Virginia Drops Heartbreaker to Miami (OH) in NCAA Championships First Round

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (16-3) ultimately fell 2-1 to Miami (OH) (16-4) in the NCAA Championships first round on Friday (Nov. 14) at Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.

2:56 Virginia — Mia Abello (Lauren Kenah, Mary Adams)
12:42 Miami (OH)  — Malena Sabez (Justina Intzes)
38:59 Miami (OH)  — Justina Intzes (Berta Mata, Becca Lawn)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia fell to Miami (OH) 2-1 in the NCAA Championships first round to cap off an impressive season and record a 16-3 overall record.

Less than three minutes into the game, Virginia earned a penalty corner. Freshman Mary Adams inserted the ball to Lauren Kenah on the stop and junior Mia Abello found the back of the net. Abello netted her ninth goal of the season and 18^th of her career. Miami (OH) responded to close out the first quarter of play as Malena Sabez scored with the assist from Justina Intzes. The score remained all tied up at one a piece at the halfway point.

Midway through the third quarter, Miami (OH) earned a penalty corner. Becca Lawn inserted the ball to Berta Mata on the stop and Intzes was able to score a goal of her own. As the clock wound down, the potential of another RedHawk goal led Virginia to take out junior goalkeeper Nilou Lempers in exchange for an extra field player. With less than one minute remaining Miami (OH) sustained a yellow card, giving Virginia the advantage with two extra players on the field. Unable to find the back of the net, the Cavaliers concluded an impressive season in the NCAA Championships first round.

Starting in goal, Virginia’s Nilou Lempers recorded three saves while Miami (OH)’s starting goalkeeper, Nicky Sjouken, recorded five saves.

“Disappointing end to the season but Miami (OH) deserved it especially on a day that we didn’t play our best. We did not create enough, and we made our life very hard. At the end of the day, you need action and courage to win those games, and I think in the second half we were missing that a little bit. With a young team, that is a big learning lesson for moving forward. Half of the team played their first NCAA tournament so we will learn from that, we will grow and we will be better next year.”