Tribe Falls at No. 7 Virginia, 3-1

Junior Jessica Kacerek tallied her first goal of the season in the first half.

09/20/06 11:00PM

Charlottesville, Va. - The No. 17 William and Mary field hockey team put a scare into No. 7 Virginia on Sept. 20, but could not catch a break in falling, 3-1, in Charlottesville, Va. With the match tied at the half, 1-1, the Cavaliers scored twice in second half, and held off a late W&M surge that included a pair of attempts cleared off the line by UVA defenders in the waning moments. The Tribe fell to 6-2 on the season, while Virginia improved to 7-1.

The Cavaliers would find the first tally of the contest off the counter attack. After a defensive tackle from Traci Ragukas garnered possession for UVA, Mia Link sent a pass to Lindsay O’Bannon on the end line. Despite a severe angle on the cage, O’Bannon found the back of the goal to the far post in the 23rd minute of play.

The Tribe would find the equalizer five minutes before the half on its only shot of the period. Junior midfielder Jessica Kacerek notched her first goal of the season, as she tipped in a cross from the left side by senior forward Gina Cimarelli in the 31st minute.

Virginia would retake the lead for good 10 minutes out of halftime. After UVA incepted a clearing pass along the right side to gain possession, Link carried the ball into the circle, the Tribe defense converged to knock the ball away, but it fell out to Sara Cofer, who fired it into the back of the cage from the top of the circle at the 44:56 mark.

The Tribe looked to counter following a UVA attack less than 10 minutes later, but the Cavalier goalkeeper, Amy Desjadon, de-nied the attempt. W&M continued to pressure, but despite gaining back-to-back penalty corners in the 53rd minute of play, could not find the equalizer.

The Cavaliers added an insurance goal in the 57th minute off a penalty corner. Virginia had back-to-back penalty corner chances. Hunter made saves on a pair of shots, before Ragukas was able corral the loose ball and push it across for the goal.

Hunter kept the Tribe within reach shortly there after. The Seaville, N.J., native denied a pair of point-blank shots from UVA’s Liz Hiltz and Confer, keeping the contest at 3-1. For the match, Hunter finished with six saves.

Cimarelli led a W&M rush toward goal minutes later. The Oak Hill, Va., native had her initial attempt saved by Desjadon. She gathered the rebound and beat the UVA goalkeeper, only to have the attempt saved off the line by back Biffy Cornelison.

The Tribe was once again denied by a defensive save on the ensuing penalty corner. The initial shot was blocked by the goal-keeper, and despite, getting the ball past Desjadon for a second time in a matter of minutes, the ball was cleared off the line by a UVA defender.

After only tallying one shot in the first half, W&M took six shots in the second stanza. The UVA defense was forced to come up with three saves from its goalkeeper and another two defensive saves to keep the Tribe off the board in the second half.

The Tribe will open CAA play on Sunday, Sept. 24, at Virginia Commonwealth. The match is slated for 1 p.m.

Box Score