No. 4 Virginia Earns a 2-1 Road Win at No. 12 Albany
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Oct. 6, 2013
ALBANY, N.Y. – The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team closed out its New York roadtrip with a 2-1 victory over No. 12 Albany.
“This was a very competitive game today,” said head coach Michele Madison. “We got our passing game back and were able to create some legitimate scoring opportunities. We were also able to show some great composure at the end of the game to finish it off and get the win.”
With the victory, Virginia improved to 13-2. Albany fell to 10-2.Freshman Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored her ninth goal of the season, tapping in a long pass from senior Chloe Pendlebury (Perth, Australia) 19 minutes into the first half. The Cavaliers had a chance to extend the lead going into halftime after earning a penalty corner with 20 seconds left in the period. Junior Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) knocked in a loose ball that had deflected off the goalie’s pads after an initial shot by senior Carissa Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) to give the Cavaliers the two-goal edge.
Albany, who outshot Virginia 8-3 in the second half, cut the lead to one, scoring on a short corner with 18 minutes left in the game.
Two Cavaliers were sidelined with yellow cards in the final three minutes of the game, giving the Great Danes a two-man advantage, but Virginia’s defense managed to hold off a furious late attack by Albany to secure the victory.
Junior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) logged five saves. Senior Elly Buckley (Scarborough, Perth, Australia) added to her ACC-leading defensive save tally, stopping an Albany shot in the first half for her fourth of the season.
Freshman Jeannie Blackwood (Virginia Beach, Va.) also stopped a shot in the first half, getting her third defensive save of the season. The Cavaliers are third in the nation in defensive saves with 11 this season.
The Cavaliers return home on Friday, Oct. 11 when they host No. 9 Boston College (8-2, 1-1 ACC) at 6 p.m. in Charlottesville. Admission is free for all 2013 Virginia field hockey regular-season home games played at Turf Field.