After a slow start out of the gate, No. 8 Virginia field hockey finally came alive last night to down Appalachian State, 4-0, at University Hall Turf Field. The Mountaineers have yet to score a single goal on the Cavaliers in the two teams' five meetings.
For the first 10 minutes of the game, Virginia (7-3) did not look like the team that has dominated ASU (4-5) in the past. The Cavaliers struggled to put together solid offense until coach Jessica Wilk called a timeout with 24:08 to play in the half.
"We started out a little on our heels," senior co-captain Carrie Goodloe said. "She called us out to regroup."
"We came out and weren't doing the things we had talked about," Wilk said. "We were letting them set the tempo."
Virginia adjusted to a more aggressive offense - it made 18 shots on goal during the game to the Mountaineers' six - and proceeded to force six penalty corners over the rest of the half. However, the score remained tied, 0-0, at halftime.
The Cavaliers jumped on the board five minutes into the second half when sophomore Katie Jo Gerfen dished to junior Rosie Walker for the goal, her first of the season. Gerfen's assist bumped her season total to three.
Goodloe nabbed her first goal of the season on a penalty stroke six minutes later to put Virginia up by two. Junior Cara Unterkofler stretched the Cavaliers' lead to three with the help of junior Molly McManus 14:48 into the half. Junior Katie Slocum topped off the scoring with 17:04 left in the game. Slocum was aided by Goodloe, who notched her 46th career assist on the play. Goodloe is second on the Virginia career assists list and leads the nation with eight assists on the season.
"Our stick-to-stick passing was there," Goodloe said of the team's performance. "We played together as a team. We didn't finish on offensive opportunities in the first half, but that was obviously better in the second half."
"We made corrections from first half to second half," Wilk reiterated. "We got back to basics - it's a simple game, this is not rocket science."
The Cavaliers will continue to work on the basics Sunday against No. 10 Ohio State in the next game of their home stand. The Buckeyes are undefeated in the Big Ten, 8-1 overall and ranked third nationally with a .875 winning percentage.
"They have a lot of individual talent," Wilk said. "They're a top team. We'll have to step out ready to play from the first whistle and play smart hockey."
Virginia hosts Ohio State at 2 p.m. Sunday at University Hall Turf Field.
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