Tribe Falls at No. 17 Virginia, 2-1

Kim Hedley scored the lone W&M goal in the first half against the Cavaliers.

09/14/07 11:30PM

Charlottesville, Va. - The William and Mary field hockey team dropped a close 2-1 match to No. 17 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on Friday night. The Tribe pulled even before the half after UVA scored in the 12th minute of play, but the Cavaliers made an early second-half goal stand up for the victory. W&M fell to 4-3 on the year, while Virginia improved to 4-2.

The Cavaliers got on the board first using a penalty corner to its advantage. After Kaitlyn Hiltz earned the corner for UVA, Lucy Meyers deflected in a shot from Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn at the 11:44 mark to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.

W&M put immense pressure on the Virginia goal over the final minutes of the first half before evening the score at one. Over the two-minute span leading up to the Tribe goal in the final minute of the half, W&M earned six straight corners before finding the scoring column. On its sixth and final penalty corner of the first half, senior midfielder Jessica Kacerek sent the corner back to fellow classmate Kim Hedley, who slotted a shot into the cage with just 44 seconds remaining in the first half. The goal was Hedley’s third of the season, and Kacerek’s second assist on the year.

Virginia found the boards for the second time on the evening off a penalty corner 10 minutes into the second stanza. After Abby Taylor earned the corner following an incepted pass in the defensive third of the field, W&M senior goalkeeper Gwen Hunter turned away the initial shot off the opportunity from Hiltz. The rebound, though, spilled over to Meyers, who finished to give UVA a 2-1 lead at the 45:30 mark.

In the 60th minute of play, W&M had its lone scoring opportunity of the second half turned away by the Virginia defense. UVA’s Amy Desjadon blocked freshman Erica Eng’s shot from the top of the circle to preserve the one-goal advantage and propel the Cavaliers to the win.

W&M held a 9-8 shot advantage over Virginia for the game, but the Cavaliers tightened in the second half and held a 5-1 cushion in the shot department. W&M outshot UVA, 8-3, and outcornered its instate foe, 6-3, in the opening half of play. Senior Laura Kastelic led W&M in shots with four, while junior Lauren Giles finished with three. Hunter finished with one save in goal for the College.

W&M will have a week off before returning to action with a pair of home matches on Friday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 23. The College will begin the weekend with its Colonial Athletic Association opener against Northeastern on Friday at 7 p.m. The Tribe will meet NorPac foe Radford at 1 p.m. on Sunday.