Virginia Tops Richmond 3-2

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (5-6) topped Richmond by a score of 3-2 Sunday at the University Hall Turf Field. Sophomore Elly Buckley scored a pair of goals in the win for the Cavaliers.

Richmond (5-4) outshot UVa 13-12, thanks to an 11-6 advantage in the second half. The Spiders also took eight penalty corners in the second stanza to finish with nine total, while the Cavaliers tallied seven corners.

“We started off a little slow but had the advantage in the first half and that was important,” Virginia head coach Michele Madison said. “We challenged them after an emotional loss on Friday (to Boston College) to come out the same way and give everything they had today.”

Buckley led Virginia with six shots in the contest. All six shots were on target.

Virginia got on the board in the 14th minute when sophomore Lane Smith tipped in the ball on a penalty corner for a 1-0 Cavalier lead. Classmate Hadley Bell had the assist on the play.

The Cavaliers then made it 2-0 on another penalty corner in the 25th minute. This time, Buckley blasted a shot from the top of the circle, assisted by senior Alex Jahnle and Smith, who injected the ball.

Virginia made it 3-0 shortly into the second half when Buckley gathered her own rebound on a Richmond defensive save by Catherine Ostoich and put it right back through.

The Spiders cut the lead to two when Katelin Peterson deflected in teammate Chelsea Davies’ pass from the top of the circle. That goal came in the 51st minute. Rebecca Barry then made it 3-2 when she converted a penalty stroke with 10 minutes to play.

Freshman goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone registered six saves for the Cavaliers while Anna Zarkoski finished with four stops for Richmond.

The Cavaliers return to conference action with a 5 p.m. contest Friday at No. 3 Maryland in College Park, Md.