The No. 10 Virginia field hockey team celebrated senior day but little else yesterday afternoon, as the No. 2 Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeated the Cavaliers 2-1 in an overtime heartbreaker at Turf Field.
Both teams came in with impressive winning streaks. Virginia had won four games in a row and Wake Forest had won six games, including the last two by a combined score of 17-0.
The game was marked by brilliant defense and physical play. Despite three golden shot opportunities in the first 10 minutes for the Demon Deacons, Virginia staved off any open looks for Wake Forest afterwards. The problem was that Virginia simply could not get the ball themselves. There was an eight-minute stretch in the first half where Virginia could not get the ball outside their half of the field.
Finally, when overtime seemed inevitable, Wake Forest broke through. Sophomore midfielder Michelle Kasold received a pass just left of the goal and with one giant swoop of her stick edged the ball past Virginia senior goalie Kat Blair to give the Demon Deacons the advantage with just 14:38 remaining in the game.
The Cavaliers did not go away, however. Despite a lack of opportunities all day long, the combination of desperation by Virginia and conservative play by Wake Forest led to a series of good chances for the Cavaliers. Freshman midfielder Traci Ragukas, who missed a shot moments earlier, took a feed from the side and spun for a hard shot past Wake Forest goalie Crystal Duffield to send the game into overtime. The goal gave her 15 on the year, the fifth-most ever by a freshman at Virginia.
It also marked the first time in four games anyone had scored a goal on Wake Forest.
"I knew that [junior midfielder Abby Taylor] was going to cross again," Raguskas said. "I was down and ready for the ball and I was not going to miss that time."
In overtime it appeared Virginia had the momentum, controlling the tempo at first.
With less than three minutes left in overtime, senior midfielder Mia Link had a terrific chance at the game-winning goal. She received a perfect feed in front of the goal, turned through defenders and found the goalie out of position. However, Link whiffed the shot and it was deflected out to Wake Forest.
Immediately afterwards, Wake Forest pushed up the field and in pursuit, Taylor fell, leaving junior forward Chelsea Cripiani open for a shot that hit past Blair's hand and in for the goal.
"We had an opportunity, but against good teams you're not going to get a hundred of them," Virginia coach Michele Madison said. "So you have to go with the ones you get."
The Cavaliers may have lost, but their effort was by far the best of the season in Madison's mind.
"I was proud of the way we defended and limiting the offensive opportunities that they had," Madison said. "It shows we're one of the top teams in the country."
With the loss, Virginia falls to 12-5, 1-3 in the ACC.
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