The No. 13 UVA field hockey team (12-8, 4-2 ACC), the top seed in the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championships, lost 2-1 to fourth-seeded Wake Forest (13-6, 3-3 ACC) in the ACC tournament semifinals on Friday (Nov. 7) at Duke’s Jack Katz Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Sophomore striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) scored the lone goal for the Cavaliers in a game in which the two teams combined to take just eight shots.
“The result of the game was disappointing but how the game was played was not,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “I thought we dominated some significant portions of the game, but we just weren’t able to score. Wake Forest’s defense is awesome and they were able to shut us down inside the circle. I am going to tell my team that if you leave it all out on the field like they did today, there is nothing to be ashamed of. They should be very proud of their performance.”
The first score of the match came with eight minutes left in the first half when No. 11 Wake Forest’s Christine Conroe inserted a penalty corner to Anna Kozniuk, who ripped a shot that was deflected in by Jess Newak for her fifth goal of the season.
After being held without a shot in the first half, Virginia got on the scoreboard five minutes into the second frame. Foust took a restart from just inside midfield and split through the Wake Forest defense before putting a shot into the right side of the net. The goal was Foust’s 14th of the season.
With the match knotted at 1-1 in the 63rd minute, the Demon Deacons’ Newak set up Kozniuk at the top of the circle off a penalty corner. Kozniuk found the top of the cage for a goal, her 15th of the season and second of the tournament.
The Cavaliers had one final opportunity with 45 seconds left as they crossed a pass from the right side of the circle, but the Demon Deacons defense cleared the ball to clinch a spot in the title game.
Wake Forest held a 6-2 advantage in shots and had three penalty corners to Virginia’s one.
The victory sends Wake Forest to its first appearance in the finals since 2008, where it will take on either second-seeded North Carolina or sixth-seeded Syracuse. It marks the school’s ninth appearance in the ACC title game, all under head coach Jen Averill.
The Cavaliers will find out their NCAA fate on Sunday night, Nov. 9 at 10 p.m. when the tournament bracket is announced in a live streaming event on NCAA.com.
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Chris Graham
