Virginia field hockey played their first home game of the season against Temple Friday. The Cavaliers (2-0, 0-0 ACC) were able to hold off the Owls (2-1, 0-0 Big East) en route to a dominant 7-0 win at University Hall Turf Field.
Once again, Virginia demonstrated their hunger for victory soon into the game as junior midfielder Lauren Kenah made a hot shot from the left side seven minutes into the first period to begin scoring for the game.
However, Kenah’s goal did not discourage Temple. Instead it caused them to swiftly and strongly push towards the goal — resulting in a corner shot for the Owls. Junior midfielder Lina Neilson hit a hard shot at the Cavaliers’ senior goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy, who saved that shot plus two more corner shots, keeping the score at a clean 1-0 at the end of the first period.
At exactly the three-minute mark of the second period, graduate midfielder Suze Leemans fought the ball through a wall of Temple players to score her first goal of the season.
The two teams battled it out for a few minutes, neither able to come out on top, until Virginia finally slipped the ball past the Owls, creating another opportunity to score.
The Cavaliers quickly got opportunities to score with two corner kicks, during which Virginia took two shots on goal, but Temple were quick to block both. However, the Cavaliers quickly took back possession and kept pushing the ball forward.
And push they did, not giving the Owls a chance to breathe. After holding the ball in an offensive position, Leemans scored another goal eight and a half minutes into the second period, increasing Virginia’s lead to 3-0.
The Cavaliers were playing with beautiful communication and control, intercepting Temple’s passes and holding onto the ball after doing so. Virginia hardly let the Owls get anywhere close to scoring — the Cavaliers’ defense made sure to get in the way of Temple as much as possible.
Having brought the game back towards the Owls’ goal, senior striker Jans Croon sent the ball flying in a perfect arc above every Temple player’s head from the midline. Freshman midfielder Catalina Quinteros was right in front of the goal to receive it and send it straight into the net, making the score 4-0 for Virginia.
Just one minute later, Kenah narrowly missed a wide shot from the left. The Cavaliers were sending ball after ball towards the goal, and the Owls’ freshman goalkeeper Alex Lepore was doing all she could to keep them at bay.
Virginia continued to press Temple in the second half, making sure to take advantage of every opportunity they got to take a shot — including a corner kick three minutes in. Strategically passing it back to defense, the Cavaliers separated the Owls from the ball before Leemens brought it back in with a beautiful assist to junior midfielder Caroline Nemec, marking Virginia’s fifth goal.
Temple held possession for most of the third period, but when the Cavaliers decided to turn up the heat, they did it quickly. Almost immediately after Virginia gained possession of the ball, they had brought it down to Lepore.
Senior midfielder Emily Field swept the ball further towards the goal, assisting sophomore striker Emma Watchilla’s aggressive shot — her first goal of the season. Whizzing past Lepore, the score went up 6-0 in favor of the Cavaliers.
Even though they were up by six, Virginia was not stopping there. Once again making sure to stay aggressive, Croon took a fast and hard shot on goal immediately following each of three consecutive corner kicks by the Cavaliers and took a fourth shot within the first minute of the fourth period.
Virginia kept the ball by Temple’s goal, meaning Lepore was constantly under siege. The Cavaliers did not let her rest, continuing to press until Watchilla was able to slip yet another goal into the net.
With even stronger offense than they had last week, Virginia seems to be heading in a positive direction this season. At the end of the game, the Cavaliers had fired 21 shots on goal compared to the Owls’ 10, illustrating that Virginia understands the connection between being hyper-aggressive towards the goal and offensive success.
Next, the Cavaliers will be facing off against Liberty in Lynchburg, Va. Sunday. The game will start at 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+. When Virginia returns to Charlottesville, they will be playing California for the first time since they joined the ACC — the game will be played at University Hall Turf Field at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 and will be streamed on ACC Network.
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