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Oct. 15, 2004
The Virginia defense shutout their second consecutive opponent tonight (Oct 15) with a 4-0 win over Virginia Commonwealth (8-6) in field hockey action at University Hall Turf Field. At the other end of the pitch, Katie Phillips recorded the first hat trick of her career, scoring the first three goals of the game to lead the Cavalier offense. The Hoos did not allow the Rams a short corner in the second half and kept them to only two shots in the final 35 minutes of action, while the Cavaliers had 15 shots and seven short corners.
Virginia’s Sarah Miller intercepted a Ram pass and forced a short corner early in the first half, but it was VCU who had the first close call on the boards. A short corner option left was taken by VCU’s Carlot Verloop, but her attempt hit the post. Virginia brought the ball back upfield where Phillips drew a penalty corner. On the play, Katie Jo Gerfen passed the ball over to Phillips, who rocketed a shot into the cage for a goal at 16:13. Virginia led at halftime 1-0 thanks to Logan Carr’s five saves on six VCU shots.
In the second half, an early flurry saw VCU’s Brittany LoVullo save a pair of shots on the goalline, but the Cavaliers were able to draw a penalty stroke at 40:19. The attempt sailed wide, keeping the margin at 1-0.
Ten minutes later Abigail Taylor forced a corner as she scrapped for a loose ball and had possession in the circle. The shot by Gerfen was stopped by the foot of the VCU post player, giving the Cavaliers a penalty flick. Phillips’ attempt went into the cage, giving UVa a 2-0 lead at 50:19.
Virginia continued to press the attack, and Gerfen drew another corner for the Cavaliers. Phillips shot was saved but another Ram foul resulted in a third flick for the Hoos. Again Phillips stepped to the stroke mark and scored, giving her a hat trick and a 3-0 lead for the Cavaliers at 59:20.
Three minutes later Allison Flynn intercepted a pass along the left side of the pitch and brought it upfield before laying it off to Mia Link. Link took the ball into the circle and fed Taylor, who scored at 62:23 to give Virginia a 4-0 lead. VCU inserted a kicking back for the final 7:37, and despite a pair of corners, the Cavaliers were not able to increase their lead.
The Cavalier defense has allowed only one goal in the last 280 minutes. Virginia returns to action on Sunday as they face the second-ranked Tar Heels of North Carolina. Game time is 1:00 pm.
Linescore 1 2 F (records)VCU 0 0 0 (8-6)Virginia 1 3 4 (10-6)
Scoring summary:16:13 VA pc Phillips (Gerfen) 1-050:19 VA ps Phillips 2-059:20 VA ps Phillips 3-062:23 VA fg Taylor (Link) 4-0
Goals: VA: Phillips 3, TaylorAssists: VA: Gerfen, Link
Keepers: VA: Logan Carr (70 mins, 6 saves, 0 GA) VCU: Brittany LoVullo ( 62:23 mins, 5 saves, 4 GA)
Shots: VA: 20, VCU 8Short corners: VA 9, VCU 4Strokes: VA 2-3, VCU 0-0