toughest in the country according to fieldhockeycorner.com. Meanwhile, the Dukes’ strength of schedule is rated as 17th in the country.
“We played the No. 1 schedule in the country,” Madison said. “That has helped us get ready. We know we are ready, we have seen the best.”
Eight of Virginia’s opponents received bids to the tournament. Virginia and JMU have shared eight opponents this season, with both teams losing to Wake Forest and North Carolina.
“We know we can compete with the best teams in the country,” freshman midfielder Paige Selenski said. “We went into overtime with Maryland twice. We lost but we showed we can compete with anybody, it was a good confidence booster.”
The Cavaliers will have to keep up their stellar play of late to advance deep into the tournament. Selenski, who was named ACC Freshman of the Year Sunday after the conclusion of the ACC Tournament, will need to continue her high-scoring ways to propel the Cavaliers to victory. Another key player for the Cavaliers will be fifth-year senior goalkeeper Amy Desjadon, who has the experience and desire to carry the team. She has seen the majority of minutes in goal this season. On the other side of the field, the Cavaliers will have to deal the No. 1 goalkeeper in the country when they take on JMU. Junior Kelsey Cutchins leads the nation in goals against average and save percentage. Cutchins shut out the Cavaliers in their last meeting earlier in the season.
The winner of the Virginia-JMU game will play the winner of the Wake Forest-American game Sunday at 2 p.m.
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