Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW): It felt for many fans of Virginia Field Hockey that this corps might be the one to take the program to a national title victory in 2024.  However, after a couple of slim-margined defeats towards the end of their long, grueling schedule, the Hoos looked as though they were lacking something in the games that mattered most going into ACC tournament play.  They ended the year with a hard-fought victory at Wake Forest, and went into the first round of the ACC tournament with their heads held high against a dangerous Syracuse Orange team ranked #5 in the nation.  

The Hoos already won a shootout victory against Syracuse in the regular season, back on October 18th, but it was made abundantly clear after the first quarter that no momentum from that triumph was brought into Tuesday’s proceedings.  The first goal came from the jump at the start of the second quarter, as Lena Hamilton belted home a go-ahead goal for the Orange to earn a slim lead.  It was the only blemish on UVA goalkeeper Nilou Lempers’s line all match long.  Lempers started the last two matches of the regular season for the Hoos, and in her third start, she made six saves on the seven shots the Orange took on her.  Louise Pert kept the Wahoo attack quiet on the other end, making six saves of her own against the fifteen shots UVA took on her.   The Hoos’ relentless pressure yielded no results going into the fourth quarter, and Lempers’ exited the game in favor on an extra attacker.  Creativity showed up in spades, but Louise Pert held firm, and sent the Orange through by just a single goal over the Hoos, 1-0 was the final score.  

The silver lining is that this is not the end for the Hoos, they will simply have to wait for the NCAA tournament selections to be made to determine who their next opponents will be.  November 10th will be the day, and we will bring you updates on their prospects on Monday’s Wahoo Rundown.