Field Hockey: No. 3 Virginia clobbers JMU, 4-1, to remain unbeaten
Courtesy UVA Media Relations
The No. 3 Virginia field hockey team remains undefeated after cruising past JMU, 4-1, on Sunday at Turf Field in Charlottesville.
44:46 — JMU: Drezler-Amey (unassisted)
50:15 — UVA: Adams (Abello)
51:51 — UVA: Abello (Kenah, Davidson)
53:18 — UVA: Savage (unassisted)
HOW IT HAPPENED
With one shot by Virginia freshman Mary Adams to report in the first quarter, the battle in the midfield was tight. The fight continued as the Cavaliers (4-0) earned three corners while JMU garnered two, though neither team was able to convert.
After an uneventful first half of play, junior Emma Watchilla found the back of the net with just three minutes remaining in the third quarter to put the Cavaliers on the board first. JMU (4-3) waisted no time as sophomore Ava Drexler-Amey leved the score with 15 second remaining in the third.
With one quarter of play remaining, the score remained equal at 1-1. Virginia proceeded to score three goals in three minutes. All three goals came on one of the Cavaliers six earned penalty corners in the final quarter alone. Taking the corner, Adams ultimately found the back on the set piece with the assist from junior Mia Abello. This marks the first goal of Adams’ collegiate career. On the following corner, Abello netted her own to put Virginia up 3-1. Topping things off, freshman Riley Savage scored her first goal of the season and of her collegiate career poking one in at the end to further cement the Virginia victory. All four goal scorers recorded their first of the season.
Starting in goal, Virginia’s Nilou Lempers recorded three saves while facing four shots on goal while Molly Schreiner, of JMU recorded three saves after facing seven shots on goal.
- Freshman Mary Adams and Riley Savage recorded their first career goals
- Junior Mia Abello netted her first goal of the season and 11th of her career
- Junior Emma Watchilla recorded her first goal of the season eighth of her career
- Virginia goalkeeper, Nilou Lempers recorded three saves
- JMU goalkeeper, Molly Schreiner, recorded three saves
- Virginia held the edge in both shots (20-5) and shots on goal (7-4)
- Virginia earned 11 corners while JMU was held to two
“Going into the game we knew it was a local rivalry which is never easy. In the third and fourth quarter huddle we just said who wants it more and we found a way. It wasn’t our best game today but we did find a way to flip a switch and execute a little better. I think that made the difference. We obviously had more possession and more control but we didn’t finish as cleanly as we would like to. Going into ACC play we need to make sure our basics are perfect.”