No. 3 Virginia Remains Undefeated With 4-1 Win Against the Tribe

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (9-0) remained undefeated by logging a 4-1 victory against William & Mary (0-10) on Sunday (Sept. 29) at Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.

Virginia built up a four-goal lead in the first half and outshot the Tribe 29-2 in the game.

With the victory, Virginia opens a season 9-0 for the first time since 2010.

Goals (Assist)
8:22 Virginia – Taryn Tkachuk (Daniela Mendez-Trendler)
21:57 Virginia — Mia Abello (unassisted)
25:49 Virginia – Amelie Rees (Lauren Kenah)
27:01 Virginia – Lilly Hengerer (Taryn Tkachuk)
34:24 William & Mary – Sara Bartzen (Kellen Richbourg)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Senior Taryn Tkachuk got the Cavaliers on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter, taking a rebound off an initial shot by Daniela Mendez-Trendler and lifting it into the net. Sophomore Mia Abello put UVA up 2-0 by smashing a shot into the cage 6:57 into the second quarter. Freshman Amelie Rees added another goal 1:12 later, tapping in a shot from in the air that Lauren Kenah had taken. Grad student Lilly Hengerer scored UVA’s third goal of the period, tapping in a ball from Tkachuk to send the Cavaliers into the locker room with a 4-0 lead.

Virginia took 14 shots in the second quarter, but William and Mary goalkeeper Maddie George recorded seven saves to keep the Cavaliers from adding to their lead. George finished the game with 12 saves.

William and Mary scored its goal off a penalty corner 4:14 into the third quarter. It was the Tribe’s only corner of the game and its only shot on goal.

FROM HEAD COACH OLE KEUSGEN
“We obviously dominated the game, but at the end of the day, four goals out of 29 shots, it’s not good enough. We’ve got to look into it and why we’re not able to finish those situations as a team, but also individually. We did a lot of things right in the way we distributed the ball and built on the game. So we’ll look into those as well.

On the Defense

“When we do good job, it’s not just the backfield. As a team, we kind of find ways to minimize space and opportunities for our opponent. We have great defensive players in 1v1s that are very athletic and fast. So that helps. As a unit, we defend that nicely.”

NOTES

• Amelie Rees scored her first career goal
• Rees is the 13th different Cavalier to score a goal this season
• Mia Abello’s goal was her third of the season and her second of the weekend as she scored the game-winner on Friday at Duke
• Sophomore Ria Chhina made her collegiate debut, checking into the game in the second half. Chhina missed all of last season with an injury
• The 29 shots was a season-high for the Cavaliers
• Jans Croon and Noa Boterman each took six shots

ON THE HORIZON

• The Cavaliers return to ACC action, playing at No. 12 Boston College on Friday, Oct. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
• Virginia returns home to host No. 13 Louisville on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 12 p.m.