No. 5 Virginia Edges Richmond, 2-1, in a Shootout
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Sept. 11, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia field hockey team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 2-1 shootout victory over Richmond Wednesday night (Sept. 11) in Charlottesville.
Knotted 1-1 after regulation, the two teams played through two scoreless 15-minute overtime periods before going to a shootout. After freshman Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) scored on UVa’s second penalty shot, Richmond’s Rebecca Barry answered. After three more misses per team, the two squads were knotted 1-1, forcing sudden death penalty shots.
Richmond shot first in sudden death, missing the first shot. Virginia also faltered on its first attempt. After a second Richmond miss, senior Carissa Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) dribbled around Richmond’s goalie, creating enough space to get the ball into the net in the eight-second time frame and give the Cavaliers the 2-1 victory.
It was the third overtime loss of the season for Richmond (0-4), its first in a shootout.
“We knew Richmond was going to be really desperate to win,” said head coach Michele Madison. “We weren’t able to stop their big ball through the middle of the field. It took us awhile to adjust to that. Credit to them, they kept throwing different defenses at us. [Richmond goalie Anna Zarkoski] had 17 saves, so we definitely had some attack on, but we weren’t able to put it away.”
Virginia’s goal in regulation came 23:56 into the game when freshman Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, Kent, England) picked up a rebound off the goalie’s pads and knocked it into the goal. Barry tied the game, 1-1, a minute and a half later, dribbling around the top of the circle and firing off a hard shot from the left side.
Virginia had an opportunity to win in the first overtime, with junior Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) drawing a foul in the circle with 30 seconds left in the OT, setting up a penalty corner. Richmond had two more fouls whistled on them, giving UVa three penalty corner opportunities, two coming after time expired, but Richmond escaped with the score still knotted. In all, UVa had seven penalty corners in the two overtimes while Richmond had none.
Goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) logged nine saves, including two in the first overtime period. Neither team’s goalie recorded a save in the second OT.
“It was a very tough game,” Johnstone said. “Shootouts are incredibly stressful. You just need to go out and forget everything else and take every save as it comes. Their keeper had a great game. Watching her make saves and then knowing I had to come out and make a save as well put extra pressure on.”
Virginia will head back on the road, playing at the Sheraton Catamount Classic in Burlington, Vt. this weekend, taking on Maine on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. and Vermont on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. The Cavaliers return home on Friday, Sept. 20 when they host No. 1 North Carolina.