CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After entering the locker room down a goal at halftime, the No. 19 Virginia field hockey team (8-5, 3-4 ACC) prevailed 4-3 over the No. 20 Monmouth Hawks (9-4, 4-0 CAA) on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 18) at Turf Field.
Goals (Assist)
2:56 Virginia – Bella Moore (Rylee Dennis)
24:09 Monmouth - Eabha Curran (Unassisted)
27:51 Monmouth - Lilly Ricks (Keely Bowers)
32:22 Virginia - Marisa Fahning (Unassisted)
38:53 Virginia - Riley Savage (Emma Watchilla)
50:31 Virginia - Caitlin Connell (Unassisted)
59:51 Monmouth - Ava Zerfass (Alicia Vanderlyde)
HOW IT HAPPENED
On a brisk afternoon, the Cavaliers started hot as Bella Moore opened the scoring for UVA off of a penalty corner less than three minutes into the match. In the opening 15 minutes, Virginia dominated play by outshooting the Hawks 9-3. With just under six minutes left to play in the half, Monmouth tied the contest at 1-1 on a fastbreak goal from Eabha Curran. After a Virginia goal was disallowed, the Hawks took a 2-1 advantage into halftime when Lilly Ricks flipped a shot on net that got past Nilou Lempers.
Out of the break, Virginia tied the match at 2-2 when first year Marisa Fahning punched in a rebound off a Cavalier penalty corner for her first goal of the season. A handful of minutes later, UVA took the lead for good on a Riley Savage goal that the second year poked past the Monmouth goalkeeper. For the second game in a row, Caitlin Connell tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal when the first year took a big swing off a rebound that found the back of the net to put Virginia up 4-2. Monmouth pulled back to within a goal in the final nine seconds of regulation before the Cavaliers claimed a 4-3 Virginia victory.
In goal, Lempers made two saves and surrendered three goals. Charlie Bowman made 12 shots and allowed four goals for Monmouth on the afternoon.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Bella Moore tallied her third goal of the season and fifth of her career. The three goals this season are a career-high for the second year.
- First year Marisa Fahning scored the first goal of her career in the contest.
- Second year Riley Savage notched her third goal of the season and the sixth of her career.
- The game-winning goal was Caitlin Connell’s fifth goal of the season. Connell now has 12 points on the campaign, tied for most on the team.
- Fourth Emma Watchilla picked up her eighth assist of the year on the Savage goal. Watchilla’s eight helpers not only lead UVA but also the ACC.
FROM HEAD COACH OLE KEUSGEN
“In the beginning, we had several very good chances to finish the game early and take the pressure off of Monmouth, which we obviously didn’t do. Then we had two silly mistakes and they scored twice on two shots, which almost summarizes our season a little bit, but we found a way. Good mentality to just get it down. We played well all game and weren’t able to capitalize on some good shots until the end.”
ON THE HORIZON
Virginia will close out the regular season on Oct. 23 at home against Louisville. The match is slated for a 3 p.m. start and will be streamed on ACCNX. Senior Day recognition will take place at the conclusion of the contest.