The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team split a pair of games in New York this weekend, falling to No. 5 Syracuse before defeating No. 12 Albany. The Cavaliers allowed five goals in the two games, the most in any two-game stretch all season.
Virginia (13-2, 1-2 ACC) faced the Orange (10-1, 1-1 ACC) Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first meeting between the two teams as ACC foes. Entering the game, Syracuse had not lost at home in its last 39 contests and had been ranked in the top 10 nationally since 2008.
Syracuse found the majority of its offensive success on penalty strokes, converting all three attempts into goals. Orange senior midfielder Leonie Geyer scored all three of those goals, including two in the first half, putting the Cavaliers into an 2-0 hole after 35 minutes.
Orange junior forward Lauren Brooks scored next for Syracuse just two minutes into the second half, before Geyer’s third goal put Virginia behind 4-0. Cavalier senior forward Hadley Bell scored an unassisted goal with 10 minutes remaining to avoid the shutout, but that would be the last goal of the game.
Virginia bounced back Sunday by defeating the Great Danes (10-2, 1-0 AE), who entered the contest having previously lost only to No. 6 Stanford. The Cavaliers opened the scoring 19 minutes into the game with a goal by freshman forward Riley Tata.
Cavalier junior back Kelsey LeBlanc found the back of the net next for the Cavaliers with an unassisted goal in the final seconds of the first half. Though Virginia would not score again, the defense held Albany to just one second-half goal, securing the victory.
Junior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone played all 140 minutes in the Cavaliers’ two games, tallying 11 saves. Senior forward Elly Buckley was uncharacteristically quiet with no goals or assists, but she did manage to record two defensive saves.
Virginia returns home this weekend with games against No. 9 Boston College Friday and William & Mary Sunday.
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