The No. 16 Virginia women's field hockey team was sent home after the first round in the ACC Championships last Thursday, with a 5-1 loss to then-No. 1 Wake Forest.
Katie Phillips scored in the second half bringing the Cavaliers within one goal, but the Demon Deacons pulled away to win 5-1. Senior goalkeeper Logan Carr had 11 saves, holding Wake to just one goal in the first half, and was named to the 2004 ACC All-Tournament Team.
With the loss to Wake Forest, the Cavaliers' season hinges on whether or not they earn an NCAA Tournament berth. After the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers avoided a losing season by compiling a 10-10 record, but went 0-5 in the ACC.
For the third year in a row Virginia had a member nominated for the All-Conference team. Sophomore Mia Link, the Cavaliers' leading scorer, was named to the All-Conference team for the first time in her career. Link led the team with 15 goals and five assists, giving her 35 points for the year. She also had the second-highest single-game point total in Virginia history with a four-goal, two-assist performance against Bucknell in the season opener.
"I expect that Mia will continue to grow and develop," Virginia coach Jessica Wilk said. "She turned herself into quite a scoring threat this year."
Link said the Cavaliers look to take advantage of their time off to prepare for next season with pick-up games, a workout schedule and their spring schedule.
With only three seniors graduating, most of the Virginia team will return next year, giving the Cavaliers the opportunity to build on team chemistry and experience gained this year.
"Things like game management come with experience, such as avoiding breakdowns of three minutes where you let in two or three goals," Link said. "That's game management, and that is something that is going to get better with experience."
The Cavaliers suffered many defeats to tough ACC competitors by a single goal this season, including No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 1 UNC.
"A big step for us is confidence to know that we can play with the other big ACC schools," Link said. "Last year we lost pretty much every game by a margin of about five, whereas this year we were able to keep it to a margin of around one."
With returning players, more experience and hard work in the off-season, the Cavaliers are out to prove they are better than their mediocre record.
"In terms of how many players we will return that have playing experience, it is just another opportunity to take it to the next level," Wilk said. "Clearly we were a better team this year than we were last year, although our record may not indicate it, and having that experience is only going to make those players better and make us a better team next year."
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