No. 7 Virginia Wins ACC Opener at No. 22 BC
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Sept. 21, 2012
NEWTON, Mass. – The No. 7 Virginia field hockey team defeated No. 22 Boston College, 3-1, in its ACC opener Friday night.
Michelle Vittese (R-Sr., Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored the first goal of the game, taking advantage of the Cavaliers’ second penalty corner of the contest. Vittesse took a pass after the insertion, dribbled to the middle of the circle, and fired off a shot to put Virginia up 1-0 just shy of 20 minutes into the game.
The Cavaliers went into the halftime break holding the same 1-0 advantage.
Hadley Bell (Jr., Shaker Heights, Ohio) gave Virginia its second goal three minutes into the second half. Paige Selenski (R-Sr., Shavertown, Pa.) passed the ball across the front of the goal. Bell deflected the ball into the net for the score.
Three minutes later, Bell scored her second goal of the game. Bell was positioned at the right corner of the net when Rachel Sumfest (So., Lewisburg, Pa.) took a shot. The ball was initially saved by the goalkeeper, but a scramble ensued after the save with Bell knocking it into the net.
The Eagles scored their lone goal of the game off a penalty corner with eight minutes remaining in the contest.
A minute after scoring their first goals, the Eagles had a player receive a yellow card, giving the Cavaliers a man advantage. Boston College head coach Ainslee Lamb chose to counter by pulling the goalie with 5:30 left in the game. Twenty seconds after the goalkeeper made it to the sidelines, a second BC player was issued a yellow card and Lamb decided to put the goalie back into the game. The goalie was pulled again with just over a minute remaining, only to go back into the game seconds later after a BC player earned a green card, putting them down a man again.The Cavaliers held on for the 3-1 victory, improving to 8-2 (1-0 ACC) on the season. Boston College fell to 4-5 (0-2 ACC).
“There was a lot of great hockey tonight,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “Boston College brought a great game. They were very determined and very opportunistic. They really get the ball into the circle. In the second half, we made some adjustments on the press and we were able to control possession a little better.”
Vittese scored her third goal of the season. Bell’s pair of goals also brought her season total to three. It was the third multi-goal game of her collegiate career. Selenski, who is second in the nation in average points-per-game, had an assist.
Goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (So., Paisley, Scotland) played the entire game, registering four saves.
The victory was the 499th for the Virginia field hockey program. The team will try for the 500th win on Sunday, Sept. 23 when they take on No. 12 Boston University. The game will be played at Harvard, which serves as the home field for Boston University during the 2012 season while their field is under construction. The game is set to start at 11 a.m.