Updated News And Notes On Unbeaten Field Hockey Squad
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Sept. 6, 1999
GAME 1: Virginia 2, Massachusetts 1, ot–The team won its season opener under new head coach Jessica Wilk. USA Team member Jessica Coleman (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) dribbled into the circle and shot into the left sideboard from the right side to send the Cavaliers to the overtime win.
The two teams went into halftime with the score tied at zero but UVa had outshot the Minutewomen 8-3 and outcornered them 1-0. UMass’s goalie Zowie Tucker made three saves in the first half, including two point-blank saves, to keep the Minutewomen even with the Cavaliers.
In the second period, the teams battled back and forth with Virginia able to get a number of breakaways but unable to convert on any of them. The Minutewomen were able to force four early corners but each one was turned away by the Hoos, thanks in large part to the outstanding play of goalie Becky Worthington (Fairview Village, Pa./Methacton) who had six saves for the Cavaliers.
With just over 11 minutes to play, Lorraine Vizzuso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) took a through ball and took it up the right side of the field where she fed Meredith Elwell (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) in the circle, who deflected the Vizzuso pass into the top of the cage. The Minutewomen stormed back, finally converting a corner with 2:04 to play that was deflected into the cage. Regulation ended with the two teams tied 1-1.
In the overtime period, the Cavaliers held the ball in their offensive end the entire time. Coleman took a loose ball on the left side, took it to the right, and shot into the left sideboard for the victory.
The win was the first win for head coach Jessica Wilk, who is in her first year as head coach at UVA.
GAME 2: Virginia 7, Quinnipiac 0–The Cavalier defense, led by goalie Becky Worthington recorded their first shut out of the season with a 7-0 defeat of Quinnipiac today in a game held at the University of Massachusetts. Worthington saved four of the seven Quinnipiac shots and held the opponents off the scoreboard, shutting down each of their nine corners. With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Cavaliers jumped on top with three goals in a five minute span. Virginia frosh Katie Slocum (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle Area) took a through ball from Lorraine Vizzuso and slotted it into the cage for what would prove to be the game winning goal at 27:56. It was her first collegiate goal. Senior captains Laura Lindsay (Deerfield, Mass./Deerfield) and Meredith Elwell hooked up for the second goal as Lindsay knocked in Elwell’s pass in a scramble in front of the cage for a 2-0 lead. Virginia’s third senior, Natalie Crane (San Diego, Ca./Serra) scored on a corner play two minutes later at 22:41 to put the Hoos up 3-0.
Lindsay, playing in front of her hometown crowd, scored her second goal of the game by collecting a loose ball and pushing it into the net for a 4-0 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the half.
In the second half Jessica Coleman (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) scored off of a corner at 27:29 with assists from Carrie Goodloe (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs) and Lindsay. The last two goals were scored by freshmen who netted their first career collegiate goals on great individual efforts. Rosie Walker (Oklahoma City, Okla./Casady) collected a loose ball and dribbled in front of the cage where she backhanded the ball into the net to give Virginia a 6-0 lead with 11:29 to play. With time winding down, Kelli Hill (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) intercepted a 16-yard hit and shot into the corner with 27 seconds to play for what would prove to end the scoring for the day.
Individual Notes
Richardson named ACC Player of the Week: Julia Richardson was named the ACC Player of the Week for her efforts against Massachusetts and Quinnipiac this weekend. The Cavalier sweeper, starting in her first career games, was instrumental in the Hoos’ two victories in the 1999 campaign thus far.
Richardson marshalled a defense that allowed only one goal on the weekend to make them the top scoring defense in the conference.
This is the first such honor for Richardson and the first time a Cavalier has been honored in the 1999 campaign.
Lindsay gets a high five!: Laura Lindsay’s assist to Jess Coleman in the Quinnipiac game give her 29 career assists, which moves her to #5 all-time in the UVA career charts with 29. She needs ten to move into second place all-time.
Looking Ahead:Waiting on the Wolverines: Virginia is 2-0 all time against Michigan, but this is the first time that the two teams have met since 1991, when the Hoos hosted the Maize and Blue and won 3-0. Virginia’s 31-game winning streak against out-of-state, non-conference teams will be put on the line this weekend.
Tangling with the Tigers: The Cavaliers are also undefeated when facing Towson, a series that dates back to 1977 when the Hoos eked out a 1-0 win in Ch’ville. Towson has only scored three goals in the nine games while UVA has scored 39.