Facing off against Radford junior Inge Sijpesteijn scored three goals, leading the Cavaliers to a 5-0 victory over Radford (2-2).
Virginia (4-1) entered the game ranked No. 11 in the National Field Hockey Coach's Association poll. The Highlanders kept pace with Virginia during the first half, even though they made no shots. At half time Virginia had a 1-0 lead.
"The first half we played their game instead of our game," Sijpesteijn said.
The Cavaliers managed only one short corner in the first half which did not yield a goal.
"I expected a lot more out of them performance-wise than how they started the game," Virginia coach Michele Madison said. "I thought Radford came out and put great individual pressure on us and made us a little tentative with the ball. We weren't prepared to play a hard game."
For the second straight game, the Cavaliers came out strong in the second half after a mediocre beginning.
Sijpesteijn led the Cavalier offense, scoring all three of her goals on short corners.
"[Short corners] take a lot of practice," Sijpesteijn said. "It takes a lot of confidence, technique, and swing, and I finally just got it."
Madison emphasized the importance of short corners as scoring situations and asserted the necessity of scoring on a high percentage of short corners.
"[Sijpesteijn] is the strength in the middle of the field," Madison said. "[She] is the core and the team depends on her."
Freshman Traci Ragukas also scored two goals, one on a short corner, giving her five on the season, the most on the team. Additionally she picked up two assists in the game.
"[Ragukas and Sijpesteijn] really came to play today," Madison said. "From the first minute, they were really in the game and set the tone and kept us in it until everyone got their feet on the ground and got the ball moving."
On the defensive side, the Cavaliers didn't miss a beat. The defenders penetrated on Radford short corners and kept close to the ball the entire game.
"We tried to put pressure on the hitters a little bit, which we didn't do against Old Dominion," Madison said. "So we didn't want Radford to have many shots on goal."
Radford managed only one shot the entire game.
Virginia is back on the field again today for a home game against Northwestern. Madison is not worried about playing two games in two days, saying that the training the team is committed to is meant to build endurance.
"Northwestern is a skilled team," Madison said. "[They] beat Virginia last year so we're looking for revenge. We'll have to be patient, get the ball and give the ball, and make quick passes inside the circle."
Following Northwestern, the Cavaliers travel to No. 5 North Carolina. After playing hard against No. 3 Old Dominion and securing a strong victory over Radford, Virginia should have the confidence they can take on a top level team.
Read More
Volleyball holds off Boston College in tight five-set win
By Lauren Halak | 18 hours agoSenior outside hitter Elayna Duprey led the team throughout the match with 22 points and 18 kills.
Virginia annihilated 41-14 in a must-win contest versus North Carolina
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayJust about everything that could have gone wrong for Virginia football went wrong.
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
