Olivia Taylor/Virginia Athletics
No. 9 UVA Field Hockey Falls at No. 1 Northwestern 3-2
The Cavaliers faced their tallest task of the season with a road trip to play the No. 1-ranked team in the country and the defending national champions. UVA fell behind early, but rallied to make a game out of it. Ultimately, though, the Virginia field hockey team came up just short of completing the comeback and fell at No. 1 Northwestern 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Illinois.
The match was delayed 30 minutes due to lightning and there was steady rainfall throughout the game. The Cavaliers actually outshot the Wildcats 5-4 in the opening quarter, but only one of those shots went on goal. Northwestern used its lone penalty corner opportunity of the first quarter to strike first late in the period. Bente Baekers was the one to find the back of the cage on a shot set up by Kayla Blas and Alia Marshall on the corner.
Early in the second quarter, the Wildcats struck again on another goal from Baekers, who scored or assisted on all three of Northwestern's goals. Once again, Blas and Marshall assisted Baekers' goal on a penalty corner.
Just over a minute later, Virginia finally got on the board as Laura Janssen deflected a shot towards the cage that was initially saved by Northwestern goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz, but Janssen was there to collect her own rebound and scoop it up over the shoulder of Skubisz and into the cage for her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
After seeing their lead cut in half heading into halftime, the Wildcats quickly showed why they are the No. 1-ranked team in the country and the defending national champs, scoring in under four minutes to start the third quarter. This time, Bente Baekers facilitated the goal with an assist to Ana Medina Garcia, who finished to put Northwestern up 3-1. Baekers has a strong case as the best field hockey player in the country, as she scored her 11th and 12th goals of the season, most in all of D1 field hockey.
To their credit, the Cavaliers continued to stay resilient and fought to the bitter end. UVA goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy was blitzed with 17 shots, 11 of which went on goal, and she managed to save eight of them to match a career-high in saves. In one sequence early in the fourth quarter, Kennedy saved three-consecutive Northwestern shots in short order, doing everything she could to keep the Hoos in the match.
With just over six minutes to play, UVA cut the deficit to just one goal. On a penalty corner, Meghen Hengerer set up the shot for Cato Geusgens, who blasted a back-handed shot that found the back of the cage to make it 3-2. Geusgens, a senior defender, scored for the first time since her freshman season.
The Cavaliers couldn't quite muster another quality scoring chance in the remaining minutes and Northwestern held on for the 3-2 win. The Wildcats improve to 6-0 on the season, while Virginia falls to 3-2.
Up next, UVA plays its first ACC match of the season on the road at No. 20 Boston College on Friday at 4pm.
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