Virginia field hockey’s season came to an end Friday, as it was unable to overcome Miami of Ohio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers (16-2, 7-1, ACC) earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament and were runners up in the ACC Tournament, while the Redhawks (16-4, 8-1, MAC) entered as MAC champions with momentum squarely on their side.
Despite an early goal from Virginia, Miami dominated much of the match, exhibiting tight, fundamental defense and opportunistic offense. The game ended 2-1 in the Redhawks favor, as the Cavaliers were stunned at Turf Field. A season which saw Virginia ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation did not even last into the second round of postseason play.
Contrary to the final outcome, the Cavaliers were aggressive as the whistle sounded, eating up possession and earning a penalty corner within the first three minutes. The team looked sharper in the first period than their previous performance against North Carolina and certainly more energized, having been granted sufficient time to recover from the rigorous playing conditions of the conference tournament.
Tallying the game’s first point, junior back Mia Abello received the first penalty pass in and smacked a shot past senior Redhawk goalkeeper Nicky Sjouken to open the scoring.
This first goal seemed to elicit a reaction of relief as much as excitement. For a Virginia squad who has struggled to convert its opportunities this season, executing a well-drawn corner play perhaps indicated a trend in the right direction for the offense.
However, this relief would be short lived. Miami refused to go down quietly and continued chipping away at the stout Cavalier defense. The Redhawks managed to generate a couple quality shots late in the first quarter, but were denied entry into the net by junior goalkeeper Nilou Lempers, who continued her phenomenal play. Eventually though, enough pressure mounted and the dam finally broke.
After Miami earned its first penalty corner, freshman midfielder Malena Sabez sent in a shot that Lempers could not track through the traffic, and the score evened at one goal apiece.
After a first quarter in which both offenses saw success, the second quarter featured much stronger defense. It appeared to be a stalemate between the squads, as looks on net were few and far between. The Cavaliers managed to find a few chances, including a shot manufactured by great individual play from freshman back Charly Nemec, who fed a ball into the defense towards junior forward Emma Wachtilla. Wachtilla could not square up the shot perfectly, sending it just wide of the net, squandering one of the team's only golden opportunities.
The Virginia back end managed to hold up well and pick up the offense’s slack. The second period featured no Redhawk shots, as the Cavaliers managed to prevent any push from mounting momentum. The game headed into half squared at one apiece.
Miami seemed reinvigorated in the second half, playing with a newfound aggression and precision. Virginia created a couple looks early in the third but could not tip the score in their favor thanks to solid goalkeeping from Sjouken. In the back half of the third quarter, it was all Redhawks. They were granted two penalty corners in a 90-second span, and they did not waste the second. Freshman midfielder Justina Intzes floated a ball into the right side of the net to give Miami the lead with six minutes left in the third.
Heading into the fourth quarter with a one-goal lead, the Redhawks effectively opted to park the bus and drain as much time as possible. They played pristine and careful hockey, maintaining possession and not turning the ball over to give the Cavaliers any cheap and easy offense. On the other side of the ball, Virginia could not seem to penetrate the Redhawk stronghold, mustering up no shots on goal in the final period, and were smothered by defenders whenever they entered the defensive third.
“We did not create enough [offensively], and we made our life very hard,” Coach Ole Keusgen said. “At the end of the day, you need action and courage to win those games, and I think in the second half we were missing that a little bit.”
With five minutes left the Cavaliers pulled Lempers from the game in favor of adding another offensive player, putting it all on the line with their season hanging in the balance. They dodged an initial bullet, as a Miami penalty corner goal was overturned, and there remained some hope for Virginia. Yet, even with its back against the wall, the offense sputtered to a stop, unable to find any cracks in the opposition. With 25 seconds left, the Redhawks halted and cleared a final Cavalier push and dribbled the clock out to end the season for Virginia.
“With a young team, [this loss] is a big learning lesson for moving forward,” Keusgen said. “Half of the team played their first NCAA Tournament, so we will learn from that, we will grow and we will be better next year.”
For a team with so much promise and talent, the ending to this season can only be described as disappointing. Throughout the season there were certainly issues — at times the offense did not seem capable of reaching championship heights. Yet the Cavaliers fell way short of where their own expectations placed them. Simply put, the team was unable to execute down the stretch and when it mattered most.
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