#9 UVA field hockey wins season opener, drops Drexel, 6-0

The No. 9 Virginia field hockey team opened the 2015 season Friday (Aug. 28) with a 6-0 victory over Drexel at Turf Field in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers outshot the Dragons 21-2 as starting goalkeeper junior Rebecca Holden (Fishing Creek, N.J.) and redshirt freshman Carrera Lucas (Brooklandville, Md.), who made her collegiate debut, combined for the shut out. Sophomore midfielder Emilie van Zinnicq Bergmann (Dordrecht, Netherlands) logged her first career hat trick, scoring three goals on six shots.

“It is always great to win that first game,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “The team really worked every minute of this game. We were able to find the seams and get the ball moving and work our system. We were also able to give a lot of people experience and minutes. I am very pleased with the outcome.”

Sophomore midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored the first goal of the season 2:19 into the game, taking a hard shot on the left side of the goal after getting a pass from junior midfielder Lucy Hyams (Whitstable, England). The two combined for UVa’s second goal as well, this time with Hyams knocking in a shot from Vittese 11 minutes into the game.

Freshman striker Greta Ell (Plains, Pa.), the lone rookie in the UVa starting lineup, scored her first career goal nine minutes before halftime after junior striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) got ahead of the defense on a fast break, passing the ball up to junior forward Katie Kelly (Phoenixville, Pa.) who found Ell in front of the net. Forty-eight seconds later, van Zinnicq Bergmann converted a pass from Ell to put Virginia up 4-0. Van Zinnicq Bergmann scored again with 47 seconds remaining in the first half after Vittese dribbled through the defense, finding her wide-open teammate on the left side of the goal.

Van Zinnicq Bergmann scored her third goal of the game ten minutes into the second half, tapping in a deflection on an initial shot by junior striker Riley Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) after a penalty corner.

The Cavaliers will close out the opening-weekend homestand by hosting No. 7 Penn State on Sunday, Aug. 30 at noon at Turf Field.

Admission is free for all of Virginia’s regular-season home field hockey games.