Top-Ranked Field Hockey Defeats Richmond

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September 16, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Cavalier defense held Richmond to two shots today and capitalized on a hat trick by senior All-American Meridith Thorpe (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs) to defeat the Richmond Spiders 6-1 today in Richmond. Meredith Elwell (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown)s goal in the second half gave her 40 goals and 20 assists for her career, giving her an even 100 points in her career.

Virginia jumped on the board early with conversions of two penalty corners in the first six minutes of play. Thorpe hit the first one just four minutes into the game, and senior All-American Lori Mastropietro (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock) struck the second one. Senior All-American Michelle Vizzuso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) assisted on the first score while her sister Lorraine assisted on the second. Laura Lindsay (Deerfield, Mass./Deerfield Academy) was credited with an assist on both scores.

The Cavaliers went up 3-0 as junior Natalie Crane (San Diego, Calif./Serra) redirected a pass from Michelle Vizzuso into the goal with 8:26 remaining in the half.

Richmond scored with 50 seconds to go in the half as Anna Larson lifted a mishandled corner play into the cage to break up the Cavaliers shutout streak.

The Virginia offense and defense came out strong in the second half as Thorpe scored her second goal off a pass from Melissa Hayes (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Visitation) just six minutes into the second stanza. Ten minutes later Elwell scored after dribbling through the Richmond defense, giving her her 100th career point.

Thorpe closed out the scoring as she put a touch pass from Michelle Vizzuso in the cage with just over one minute remaining. Carrie Goodloe (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs) also was credited with an assist on the last goal.

Cavalier goalie Becky Worthington (Fairview Village, Pa./Methacton), who started in the cage and made way for Ellen Wiese (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) in the second half. Wiese saved the only Spider shot in the second half.

A #1 vs #2 matchup looms on Sunday, Sept. 20 as the undefeated and top-ranked Cavaliers travel to Chapel Hill to take on the undefeated Tar Heels. Game time against UNC is 1:00 pm.

FINAL           1   2   F (records)#1 Virginia     3   3   6 (6-0)Richmond        1   0   1 (2-3)

Goals: V: Thorpe 3 , Crane, Elwell, Mastropietro UR: Larson

Assists: V: M. Vizzuso 3, Lindsay 2, Goodloe, Hayes, L. Vizzuso UR: Yarnell

Shots: V: 19, UR: 1Corners: V: 8, UR: 3Saves: V: 1 (Worthington 0, Wiese 1); UR: 9 (Fuller 9)