Cavaliers Look To Return to NCAA Tournament

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Aug. 30, 2002

The 2002 Cavaliers embark on the new campaign with a veteran class that looks to return to the NCAA Tourna-ment and a first-year class that plans on adding to the success of Virginia field hockey.

To achieve this goal, the Cavaliers welcome back Emily White and Logan Carr back into the cage and this duo is supported by incoming USA U-19 keeper Katherine Blair. White, who has played with the USA Under-21 national team, honed her skills in the United Airlines Summer League for the fourth consecutive year and started 21 of Virginia’s 22 games in 2001. An ACC Player of the Week in 2001, White already ranks in the top-10 all-time at UVA in goals-against average and her experience will be called upon to marshall the backfield for the Cavaliers. Carr also started for Virginia in 2001 while Blair saw action this summer with the national teams program.

Virginia’s backfield returns three starters from last year in Kelli Hill, Katie Jo Gerfen, and Emily Beach. Fourth-year Kelli Hill started all 22 games for the Cavaliers and led Virginia with three defensive saves. Gerfen, who won a gold medal at the Montreal Cup with the USA Under-19 team, started every game for UVA in both of her first two years and was an All-South Region selection last season as a second-year. Beach started every game as a true first-year and was selected to attend B Camp along with Gerfen in the summer of 2002. Joining the Cavaliers in the backfield is first-year Sarah Miller.

Third-years Shannon LaVigne and Juli Bojanic will help with the transition out of the backfield into the midfield. LaVigne and Bojanic both started for the Cavaliers in the course of the 2001 season. They will be joined in the midfield by three first-years, Sara York, Katie Phillips, and Allie Flynn. York spent time with the USA Under-19 team that competed at the Cal Cup and took third place in the tournament.

Fourth years Katie Slocum, Cara Unterkofler, and Rosemary Walker will all split time between the midfield and forward lines this year for the Cavaliers. All three are experienced starters for Virginia. Slocum, Virginia’s most prolific returning scorer, ranked second in goals scored in 2001 and had two game-winning goals while starting every game last year. Unterkofler also had a game-winner for the Hoos in 2001 while Walker played in every contest last season as well.

The forward line will mix veteran experience and incoming exuberance for Virginia in 2002. Second-year Katie Nicholson started up front for the Cavaliers in 2001 and scored the game-winner in Virginia’s first-round ACC Tournament victory. The front line also welcomes a trio of newcomers, with first-years Biffy Cornelison and Lindsey Selfridge coming east from Virginia Beach and Dana Anderson joining the fray from Lititz. All three have won state championships in high school and look to continue the winning trend at UVa.

The Cavaliers will have ample opportunity to test their mettle as the 2002 schedule is filled with an impressive slate of opponents. The always-tough Atlantic Coast Conference schedule includes NCAA semifinalists Wake Forest and Maryland as well as perennial champion North Carolina and usual NCAA tournament participant Duke. In addition, the Cavaliers face a solid series of in-state games, including former NCAA titleists in Old Dominion and James Madison. William & Mary participated in the NCAA tournament last year, and Richmond, Radford and Virginia Commonwealth also pose formidable in-state competition for the Hoos. Other games include NCAA participants Ohio, Berkeley, and Michigan, who won the NCAA title in 2001. Virginia will also travel for a pair of weekend series, first to the midwest to face Northwestern and Southwest Missouri State before traveling up to Ithaca, NY for an Ivy series against Dartmouth and Cornell. The Cavaliers also welcome Towson to town for a game near the end of the season.

As typical, the Cavaliers look to combine a veteran steadiness with an infusion of youthful power to navigate through a strong schedule. With a deep legacy behind them, this year’s compliment of Hoos will strive to maintain the high tradition of Virginia field hockey.