Coming off of their road to semifinals in 2023, Virginia field hockey aims to continue dominating offensively in 2024. With a 14-7 record last year, the Cavaliers were able to hold off powerful teams like Penn State while even coming out on top against national champion North Carolina on their senior day. The team hopes to bring that same fire to their 2024 season, hopefully advancing even further into the NCAA championship.
While generally successful last season, Virginia saw heartbreak in the ACC semifinal and NCAA Tournament semifinal — both against the Tar Heels. However, the Aug. 20 ACC preseason poll named the Cavaliers the favorites for the fall, with reigning national champion North Carolina close behind.
Virginia's 2024 roster holds 26 players, three of whom made waves at the Junior Pan American Championship this summer. Senior back Jans Croon, junior midfielder Daniela Mendez-Trendler and sophomore midfielder Mia Abello were all part of the Junior National Team that won silver in July. Combined, the three Cavaliers scored seven goals throughout the tournament.
Senior goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy will also be returning to Charlottesville this fall. Kennedy helped Virginia hold their weight against numerous tough competitors in 2023, as she is a consistent shot blocker. Kennedy is an extremely strong player, and the Cavaliers are more than lucky to have her in front of their goal this coming year. The opposing teams? Not so lucky.
While the program is welcoming a smaller incoming freshman class, both midfielder Catalina Quinteros and Amelie Rees stand out as promising additions to the team. Quinteros has been playing field hockey since the age of seven, spending her career previous to now playing for Key Biscayne Field Hockey team. Rees was picked to play on Great Britain's National U18 team at 16 years old and has been continuing to dominate in the sport since.
In addition to new players, the team is going to be adjusting to a new head coach — Ole Keusgen. Keusgen had previously been an associate head coach to the last head coach, Michele Madison, before he took over as head coach for the upcoming season.
Keusgen was able to start working with the team in October as interim head coach before transitioning into the role permanently. In the transition period, he found it difficult to execute his coaching exactly how he wanted to, since the team had been gearing up for a different strategy of game play the first part of the fall. Hopefully this year, Keusgen will be able to showcase his coaching abilities to the fullest after helping Virginia make it to both the ACC and NCAA semifinal games.
Now, what should fans be looking out for in terms of tough competition this fall? The Cavaliers' first game of the regular season will be against one of their biggest rivals, Penn State, Aug. 30. While the Nittany Lions finished the 2023 season ranked 16th to Virginia's 3rd, they are not to be ruled out and tend to give the Cavaliers a good fight.
Another early game with large importance comes in mid-September in College Park, Md. versus Maryland. Finishing the 2023 season ranked 5th, the Terrapins are notoriously good at dominating the field and keeping their opponents away from scoring positions.
With new schools now entering the ACC, Virginia is going to be playing some teams they have not had to fight before — namely California and Stanford. Both of those games will be happening at home on the same weekend at the end of September. The Bears and the Cardinal were tied for eighth place in the ACC preseason poll, but the Cavaliers should not count them out, as both schools like to come in hot and will have something to prove as the new teams in the conference.
Of course, the must-watch game of the season is versus North Carolina. Virginia will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face off against the Tar Heels Oct. 25, their second-to-last game of the regular season before the ACC championships start. The Cavaliers were able to come out on top against North Carolina in their regular season game last year before failing to beat them twice in post-season tournaments, but all three games were tough competitions on each side. Both teams will have to bring their A-game to compete against each other for what is sure to be an exciting and heated game.
Overall, the 2024 season should be an exciting campaign for Virginia. Being named the ACC preseason favorite over the Tar Heels is a huge accomplishment and signifies the championship expectations for the Cavaliers in year one of the Keusgen era. With a talented roster all over the field, expect Virginia to seriously compete for a national title.
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