Top-Seeded Cavs Defeat Wake Forest, 1-0

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November 6, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Senior All-American Michelle Vizzuso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) broke a scoreless tie just 6:05 into the second half on a corner play to give the Cavaliers all the scoring they would need to advance to the 1998 ACC field hockey championship game. The top-seeded Cavaliers (16-3) advance to their second consecutive conference final against Maryland (15-5) on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3:30 pm.

In the first half of play, the Cavaliers outshot the Demon Deacons 3-0 and had a 3-1 advantage in penalty corners, but they could not convert many chances. Vizzuso scored on the second shot of the second period to give the Cavaliers the lead, but Wake Forest took four shots in the second half, just as many as the Cavaliers. Virginia did hold the edge in corners at 6-3, but Vizzuso’s conversion was the only score for both sides. Cavalier keeper Becky Worthington (Fairview Village, Pa./Methacton) made two crucial saves for Virginia to preserve the win.

Michelle’s goal gives her 49 for her career and she now ranks third all-time at Virginia with 156 points. Her next goal will make her only the second person in ACC history to record 50 goals and 50 assists in a career. This is also the fifth consecutive game that Vizzuso has scored.

Virginia defeated Maryland 3-2 on October 4 earlier this season. That game was the beginning of Virginia’s ten-game winning streak and it was also the last game that the Terrapins have lost this season. These two have never met in the ACC Championship game.

FINAL           1   2   F (records)#4 Wake Forest  0   0   0    (11-9)#1 Virginia     0   1   1    (16-3)

Scoring summary: V: Vizzuso (Thorpe)/28:55(2)
Assists: V: Thorpe, W: none
Shots: V: 7, W: 4
Corners: V: 9, W: 4
Saves: V: 2 (Worthington 2), W: 4 (Nitka 4)