No. 11 Virginia Tops No. 9 Penn State, 2-1

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 Virginia field hockey team (2-0, 0-0 CC) picked up a 2-1 victory over No. 9 Penn State (0-2, 0-0 Big Ten) on Sunday (Sept. 1) at Turf Field.
 
Junior midfielder Rachel Robinson (Mount Joy, Pa.) scored the game-winner with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia struck first, scoring off a penalty corner 1:54 into the second quarter. Robinson took the initial shot from the top of the circle, with Penn State’s Anna Simon making a last-second defensive save, tapping the ball back out onto the field of play right before it crossed the goal line. Senior back Anzel Viljoen (Matamata, New Zealand) picked up the loose ball and flicked it across the goal where senior striker Erin Shanahan (Pasadena, Md.) knocked it in from midair to give UVA a 1-0 advantage. The Cavaliers held that same edge until Penn State scored off a penalty corner with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Virginia appeared to take the lead with 2:29 remaining, but a UVA shot that went into the net came after the ref had signaled for a penalty corner, so it did not count. The Cavaliers reset, took the penalty corner and found the net again, with a hard shot from Robinson at the top of the circle deflecting off a defender’s stick and into the net for the winning score
 
 
FROM HEAD COACH MICHELE MADISON
“It is always good to pick up a win over Penn State as they are always a really strong team ranked in the top-10 in the country. They bring their game. You have to be able to meet their aggressiveness and physicality to be able to maintain ball possession, and we were able to do that today. After Penn State scored the tying goal, I told the team that we needed to establish our rhythm again, get our passing game back and to not go too big. We needed to build it up in our rhythm and pass, pass, pass, pass.”
 

NOTES

• Virginia held an 8-4 edge in shots in the first half. The Nittany Lions had a 6-1 advantage in the third quarter but did not score in the period
• Virginia redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Hausheer (West Windsor, N.J.) made four saves. Penn State’s Brie Barraco had five saves
• It was the first goal of the year for Robinson 
• Both teams had six penalty corners. All three goals in the game came off penalty corners
• This is the 11th time in the last 12 seasons that UVA and Penn State have played another on the opening weekend of the season. Penn State holds a 7-4 advantage in that span. Virginia snapped a three-game losing streak against the Nittany Lions with the win

 
UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers continue their homestand next weekend, hosting UMass Lowell on Friday (Sept. 6) and Ohio State on Sunday (Sept. 8)
• Friday’s game will be at a special 3 p.m. start time as the UVA football team will be playing their home opener that night at 8 p.m.
• The Ohio State game is an ACCNX contest, which streams live on the ESPN app and is available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN. There will not be live streaming for the UMass Lowell contest