The Cavaliers got the season off to a good start Saturday afternoon at Turf Field. No. 19 Virginia, playing in their first game under new head coach Michele Madison, defeated No. 10 Indiana 3-2 in a physical and exciting game that went down to the wire.
"It's huge," Madison said in regards to notching the first win of the season. "It shows us a lot in terms of our depth and how hard we can push the team in different parts of the game."
Indiana struck first when Haley Funk scored on Cavalier goaltender Katherine Blair. Virginia, however, scored three unanswered goals --- two in the first half and one more in the second half -- and took a two-goal lead heading into the final 33 minutes of the game.
Biffy Cornelison scored the first goal to tie the game at 1-1 with 13 minutes left in the first half. Freshman Traci Ragukas followed that up with the go-ahead goal shortly before halftime. One minute into the final 35 minutes she netted what would be the game-winning goal for Virginia.
"I was a little nervous because I knew it was going to be a faster paced game," Ragukas said in reference to playing in her first collegiate match. "I was excited. We all were excited."
Indiana, however, pulled to within one goal after senior standout Lydia Schrott scored off a feed from junior Margie Stoll with 15 minutes left in regulation.
From that point on, the momentum of the game shifted back to the Hoosiers. Despite being unable to score the game-tying goal, Indiana played physical and put persistent offensive pressure on the Cavaliers for the rest of the game.
The Hoosiers sent a couple of solid shots on net with five minutes left to play, only to be turned away by Blair. The senior goaltender denied Indiana again after the Hoosiers threatened with a shot off a short corner just one minute later.
The Hoosiers "were definitely a very competitive and a very fast team," Cornelison said. "They were pretty aggressive ... but I think that we stuck to the game plan so it was pretty easy for us to focus on ourselves and do what we had to do."
The aggressive play of the Hoosier offense, however, showed Madison that there is still work to be done before next Friday's game at home against Ohio.
"They just came at us and didn't really cover in the backfield," Madison said. "It showed us that we have to clean it up and know who's marking who. On the attack, we have a lot of work to do."
The temperature -- reaching the mid-90s -- may also have played a role in the way the game developed. Madison was forced to continually make substitutions throughout the game in order to hydrate players and keep fresh legs on the field.
"It's always harder to play in the heat," Ragukas said. "Coach said just run and run and don't think about the heat.If you needed a break, you just come out for a minute and get right back in."
Despite the high temperature and the offensive pressure put on by Indiana, the Cavaliers proved Saturday that they have the capability and the skill to play with the nation's best.
"We definitely think that we can compete with the top teams," Ragukas said. "We're just trying to show everyone that we're here to play."
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