No. 12 Virginia Downs Temple 1-0 in the Home Opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 12 Virginia field hockey team (2-1, 0-0 ACC) picked up a 1-0 victory against Temple (2-1, 0-0 Big East) on Friday (Sept. 2) in the Cavaliers first home game of the 2022 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless first period, the Cavaliers were awarded a penalty corner two minutes into the second quarter. Sophomore Noa Boterman fired off a shot that was deflected into the upper corner of the net off the stick of a Temple player to give UVA a 1-0 lead. It would be the only goal the Cavaliers would need. Virginia’s defense limited the Owls to one shot on a goal, a strike off a penalty corner by Julianne Kopec in the final two minutes of the first half that was saved by sophomore Tyler Kennedy.

The Cavaliers had a prime scoring chance midway through the third period when the team was awarded a penalty stroke, but McDonough missed the attempt. Freshman Caroline Nemec had a breakaway in the fourth quarter, but her attempt was just off target.

Virginia finished the game with 11 shots.

The contest was a homecoming for the Temple coaching staff. Head coach Michelle Vittese was a three-time All-American at Virginia, helping to lead the team to the Final Four in both 2009 and 2010. Assistant coach Carissa Vittese was a two-time All-Region player at Virginia and was also a member of the 2010 Final Four squad.

 NOTES

• Virginia held an 11-3 edge in shots and 4-2 in penalty corners
• Temple goalkeeper Molly Frey made three saves
• Noa Boterman’s goal was her first of the season
• Virginia head coach Michele Madison began her head coaching career at Temple, leading the Owl to three NCAA tournament berths in her four seasons and the A-10 title in her final year. She went 56-28-6 in her four seasons

FROM HEAD COACH MICHELE MADISON

“Temple brought a feisty game plan. They just ran us down. It creates a different type of game. You can’t always play pretty. Sometimes you have to get down and dirty and that’s what we have to work on. Sometimes you just have to put it in your back pocket and get ready for the next game. And that’s what we’ll do.”

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia closes out the homestand by hosting James Madison (2-1) on Sunday, Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.