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Furious Rally Propels Virginia Field Hockey Over Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinals

The Cavaliers scored three times in the fourth quarter, including twice in the final three minutes, to complete a stunning comeback
Matt Newton|
Furious Rally Propels Virginia Field Hockey Over Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinals
Furious Rally Propels Virginia Field Hockey Over Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinals

This Virginia field hockey team is no stranger to comeback victories. In fact, it was just over a week ago that the Cavaliers last erased a 2-0 deficit to beat North Carolina on Senior Day. But the comeback UVA staged on Tuesday afternoon might have been the most compelling one yet. 

It's been a tumultuous week for the UVA field hockey program, as it was announced just a couple of days after the conclusion of the regular season that longtime head coach Michele Madison would be "on leave for the remainder of the 2023 season" for undisclosed reasons, leaving this promising team and its high aspirations for postseason play in the care of associate head coach Ole Keusgen. 

It remains to be seen if the distraction of Madison's absence played a part in Virginia falling behind to No. 5 seed Syracuse 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Field Hockey Championship, hosted this season by UVA at the Turf Field in Charlottesville, but there's no question that the Cavaliers never doubted that they could come back yet again. 

"That's usually one of those things that we always have is belief because we know how good we can be," said Ole Keusgen after the game. 

Behind that strong belief, the Cavaliers entered the fourth quarter trailing 2-0 and proceeded to score in the first 30 seconds to cut the Syracuse lead in half, score the equalizer with less than three minutes to go after pulling their goalie, and then score the game-winner off the stick of Noa Boterman just 50 seconds later as No. 4 seed Virginia kept its ACC Championship hopes alive with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory over No. 5 Syracuse in the quarterfinals on a brisk Tuesday afternoon in Charlottesville. 

For all the drama that would eventually unfold later in the match, Syracuse dominated Virginia early on, outshooting the Cavaliers 5-1 in the first quarter and 8-4 in the first half. UVA goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy saved three of those first quarter shots, but Syracuse's Willemijn Boogert scored with a diving effort to redirect in a long shot from Pieke van de Pas late in the first quarter to give the Orange a 1-0 lead. 

Things were a little more even in the second quarter, with both teams attempting three shots and UVA threatening with four penalty corners. But it was Syracuse continuing to seize control of the game, as Eefke van den Nieuwenhof unleashed a rocket off of a penalty corner that found the back of the cage, making it 2-0 Orange going into halftime. 

Remembering fondly that they had just erased a two-goal halftime deficit in a big win over North Carolina a little over a week ago, it was almost easy for the Cavaliers to keep their spirits high at the halftime break. 

"We have been in this position before of course like two weeks ago and we knew we just need one goal and then we're back in the game," said junior midfielder Noa Boterman. 

That one key goal did not come until the fourth quarter, but there was no question that the momentum of the game shifted once it came. Virginia earned a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter and Noa Boterman took a hard shot from the top of the circle that was deflected on the way in and found its mark to get the Cavaliers on the board. Lilly Hengerer has officially been credited with the goal, but it appears on replay that it was actually a Syracuse defender who deflected the shot so the goal should go to Boterman. 

UVA continued to put pressure on Syracuse, earning four penalty corners in the fourth quarter, while the Orange didn't even attempt a shot in the final period. With a little less than five minutes remaining, Virginia pulled goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy in a last-ditch effort to find the equalizer. That move worked, as Laura Janssen expertly redirected a shot from Jans Croon into the back of the cage to tie the score at 2-2 with less than three minutes to play. 

With a little bit of time still left on the clock and all of the momentum on their side, the Cavaliers knew they had a chance to win the game in regulation. It didn't take long for that to come to fruition as Virginia earned a corner less than a minute later and Noa Boterman delivered a perfectly-struck backhanded shot that made its way through a few sticks untouched and found the opposite back corner of the cage for an epic game-winner. 

"It did go exactly how we planned it to go," said Boterman of the game-winning corner play which the team is calling "Spooky Corner", an apt name for the play that produced the game-winning goal on Halloween. 

The thrilling victory sends Virginia back to the semifinals of the ACC Championship, where the Cavaliers will take on No. 1 seed North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon. UVA has advanced to the ACC final in each of the last two seasons. 

The Cavaliers and Tar Heels met on this same field just 11 days ago, a 3-2 comeback victory for Virginia on Senior Day. Virginia and North Carolina will clash again in a rematch of the last two ACC Championship Games on Wednesday at 1pm at the UVA Turf Field. The match will be broadcast on the ACC Network. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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