CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – To open the weekend, the No. 11 Virginia field hockey team (6-3, 2-2 ACC) upended the Stanford Cardinal (7-3, 0-2 ACC) 5-2 on Friday night (Oct. 2) at Turf Field.
Goals (Assist)
4:50 Stanford – Jenny O'Grady (unassisted)
11:28 Virginia - Mia Abello (Mary Adams, Emma Watchilla)
17:16 Virginia - Livvy Barker (unassisted)
21:55 Stanford - Liv Martin (Mia Clark)
44:20 Virginia - Mia Abello (Riley Savage, Emma Watchilla)
49:12 Virginia - Riley Savage (Marisa Fahning)
56:00 Virginia - Rylee Dennis (Catalina Quinteros)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite forcing a pair of penalty corners in the opening three minutes of the contest, Virginia found itself behind when Stanford scored with just under five minutes gone in the opening frame. UVA carried play for the rest of the first quarter before Mia Abello tied the match at 1-1 with the first of her two goals on the night. Virginia took its first lead when Livvy Barker deflected a shot off of a Cardinal defender during the opening moments of the second quarter. Stanford tied the game off a penalty corner halfway through the second stanza to make it 2-2 at the half.
Out of halftime, Virginia controlled play in the third quarter, leading to Abello scoring her second goal of the night on a corner to put the Cavaliers out front for good at 3-2. Riley Savage added some insurance to open the fourth frame when the second year scored on a breakaway that was sprung by Marisa Fahning. Fellow second year Rylee Dennis put the exclamation point on the night when she snuck one past the Stanford goalkeeper for Virginia’s fifth and final goal.
Starting in goal, Virginia’s Nilou Lempers made one save and allowed two goals while Stanford’s goalkeeper Anya Jackson recorded eight saves against five goals.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Virginia held a 21-3 edge in shots and 9-1 on penalty corners.
- Stanford’s lone corner came in the second quarter and resulted in a goal.
- Mia Abello tallied her team-leading fourth and fifth goals of the season on Friday. Abello enters Sunday’s contest with 23 career goals.
- Abello’s two-goal night is her first multi-goal game since scoring a pair against Cal in the 2025 season.
- Livvy Barker tallied her third goal of the season and the first since James Madison (9/13).
- Riley Savage netted her second goal of the year and the fifth of her career.
- Rylee Dennis tallied her second goal of the campaign and the third of her career.
- Emma Watchilla recorded a pair of assists on Friday and leads all Cavaliers with seven on the season.
FROM HEAD COACH OLE KEUSGEN
“I am not quite sure the exact number of shots, but it was definitely close to what it was against Syracuse. It was just a matter of execution on corners and just scoring on simple balls around the scoring area. The situations were exactly the same and we were just able to finish it.”
ON THE HORIZON
UVA will close out its longest homestand of the season on Sunday (Oct. 4) as the Cavaliers host the Cal Bears for a noon start. The match will be streamed on ACCNX.