The No. 3 UVA field hockey team (9-2, 3-0 ACC) closed out a three-game home stand with an 8-0 victory over Vermont (0-9) on Sunday (Sept. 28) at University Hall Turf Field.
Virginia allowed the Catamounts one shot in the game while taking 43. Sophomore striker Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) had her first career hat trick, scoring three goals. Freshman midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored a goal with two assists. Junior Tollie Bell (Norfolk, Va.) scored Virginia’s eighth goal in the final minute of play, the first goal of her collegiate career.
The ACC-leading Cavaliers have now won eight-straight games and are a perfect 7-0 at home this season.
“The goal was to have the team put pressure on themselves to perform in a way that we could get better,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “They worked on bringing the ball out of the back and the press. Vermont is very aggressive and I knew we had to keep the ball on the move. The times we didn’t and we remained stationary, they were right on top of us. The back four had to hold solid in the press and mark and shut down the balls to keep them from penetrating, and they did.”
Sophomore midfielder Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, England) scored the game-winner 12:58 into the contest, the first of five first-half goals for the Cavaliers. Tata scored back-to-back goals in the first eight minutes of the second half to push the UVa lead to 7-0 with 27:32 remaining in the game.
Vermont’s Lena Benwood played the first 57:19 in goal, making 17 saves. Emily Snowden played the remaining12:41, making one stop and allowing the final goal. The Catamount players also made three defensive saves for a team total of 21 saves. Virginia senior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) did have to make a stop on Vermont’s lone shot, which came 15:04 into the second half, to tally one save.
Freshman Emily van Zinnicq Bergmann (Dordrecht, The Netherlands) had a pair of assists, including setting up Hyams for the first goal of the game. Hyams finished with a goal and an assist. Freshman Liz Stern-Green (Hummelstown, Pa.) had her first career assist, setting up Bell’s goal in the final minute of play.
The Cavaliers return to ACC competition next Friday, Oct. 3 when they travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face No. 1 North Carolina (8-1, 2-1 ACC). Virginia will be back at Turf Field on Sunday, Oct. 5 when it hosts Ohio State at 1 p.m.
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Chris Graham
