No. 3 Virginia field hockey finally received a reprieve from their gauntlet of a schedule Sunday, playing its first unranked opponent after three straight ranked matchups to start the year. James Madison (4-3, 0-0, MAC) came to Charlottesville to face the undefeated Cavaliers (4-0, 0-0, ACC) and try to upset the powerhouse on their own field. Though the stats showed a dominant 4-1 victory for Virginia, with the Dukes being outshot by a whopping 20-5, the game was much closer. Until a late scoring avalanche from the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter, the margin was razor thin between the two squads.
“We obviously had more possession and more control, but we didn’t finish as cleanly as we would like to,” Coach Ole Keusgen said.
The game was a slugfest through the first two and a half periods, with James Madison struggling to create any opportunities and the Cavaliers with nothing to show for theirs. Virginia outshot the Dukes 7-2 entering halftime, but considering the score was 0-0, too many good looks missed the mark.
With under three minutes left in the third period, the Cavaliers finally found an opening. Junior forward Emma Watchilla stole the ball just outside the circle and skillfully maneuvered herself into a backhand shot opportunity. James Madison’s goalkeeper watched from the near post as Wachtilla rifled a beauty into the far corner, giving Virginia a one-goal lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as in the closing seconds of the period, James Madison orchestrated an all-out rush into Cavalier territory. Sophomore midfielder Ava Drexler-Emmy received the ball and put on her dazzling dribbling display, dicing through three Virginia defenders and finding herself with a one on one with junior goalkeeper Nilou Lempers. With the whole goal in front of her, Drexler calmly fired a shot towards the left corner and tied the game going into the final period.
With the teams tied and the Cavaliers’ unblemished season in jeopardy, pressure was mounting for Virginia to protect its home turf. Keusgen urged his team to push forward and fight until the end.
“In the third and fourth quarter huddle we just said ‘Who wants it more?’ and we found a way,” Keusgen said.
Opportunity presented itself on a penalty corner with under 10 minutes left, and this time, the team would not waste it. Freshman midfielder Mary Adams passed the ball to her fellow midfielder, junior defender Mia Abello, who smacked it at the left corner, towards the now-waiting stick of Adams. With the goalkeeper out of position, Adams redirected the ball into the unoccupied net and reclaimed the lead for the Cavaliers with the first goal of her collegiate career.
With the edge on the scoreboard, Virginia kept its foot on the pedal. Minutes later, Abello benefited from a penalty corner, slinging a shot into the back of the net to give the Cavaliers some breathing room with eight minutes left in the bout.
Freshman forward Riley Savage followed the upperclassman’s example and added to Virginia’s lead on another penalty corner just 90 seconds later. After a deflection off the keeper, Savage lunged for the loose ball and poked it in to ice the game and continue the Cavalier’s undefeated season. Like Adams, this was Savage’s first collegiate goal, while Abello’s was her first score of the season.
The team will need to fix some of the sloppier elements of their play seen Sunday if they hope to make a push for the championship later in the season. Given their upcoming competition, the road ahead looks arduous. Including Virginia, five of the top six teams in the nation currently are in the ACC — No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Boston College, No. 5 Syracuse and No. 6 Duke. The Tar Heels and the Orange both sit currently undefeated, posing as looming threats for the Cavaliers. One thing is certain — the team will need their A-game going forward to propel them into the postseason.
“Going into ACC play we need to make sure our basics are perfect,” Kuesgen emphasized.
Virginia will start that conference slate Friday, hosting the Boston College Eagles. The game is set to start at 5 p.m. and can be watched on ACCNX.
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