Cavaliers Upset No. 4 UNC 2-1
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Sept. 17, 2006
The Virginia field hockey team scored early in the first half and again late in the same period to take leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on No. 4 UNC and held on for the Atlantic Coast Conference victory in Chapel Hill on Sunday (Sept. 17). Biffy Cornelison stuck back the rebound of a short corner and Traci Ragukas slipped a shot to the far corner in the 30th minute to give Virginia (6-1) a lead they would not relinquish. Katherine Blair made four saves in the contest, including one in the final five minutes on a short corner, to preserve the win.
The Cavaliers attacked early in the contest, taking the ball up the left side of the pitch where Lucy Meyers drew a short corner in the third minute of play. On the piece, Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn’s intial shot was saved but a Carolina foul gave Virginia a second consecutive corner. Kaars Sijpesteijn’s direct shot was saved, but Cornelison was there to stick in the loose ball to put Virginia up 1-0. Carolina answered back four minutes later with a rush upfield in which the initial entry to the circle was blocked by Blair, but Karen Mann slotted the loose ball into the empty cage for the equalizer in the seventh minute.
Virginia almost increased their lead six minutes later as a rush upfield off a long ball by Abby Taylor found Lindsay O’Bannon, who took it into the circle and sent a shot towards the cage that was blocked off the line by UNC’s Melanie Brill.
The Cavaliers went ahead for good when Kaars Sijpesteijn sent a ball up the left side of the pitch to O’Bannon, who carried the ball up the side before laying it off to Mia Link in the 25. Link in turn fed the ball into the circle, and Ragukas pulled the ball around the Carolina keeper and scored in the 30th minute, putting UVa up 2-1. Minutes later Carolina drew their only short corner of the half, but Blair was there to make the save and the teams entered halftime with Virginia holding the one-goal lead.
Again Virginia had the chance to add to their lead when a through ball by Link was collected by O’Bannon, who pulled in the circle and sent a shot that hit the post, and the Tar Heels were able to clear the defense. Virginia kept the pressure up and did took four shots before the Heels were able to get off a shot, but the Hoos were unable to convert.
UNC was able to draw three short corners in the final five minutes of the contest, but twice Blair was there to make the save. With the Tar Heels holding a final corner as time expired, the shot went over the cage and the Cavaliers held on for the win.
The win for Virginia is the first conference win for the Cavaliers since Oct. 13, 2001 when Virginia upset UNC 1-0 in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 20 as they host the Tribe of William and Mary. Game time is 7:00 at University Hall Turf Field,
Linescore 1 2 F recordsVirginia 2 0 2 (6-1, 1-0 ACC)UNC 1 0 1 (6-2, 0-1 ACC)
Scoring summary:2:49 UVA Cornelison, pc6:41 UNC Mann, fg29:46 UVA Ragukas, fg
Keepers: UVA: Blair (70 mins, 4 saves, 1 GA) UNC: O’Donnell (70 mins, 5 saves, 2 GA)
Shots: UVA 15, UNC 12Short corners: UVA 3, UNC 4Incidents: UVA Ragukas, GC, 49th; Breitbarth, YC, 69th