The No. 11 UVA field hockey team (4-0, 0-0 ACC) handed No. 14 Ohio State (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) its first loss of the season, downing the Buckeyes 2-1 on Sunday at Turf Field.
Freshman midfielder Laura Janssen (Nijmegen, Netherlands) scored a pair of goals in the fourth quarter to lift the Cavaliers to the comeback victory.
“That was a barnburner. Ohio State is a very good team,” UVA coach Michele Madison said. “The ACC and Big Ten are the premier conferences and any win against the Big Ten team is a big win. Our team said that they had to win the battles to win the war, and they really did that. They brought it, especially in the fourth quarter. I thought that when we controlled the small passing game, we were able to control possession and really change the tempo of the game.
“In the fourth quarter, we were possessing the ball, building it up, and really pressing their backfield to try to get them to cough up the ball. And they did. Lauren (Hausheer) had a monster save on the stroke before halftime. She read it well, jumped to the spot and got her bodyweight behind it. That energized the team and really gave us hope going into the second half.”
Ohio State had a prime scoring opportunity right before halftime after being awarded two penalty corners in the final thirty seconds of the period. After the second corner, the Buckeyes earned a penalty stroke with four seconds left on the clock. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Hausheer (West Windsor, N.J.) saved the attempt from Alsina Clotet to preserve the 0-0 score.
Ohio State broke the deadlock 4:09 into the third period when Clotet scored after a penalty corner. Janssen tied the game on a third-chance shot 2:47 into the fourth quarter. Junior striker Makayla Gallen (Glen Mills, Pa.) and sophomore midfielder Greer Gill (Virginia Beach, Va.) had each taken a shot that was saved by Aaliyah Hernandez before Gill set up Janssen’s on-target attempt. Janssen scored the game-winner with 2:52 remaining, knocking in a midair ball.
Ohio State pulled its goalie after Janssen’s second goal, which proved to be a gamble when the Cavaliers were awarded a penalty corner with just over a minute left to play, but the Buckeye defense blocked UVA’s shot to keep it a one-goal game.
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Chris Graham
