COLUMBUS, OHIO. – The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team (3-0, 0-0 ACC) narrowly defeated No. 16 Rutgers (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) 1-0 in the BIG TEN/ACC Challenge on Sunday (Sept. 7) at Buckeye Varsity Field.
Neither team recorded a shot in the first 10 minutes of the game until Olivia Fraticelli of Rutgers got one off. Junior goalkeeper Niluo Lempers recorded her first and only save of the game as Virginia held Rutgers to one shot. The Cavaliers earned one penalty corner in the 11th minute and were unable to convert. The first quarter remained scoreless.
A quiet second quarter of play saw a yellow card on Rutger’s Puck Winter and another corner for the Cavaliers. At the half, the score remained 0-0 with one shot on goal by Rutgers and two penalty corners for Virginia.
Just two minutes into the third quarter, Virginia earned its third penalty corner of the game. Junior Mia Abello was able to get a shot off that was ultimately saved by Rutgers goalkeeper, Emily Nicholls. Virginia’s lone goal scorer from Friday’s win against No.13 Ohio State, sophomore Catalina Quinteros notched the Cavaliers second shot on goal of the game. Nicholls recorded two saves to keep the score 0-0 through 45 minutes of play.
The Cavaliers came out strong in the fourth quarter, earning a penalty corner in the first two minutes of play while a yellow card was issued to Rutger’s Julia Vinas Nieto. With just under five minutes left, Virginia set up for its sixth and seventh corner of the game. This time the Cavaliers were able to find the back of the net as senior Madison Orsi scored her first goal of the season with an assist from freshman Lauren Sloan. The Scarlet Knights were awarded a corner with 30 seconds remaining but were unable to level the score. Virginia came away with its second 1-0 victory of the weekend against a top-20 opponent.
Starting between the posts, Lempers recorded one save with one shot on goal while Nicholls of Rutgers recorded four saves after facing five shots.
FROM HEAD COACH OLE KEUSGEN
“We played against a very well-organized and deep team. We knew we had to play with patience and that paid off at the end of the game. We couldn’t convert on our penalty corners early in the game, which would have made the game a lot easier. We dominated for over 60 minutes; now we need to start scoring more goals.”