Coming off a dramatic upset of the Boston College Eagles on Halloween night, the stage was set for Virginia field hockey to put forth a strong effort against Duke yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers, who conjured up some late-game magic to win 4-3 Friday, did not show up with the same vigor.
Instead, those Cavaliers were replaced by a squad that struggled to find rhythm against the potent Duke attack and eventually lost 6-1 in a lackluster effort.
The game started out well for Virginia (10-9, 0-4 ACC), however, as they had many early scoring opportunities.
In the first 15 minutes, the Cavaliers got a few, key short corners that were struck well but deftly saved by Duke keeper Christy Morgan. Just minutes later, Morgan made a great, stretching effort to stop a breakaway.
These heroics by the Duke goalkeeper early on seemed to awaken the rest of the Blue Devils and inject some intensity and momentum into them. Duke (16-2, 2-2) quickly began winning every 50-50 ball and marched down the field rather easily. Then, with 17 minutes left in the first half, the Virginia defense failed to clear a ball from the back line, and Katie Grant was able to bury it in the back of the net to put Duke on the board.
The Cavaliers continued to battle, but with 11 minutes to go, the Blue Devils struck again. Just having run on the field as a substitute, Duke forward Nicole Dudek received a pass and was able to snake past a Cavalier defenseman and get a good shot off against goalie Logan Carr. Her shot eluded Carr and the Blue Devils quickly were up 2-0. Three minutes later, Dudek again broke loose and scored, effectively deflating the Cavaliers' spirits.
The second half saw more of the same as the Blue Devils, with more energy, were able to pass effectively and control the game. Despite efforts by the Virginia defense and especially Carr, the Duke onslaught proved too much as they quickly tallied two more goals by Grant and Gracie Sorbello. Then, just minutes later, the speedy Duke junior Chrissy Murphy blazed down the left sideline and scored with 24 minutes left to balloon the Duke lead to 6-0.
Virginia got a late consolation goal from one of the stars of the Boston College game, as senior forward Katie Nicholson struck a ball from just within the red line that soared into the back of the net.
After the game, though, the Cavaliers took little gratification from the late goal and were upset about their squad's effort.Nicholson noted that it was a "bummer" the team lost and said "we didn't come out and play together as a team."
When asked about Friday night's huge win over Boston College, Nicholson claimed that it was "huge because we were unranked and they were ranked." But the senior did not dwell on the past for long and was quick to point out that the upset of BC could help out in the long run.
The win could "hopefully get us back in the polls, and that if we get back in the polls, and play as a team in the ACC tournament, then we could definitely play very well and hopefully make it to NCAAs," she said.
Coach Jessica Wilk also was frank about the importance of the upcoming ACC tournament in Charlottesville.
"Expectations for the tournament are high and we just need to take it one game at a time," she said.
Wilk, though, also was quick to note just how disappointing this loss was and that the team definitely needs some time to "clean things up."
One will have to wait for this upcoming weekend's ACC tournament to find out which Virginia field hockey team will show up to the field.
Will it be the squad that pulled out a late-game, dramatic and emotional upset over highly-ranked Boston College?Or will, the Cavaliers, like yesterday, fail to play together as a team and get stomped on by the opposition?Only time will tell.
But with this being the last ACC tournament for the seniors, and the games all taking place in the friendly confines of Charlottesville, there is truly a "double incentive," as Nicholson put it, for the Cavaliers to win this weekend.
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