Cavaliers Defeat Radford 6-1

Story Links

Charlottesville The Virginia field hockey team outshot Radford 20-7 tonight en route to a 6-1 victory over the Highlanders tonight at University Hall Turf Field. The No. 15/19 Cavaliers had a 1-0 lead at halftime thanks to an Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn stroke in the 11th minute before exploding for five goals in the second period. Virginia (8-6) was led offensively by Traci Ragukas and Kaitlyn Hiltz, both of whom scored two goals an added an assist; Ragukas also figured in two other goals, drawing the stroke and a short corner. Radford’s goal was scored by Alex Wladich while Jennifer Wisniewski had eight saves for the Highlanders (4-11), including five in the first half.

After Wisniewski made a pair of saves in the opening 10 minutes and the Radford defense forced a shot wide, Ragukas stole the ball as the Highlanders attempted to clear the ball out of the backfield. She dribbled directly to the center of the circle, eluded the keeper, and sent a shot to the cage that was knocked out of the way by a Radford foot at the line, drawing a stroke for the Cavaliers. Kaars Sijpesteijn converted the penalty, putting Virginia up 1-0 at 10:43.

Minutes later Amy Desjadon saved a goal as she blocked a shot from close range to keep the Cavaliers’ lead; neither team would be able to find the back of the boards for the remainder of the period despite the Hoos holding a 10-4 advantage in shots and a 4-3 advantage in short corners. Wisniewski made five saves for the Highlanders while Desjadon made two saves for the Cavaliers.

In the second half the Cavaliers were able to get things going early, starting with a combination up the right side of the pitch that saw Kaars Sijpesteijn send a free hit from the 25 over to Abby Taylor along the sideline, who passed the ball up to Kelsey Vonier at midfield. Vonier bumped the ball up to Laura Nelson, who settled it before Vonier picked up the ball and sent the ball over to Ragukas, who carried it a couple steps into the circle and shot, scoring at 41:02 for a 2-0 lead.

Ragukas set up the third goal 12 minutes later as she intercepted a pass just over midfield and attacked the circle, drawing out the keeper before slotting a pass to her left to a waiting Hiltz, who scored at 53:10 for a 3-0 lead. Radford stopped the run with an attack down the left side of the pitch. Stephanie McLamb brought the ball up and into the circle before she crossed it to the middle; Wladich was there to poke the ball into the boards for a 3-1 score at 55:48.

The Cavaliers answered as the defense forced a foul at their defensive 25. Lauren Elstein took the hit that was tipped up and back to just over midfield, where Hiltz picked it up, dribbled 15 yards into the circle, and shot to the far post for a goal at 60:58, putting Virginia up 4-1. Less than a minute later Ragukas stole the ball as the Highlanders tried to clear, drawing a short corner. On the restart, the injection was stopped by Taylor and Kaars Sijpesteijn passed the ball to Elstein, who buried the ball in the boards for her first collegiate goal at 61:52.

With time winding down, Haley Carpenter intercepted a ball just above the 25 and took it into the circle where her first shot was saved, but she bumped the ball over to Hiltz, who sent the ball to an unmarked Ragukas, who lifted the ball over Stephanie Wisniewski for a goal at 68:45 and a final score of 6-1.

The assist for Hiltz was the fourth of her first-year campaign and ties her for eighth all-time in Virginia history for assists as first-year with first-team All-Americans Meridith Thorpe and Michelle Vizzuso.

The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday, October 14 as they host top-ranked UNC. Game time against the Tar Heels is 1 p.m. The first 100 fans to Sunday’s game will each get a free t-shirt; as part of the Cavalier Tailgate, all fans will receive free pizza and Pepsi products (while supplies last). In addition, the UVA club team that brings the highest percentage of their team out to the game will receive a pizza party, courtesy of Domino’s, while the fraternity or sorority that brings the highest percentage of their members out to the game will receive a TV, courtesy of Crutchfield.

UVa 6, Radford 1

Linescore 1 2 F (records)
Radford 0 1 1 (4-11)
Virginia 1 5 6 (8-6)

Scoring summary
10:43 VA ps Kaars Sijpesteijn (PS) 1-0
41:08 VA fg Ragukas (Vonier) 2-0
53:10 VA fg Hiltz (Ragukas) 3-0
55:48 RU fg Wladich (McLamb) 3-1
60:58 VA fg Hiltz (—) 4-1
61:52 VA pc Elstein (Kaars Sijpesteijn) 5-1
68:45 VA fg Ragukas (Hiltz) 6-1

Keepers: VA Desjadon (35 mins, 2 saves, 0 GA); Burnley (35 mins, 2 saves, 1 GA)
RU: J. Wisniewski (61 mins, 8 saves, 4 GA); S. Wisniewski (9 mins, 1 sv, 2 GA)

Shots: VA 20, RU 7
Short corners: VA 6, RU 6