Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
No. 12 Virginia Field Hockey Dominant in 4-1 Win at No. 17 Delaware
After suffering a heartbreaking loss at Penn State via last-minute goal to open the season on Friday, the Virginia field hockey team bounced back in a big way, crushing No. 17 Delaware 4-1 on the road on Sunday afternoon at Rullo Stadium in Newark.
The sour result of Friday's season-opener at No. 11 Penn State was undoubtedly still fresh in the minds of the Cavaliers as they took on their second-straight ranked opponent on the road. The beginning of Sunday's match against Delaware didn't help.
UVA was held scoreless for the first 23 minutes of the match and fell behind 1-0 as the Blue Hens struck first. Five minutes into the second quarter, Lia Becker swept a shot past Virginia keeper Tyler Kennedy off of a nice interior pass by Kiki Oudshoorn to put Delaware on the board.
Delaware's lead would last less than four minutes. UVA freshman Daniela Mendez-Trendler found the ball on a second-chance opportunity and put it in the back of the cage for her first-career goal to tie the match at 1-1.
Whatever adjustments UVA head coach Michele Madison made at halftime worked to perfection. The Cavaliers shot out of a cannon to start the second half with two lightning-fast goals within the first three minutes of the third period.
Sophomore Taryn Tkachuk scored less than 90 seconds into the half off of an assist by junior Meghen Hengerer. Just over a minute later, Virginia was celebrating another goal as senior striker Laura Janssen scored on a penalty corner, assisted by Annie McDonough.
Delaware actually outshot UVA 7-4 in the third period, but behind two saves from Tyler Kennedy, the Hoos kept the Hens off the board to protect the 3-1 advantage. Kennedy would add two more saves in the fourth quarter to keep Delaware to just one goal scored.
Early in the fourth quarter, Janssen scored her second-consecutive goal on a penalty corner, with the assist coming from sophomore back Jans Croon this time.
After letting up the first-half goal, the UVA defense tightened up in the second half. Delaware had eight penalty corner opportunities, six of which came in the second half, but failed to convert as Virginia cruised to the 4-1 win, the team's first victory of the season.
Now 1-1, UVA returns to Charlottesville for a pair of home matches next weekend. Virginia is set to host Temple on Friday at 6pm and James Madison on Sunday at 1pm.
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