After a successful conference-opening weekend against ACC newcomers California and Stanford, Virginia field hockey has its sights set on a fourth win over a ranked team this season. The No. 3 Cavaliers (7-0, 2-0 ACC) travel to Durham Friday, where they will face No. 9 Duke (4-3, 0-0 ACC).
Despite Virginia’s loaded roster and superior ranking, adding to the win column against the Blue Devils is far from a certainty. Duke, who opens up conference play against the Cavaliers, possesses the home field advantage and will fight tooth and nail for a victory in the wake of back-to-back 1-0 losses against top 15 opponents. Neither team is going to run away with this one, so Virginia will have to be turned on mentally for all 60 minutes Friday.
Friday’s game pits two of the ACC’s best goalkeepers against each other. On the Blue Devils’ side, graduate Frederique Wollaert has led Duke to three shutouts while posting an impressive .786 save percentage that ranks second in the ACC. For the Cavaliers, senior Tyler Kennedy boasts a .636 save percentage and is the linchpin of a defensive unit that has surrendered just eight goals.
The Blue Devils have only allowed five themselves, which should set up a low-scoring, gritty contest in Durham this week. Across the two games between the teams last season, only six total shots found the net — Duke grabbed a 2-1 overtime victory in Charlottesville before Virginia enacted revenge with a road victory of its own, winning 2-1 in double overtime.
It would not surprise anyone if this pairing of defensive juggernauts produce another game like that, but there is plenty of talent on the attacking side as well. The Blue Devils rely primarily on junior forward Alaina McVeigh, the reigning ACC co-Offensive Player of the Year who has scored five of Duke’s 11 goals this year.
Virginia, by contrast, has displayed a wide range of offensive output on its way to 24 goals. Seven different Cavaliers have scored in the past two games alone, while only six different Blue Devils have scored all season. Virginia is led by graduate midfielder Suze Leemans with five goals and junior midfielder Daniela Mendez-Trendler with three.
The Cavaliers’ attacking clinicality down the stretch is going to be crucial in a matchup that will likely be within one or two goals in the fourth quarter. Thankfully, Coach Ole Keusgen’s team may be more prepared for that than anyone. Nine of Virginia’s 24 goals on the season have been scored in the final period of regulation, which has helped them go 5-0 in one-goal games thus far.
Nonetheless, the Virginia attack has been far from perfect — the Cavaliers registered 18 shots against Stanford Sunday but only converted five of them, three of which came from corner opportunities. Virginia must capitalize on those looks in order to secure its eighth victory of the campaign.
After a split series last year, Friday’s game will act as the decider in the recent head-to-head battle between the two. This time, the stakes are even higher — the Blue Devils are looking to safeguard their top ten ranking, the Cavaliers are trying to extend their undefeated run and both teams are depending on a win for ACC Tournament seeding come November.
The contest in Durham is set to start at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACCNX.
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