Virginia Falls to Maryland in ACC Semifinals
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Nov. 2, 2012
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The second-seeded Virginia field hockey team was eliminated from the ACC Tournament with a 5-1 loss to third-seeded Maryland in the semifinals. Paige Selenskihad the lone goal for the Cavaliers.
The first half was a defensive battle between the two teams with Virginia getting just two shots. Maryland only had four shots in the period, but managed to score twice on those shots.
The Terps scored their first goal just over ten minutes into the game, scoring off a rebound after an initial save. They took a 2-0 lead on another second-chance goal with three minutes remaining in the first half.
In the second half, Maryland’s Sarah Sprink put the game away, scoring a hat trick with all three goals coming off penalty corner opportunities.
Paige Selenski (R-Sr., Shavertown, Pa.) scored the lone goal of the game for Virginia. Carissa Vittese(Jr., Cherry Hill, N.J.) got a tackle deep in the Virginia defensive zone, passing the ball up ahead to Selenski who raced down the field on the breakaway, firing off a shot from the left side of the goal as the defense was converging to make it, at the time, a 4-1 deficit with 18 minutes remaining.
“We came out and gave them just a little too much room to attack and make their passes, and once you are doing that, you know you are always running back,” head coach Michele Madisonsaid. “They were able to get some early goals. It is unfortunate. At halftime, it was four shots to two. It wasn’t that we were out of it, but we did have to make better attacking chances. They did a good job of shutting Paige down. We had to use other players to attack with.”
Selenski’s goal was her ACC-leading 26th of the season and the 99th of her career. She is now tied for second in ACC history for career goals, two behind former Cavalier Meredith Thorpe.
Maryland (16-4, 3-2 ACC) will face North Carolina in the ACC Championship game on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. The Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest, 4-0, to advance to the title game.
The Cavaliers (15-5, 4-1 ACC) will learn their postseason fate on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. when the 2012 NCAA Tournament field of 16 teams will be announced live on NCAA.com. The Cavaliers are looking for their 18th NCAA Tournament invitation and their sixth in Coach Madison’s seven seasons at Virginia.