Photo courtesy of William & Mary Athletics
Four Second-Half Goals Propels No. 8 Virginia Past William & Mary, 5-0
The No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers field hockey team recorded their second straight victory in a crushing 5-0 performance on the road against William & Mary on Friday. UVA got off to a slow start, taking just four shots in the first half, but Peyton Tollaksen and Annie McDonough each scored two goals in the second half to blow the game wide open.
UVA struck first with eight minutes left in the first half. Senior Amber Ezechiels sent in a shot off of a penalty corner and junior Adele Iacobucci deflected it in for her second goal of the season.
Offensive opportunities were difficult to come by in the first half of the game, with William & Mary only attempting one shot and Virginia only attempting four shots.
The Hoos were aggressive to start the second half, quickly earning a penalty corner just six minutes in. Senior Peyton Tollaksen collected the rebound off of the penalty corner shot and put it in to make it 2-0.
Just over one minute later, Virginia scored again on a goal by senior Annie McDonough, her first goal of the season. Junior Laura Janssen and McDonough got free on a breakaway and had only the goalie to beat. Janssen made the unselfish play and passed it to McDonough who scored easily to make it 3-0.
Sophomore Esha Shah assisted on another Annie McDonough goal with just three seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 4-0.
Tollaksen added her second goal of the game and third goal of the season on an assist by Annie McDonough midway through the fourth quarter to put the Cavaliers up by five.
“This game was the tale of two different halves,” said Virginia head coach Michele Madison. “We are able to move the ball well, draw some corners and capitalize on the set situations. Today was a total team effort against a well-coached William & Mary team.”
Virginia out-shot William & Mary 19-2 for the game, with 13 of UVA’s shots going on goal.
William & Mary put only one shot on goal, which was saved by Lauren Hausheer, who played the first three quarters in goal before being replaced by Tyler Kennedy with the game well in hand.
With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 2-1 on the season. Up next, Virginia will face another CAA opponent on Sunday at noon against Towson at the UVA Turf Field.