No. 3 Virginia Blanks No. 13 Wake Forest, 2-0
Sept. 29, 2017
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (10-1, 3-0 ACC) picked up a 2-0 victory at No. 13 Wake Forest (5-5, 2-2 ACC) on Friday (Sept. 29) at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Freshman back Rachel Robinson (Mount Joy, Pa.) broke a scoreless deadlock 56:34 into the contest. Senior midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) added an insurance goal with 2:45 remaining to give UVA the 2-0 victory.
With the victory, Virginia has now won a conference-best nine games in a row and has shut out each of its last four opponents.
“This was another epic ACC battle,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “We knew we had to come to fight, and we did. We were able to keep pushing until we were finally able to find the opening in the goal. This was a very defensive battle and I thought we played some great individual defense and our team defense keeps getting better and better. They really know how to work with each other. It took a couple of weeks to get that going and now they are playing well.”
Virginia dominated the stat sheet, taking 19 shots to Wake’s three and tallied 13 penalty corners to the Demon Deacons’ one. Robinson scored on the Cavaliers’ 12th penalty corner, making the stop on the top of the circle on an injection from Vittese and then taking the shot. Vittese converted a penalty stroke after junior striker Greta Ell (Plains, Pa.) was fouled right in front of the goal with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
Vittese’s goal was her 21st of the season. With that goal and her assist on Robinson’s score, she has an NCAA-best 54 points this season. Robinson’s goal was her second of the season.
Wake Forest’s Isla Blint made eight saves. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Carrera Lucas (Brooklandville, Md.) made three saves to earn the shut out. The last time a team scored on the Cavaliers was a goal by Estelle Hughes 13:26 into the game against William & Mary on Sept. 15, giving the Cavaliers’ defense a span of 336:34 without allowing a goal.
The Cavaliers return to Turf Field next weekend, hosting No. 5 North Carolina (9-2, 2-1 ACC) on Friday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. and Drexel (4-6) on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all of Virginia’s regular-season home field hockey games.