Clouds loomed over the University Hall Turf Field yesterday as the Virginia field hockey team hosted No. 1 Maryland. And although the sun peeked through from time to time, the day was a dreary one for the Cavaliers, who were drubbed by the Terrapins, 5-0.
The Terrapins (9-1, 1-1 ACC) shut out the No. 10 Cavaliers, winning their third straight against the Cavs (4-4, 0-2). In a one-sided game, Virginia constantly labored on defense and rarely found any offensive opportunities.
"We just got outplayed in every way," senior back Julia Richardson said. "We were on [defense] about 60 minutes out of the 70-minute game. We withstood some of their attacks, but they just kept coming back. Every time we got it back up to their side, they'd pound it right back down our throats."
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Maryland set the tone right from the start, coming out with three penalty corner chances in the game's first four minutes. The Terrapins earned a penalty stroke on the third corner with under 26 minutes left in the first half, when Richardson lifted her stick too high to block a Maryland shot. Terp junior back Autumn Welsh tapped in the penalty stroke to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.
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Not much changed for the rest of the afternoon. Maryland continued to attack the Virginia goal, ending the game with 10 penalty corner opportunities and 22 shots on Virginia's goal. The Terrapins also shut down the Cavalier offense, as Virginia was only able to obtain one penalty corner and get off four shots.
Maryland "played very well. We did not, and that's the bottom line," Cav coach Jessica Wilk said. "They came out and attacked, they were well-disciplined and well-coached, and they took it right to us. We just didn't respond and step up to the challenge. We lacked discipline defensively, and we didn't stay on our game plan."
In addition to Welsh's early goal in the first half, senior midfielder Carla Tagliente, junior midfielder Caroline Walter, and senior back Rachel Hiskins also scored for Maryland in the first half. The Terrapins' lone goal in the second half came from a diving effort by sophomore forward Angie Klingerman, who rocketed a ball past the Virginia defenders and into the bottom center of the cage.
Virginia had some rare moments in front of Maryland goalkeeper Ashley Hohnstine but never got on the scoreboard.
"We had some moments where we worked the ball and had a couple of good runs," Wilk said. "We couldn't finish and capitalize. We just weren't able to generate and sustain our attack."
Despite the Cavaliers' woes, senior goalkeeper Becky Worthington had a tremendous game in the Virginia cage. Her 13 saves put her all by herself in seventh place on the Virginia all-time list.
"Because we lacked individual defense, Maryland had tons of shots on us," Richardson said. "But Becky kept us in the game."
The shutout against the top team in the nation was a tough loss for Virginia and prolonged the Cavs' misfortunes against high-ranked teams. The Cavaliers have now lost three straight to teams in the top two, dropping games against No. 2 Old Dominion Sept. 24 and then-No. 2 North Carolina Sept 17.
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