Field Hockey: Big fourth quarter propels #4 UVA into NCAA quarters

#4 UVA (17-4, 4-2 ACC) opened play at the 2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championship with a 4-1 victory over #10 Delaware (16-4, 6-0 CAA) on Friday at Turf Field in Charlottesville.

The game was tied 1-1 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation before Virginia’s offense scored three fourth-quarter goals.

Virginia’s seniors netted three of the team’s four goals, with striker Erin Shanahan (Pasadena, Md.) scoring the game’s first, back Anzel Viljoen (Matamata, New Zealand) scoring the game-winner and midfielder Colleen Norair (Fredericksburg, Va.) adding the fourth and final.

Virginia will face No. 3 Maryland (17-3, 7-1 Big Ten) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Maryland scored four second-half goals to down No. 14 Saint Joseph’s (17-4, 8-0 Atlantic 10) 4-0 in the second game of the day at Turf Field.

Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the first quarter after a shot from sophomore striker Peyton Tollaksen (Chesapeake, Va.) was initially saved, but Shanahan picked up the rebound and lifted it into the corner of the net. The 1-0 advantage held until Delaware’s Bo van Hunnki hooked in a shot from the left side of the net with five minutes left in the half.

Delaware had a prime opportunity in the third quarter when UVA had two players issued green cards and the Blue Hens had a two-man advantage, but the Virginia defense withstood the threat. In the fourth quarter, Viljoen tipped in a shot off a penalty corner from sophomore midfielder Amber Ezechiels (Niew-Vennep, Netherlands) to give UVA a 2-1 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

ophomore midfielder Greer Gill (Virginia Beach, Va.) pushed the advantage out to 3-1 after scoring on a loose ball after a save with 3:03 remaining. A minute later, Norair scored her first goal of the year, knocking in another loose ball that had bounced to her off a Delaware stick.

“The team carried out our game plan to perfection,” UVA coach Michele Madison said. “We had a ten minute lapse in the game where we lost control. Between the third and fourth period, I told them to get the hunger back, put the pressure on the ball and to step it up, and they did it. In the fourth quarter, Delaware had to take chances to try to get the ball. We were able to get around and get in behind them and find the open corner. This team has worked for each other since the first game. They have played for each other all year in long. They believe and they just want to make it happen for each other.”