As the second half of field hockey came to a close last night at the Turf Field, the scoreboard projected a narrow win for Richmond over Virginia, 1-0. A battle of attrition had raged between the two nationally-ranked teams through the entire 70 minutes of play while suffocating defenses held the scoring low.
In the beginning of the game, a sluggish Cavalier defense faced 10 minutes of merciless Richmond possession while an aggressive Spider offense attacked the Virginia goal time and again. However, hustle and defense by the Cavaliers, led by freshman midfielder Mia Link, turned the game around for Virginia.
With 18 minutes remaining in the first half of play, senior forward Katie Nicholson and sophomore back Sarah Miller led a turnaround toward the Richmond goal. Ten minutes later, with the ball still in Virginia's possession, senior back Katie Jo Gerfen took a shot from the arch of the scoring line, barely missing the Richmond goal.
As the first half faded into halftime, Virginia continued with a fierce offensive attack, only to be thwarted by a web of Spider defenders. Yet their possessions in the first 35 minutes had only achieved a total of three shots on goal, while Richmond fired at Virginia goalkeeper Logan Carr eight times.
At the beginning of the second half, the offense seized a slim advantage early for the Spiders. And with 22 minutes remaining in the game, Richmond finally found a hole in the Virginia backfield and sophomore midfielder Allie Howard scored the first goal of the game for the Spiders.
The Cavaliers finally came alive in the remaining minutes of play, as a cheering Virginia crowd begged for a goal. While Virginia began playing a physical game, it was once again held back by the Richmond defense.
"We have to work much harder and we have to be much smarter," coach Jessica Wilk said, "We can't wait until the last five minutes of the game and then start playing with that type of intensity."
As the clock ran down, the Spiders emerged with a final show of force and shutout the Cavaliers, 1-0.
Virginia goalkeeper Logan Carr notched seven saves in the game, yet Virginia was out-shot by Richmond, 14-5.
"We have got to make changes, and it has to happen now," Wilk said. "We have to play to our abilities every day, and consistency is a major part of that."
After the game, senior Katie Jo Gerfen demonstrated the positive outlook of a leader, despite a tough loss for her team, offering an optimistic outlook for the Cavaliers as they continue.
"We've had some tough competition the last couple of weeks and hopefully we'll grow as a team through practices and prepare for Old Dominion now," Gerfen said.
The Virginia Cavalier field hockey team advances into Sunday's game against the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs with a record that has fallen to 5-3.
"We have to come out hard every game for ourselves, for the school and play as well as we can," Gerfen said, "We have to play for what we want, and good things will happen."
However, with a challenging schedule remaining, the Cavaliers will first have to play to their ability to remain a contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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