The Virginia field hockey team gave No. 6 Boston College all it could handle during a heartbreaking double overtime loss Friday and salvaged a split of its weekend home games with an important win against Richmond Sunday.
The Cavaliers (5-6) started strong Friday night by mounting early pressure on the vaunted Eagles (7-2) during the first half. Freshman midfielder Kelsey LeBlanc scored first for Virginia in the 24th minute. The lead looked like it would hold until junior midfielder Jacqui Moorfield notched a goal for Boston College with three minutes remaining in the half to send the game into the break 1-1.
Both teams played aggressively during the second half, which was packed with huge momentum shifts for both teams. Virginia struck first as sophomore midfielder Katie Robinson netted her second goal of the season in the 55th minute off an assist from sophomore forward Elly Buckley. The Eagles countered quickly by scoring three goals in five minutes, including two from senior forward Courtney Tavener to give Boston College a 4-2 lead with 10 minutes to play. Virginia created some good looks on goal but proved unable to make a dent in the lead until sophomore forward Carissa Vittese nailed a penalty shot with one minute remaining to bring the game to 4-3.
After a penalty in front of the cage, Vittese then scored her second penalty goal of the game as time expired to send the game into overtime. During the first overtime, neither team was able to end the game, with the Eagles taking four shots to Virginia's two. The game entered a second, golden-goal overtime and Tavener completed her hat trick in the 93rd minute to down the Cavaliers in dramatic fashion and hand Virginia its fourth consecutive loss.
"We all thought we played really well," Buckley said. "We just need to finish it off. It was a really good game, but we need to finish."
Sunday's match against Richmond (5-4) also tested the Cavaliers, who looked to bounce back from the emotional loss and snap their losing streak in front of their home fans. The rain came out in full force, as did the Cavalier offense. Virginia got off to a strong early start again when sophomore back Lane Smith started the scoring in the 14th minute with a tip-in off a penalty corner. Buckley padded the lead with a goal in the 25th minute to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 halftime lead and added a third in the 37th minute.
"I think getting on the board gives us confidence," coach Michele Madison said. "We've been putting three of four goals in the goal every game for the last four or five games, so it was just a matter of shoring up the defense and keeping the ball out."
Richmond gave that defense all it could handle during the second half with furious attacking. The Spiders fired off 11 shots after the break and finally cracked the scoreboard in the 51st minute to bring the game to 3-1. Richmond kept pressing and took eight penalty corners during the second half compared to just one from Virginia.
"It was nerve-wracking," Buckley said. "Our defense did a really good job, so it was good. Every second half has been really crucial for us, so we have to make sure the next one's really good. Now we're coming down to the last games, so we just have to make sure we win every next one now."
Richmond did manage to score again on a 60th minute penalty goal, but the Cavaliers held firm for the win to break their losing streak and take some important momentum into their upcoming games.
"We're happy to have [the win] in our back pocket," Madison said. "The kids worked really hard Friday, and didn't get the result. Today it was going to be tough, but we were able to come do it again today"
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