It was a rough start to the weekend for the No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (11-2, 3-1 ACC), as they took a 4-0 beating from the No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels (11-2, 3-1 ACC) at home Friday night. After scoring a goal at the end of a tight first half, the Tar Heels dominated the second half — outmaneuvering the Cavaliers on every stretch of the field.
Virginia contained North Carolina for almost the entirety of the first half, outshooting the Tar Heels 6-5 and providing a stout defense against several North Carolina penalty corners. After a goal by Tar Heel junior defensive midfielder Ashley Hoffman, however, the Cavaliers began to fall apart against the imposing North Carolina offense.
Throughout the second half, the Cavaliers had trouble holding back the Tar Heels’ drives and North Carolina retained possession for much of the period. When the Cavaliers did break through to the North Carolina defense, excellent defensive work led by Tar Heel freshman goalkeeper Amanda Hendry kept the dynamic Virginia offense quiet.
The Cavaliers were able to bounce back from their Friday defeat with a 8-0 beatdown of Drexel Dragons (5-9, 0-2 CAA) at home Sunday afternoon. Virginia scored seven of its eight goals in the first half, and kept the Dragons from taking a shot until late in the second half. Virginia freshman midfielder Pien Dicke continued her excellent first season by scoring a hat trick — her fifth of the season so far.
This win was another impressive defensive game by Virginia, which allowed the Cavaliers to largely keep the ball on Drexel’s side of the field. Virginia had 13 penalty corners to Drexel’s two, and outshot the Dragons, 29-2.
Virginia springs back into action on Saturday when the team travels to face Syracuse. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.