Virginia Field Hockey Falls to Iowa via Shootout in NCAA Round of 16

UVA's season came to an end in the Round of 16 with a heartbreaking loss to the Hawkeyes on Friday night in Evanston

Virginia Athletics

The 2022 Virginia field hockey season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion as the Cavaliers fell to Iowa in a shootout in the Round of 16 of the 2022 NCAA Field Hockey Championship on Friday night in Evanston, Illinois. 

As the clock dwindled down at the end of the first half, only one shot had been taken so far as neither team could generate much offensive pressure against either of these stout defenses. That lone shot from UVA's Laura Janssen was saved by Iowa goalkeeper Mia Magnotta midway through the first quarter to keep things scoreless. 

Then, with just 34 seconds remaining in the half, Iowa's Esme Gibson took her team's first shot of the game and it deflected off the stick of a UVA defender and found its way into the back of the cage to give the Hawkeyes the lead heading into halftime. 

Adele Iacobucci put another shot on goal for Virginia in the third period, but Magnotta was there to make the save again to preserve Iowa's 1-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

With the season on the line, Virginia finally found the equalizing goal just 17 seconds into the fourth period. Taryn Tkachuk chased down the initial lob pass and sent a crisp pass to Laura Janssen inside the shooting circle. Janssen blasted a shot towards the cage that, like Iowa's goal, deflected off the stick of a Hawkeye defender before finding its mark to tie the match at one goal apiece. The goal was Janssen's 12th of the season as the team's leading goal-scorer.

Each team would take one more shot in the fourth quarter, but neither went on cage as the match went to overtime. The same can be said for the first overtime period, as both teams took a single shot that did not require a save. In the second overtime, however, Iowa turned up the pressure, taking four shots, two of which went on goal, but were saved by UVA goalkeeper Jet Trimborn to keep things tied up. 

The match then went to a shootout. Both teams followed the same path for the first six frames of the shootout, making their first two attempts, missing the third, making the fourth, and then missing the fifth and sixth. After the fifth frame, the shootout becomes sudden death, with the next successful attempt automatically ending the match. The Cavaliers failed to convert on three-consecutive attempts, leaving the door wide open and the Hawkeyes eventually made them pay, as Lieve Schalk scored the game-winner on Iowa's 7th attempt to send Iowa into the quarterfinals. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team, not just today but the entire season," said UVA head coach Michele Madison. "They’ve supported themselves and supported me, showed up every day like they showed up today. It’s really tough to take when you don’t do anything wrong, except you just don’t win the game. And that’s what’s the hardest to take, I think, for everybody.”

Virginia ends the 2022 field hockey season with a 13-8 overall record. The Cavaliers reached the ACC Championship Game for the second-consecutive season and secured a bid to the NCAA Championship for the 14th time in the tenure of Michele Madison at Virginia and 26th time in program history. 

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