The William and Mary field hockey team put up a terrific fight Tuesday night before a horde of screaming fans, but came up just short in a 2-0 loss to ninth-ranked Virginia.  The Tribe falls to 5-1 on the year, while the Cavaliers improved to 6-2 overall.

Box Score

W&M dominated possession through much of the match and seemed very much on the cusp of a breakthrough goal especially late in the first half.  UVA jumped on the board first and early, with a goal just over one minute in, but the Tribe responded immediately with three shots in the next 90 seconds that forced the Cavalier goalkeeper to make tough saves on all three.

That state of play continued throughout the first half, with the home team maintaining control of play and taking 14 shots to Virginia's four, most on-frame.  The best chances came just before the break, with W&M on a power-play after a Virginia yellow card.  Senior speedster Ashley Kyle (San Diego, Calif.) stole a pass and sprinted out a 1v1 breakaway against the goalkeeper with the defense in hot pursuit.  The moment needed to elude the keeper allowed a defender to slip in and make an acrobatic defensive save of Kyle's shot, but the rebound came back out to Kyle, who was sprawled out on the ground.  Her second shot slid past the goalmouth just wide, and rolled along the sideline as the rest of the players finally caught up to the play.  Freshman Pip Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) ended up with the ball and took a shot of her own, but it sailed just past the near post and out-of-bounds.

Coming out of intermission, the Tribe quickly earned its fifth corner of the match towards the end of the 37th minute, and generated another terrific scoring chance.  Senior Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) unleashed one of her patented rockets into the lower left corner of the goal, but it was just an fraction of the inch wide and banged off the post.  From there, both defenses settled in and denied the scoring area, allowing only four more shots for the entire rest of the match.  As time began winding down and W&M began taking more chances to try and score a tying goal, Virginia was able to slip a second goal in with just under two-and-a-half minutes left, and set the final margin.

For the match, The Tribe outshot the Cavaliers 15-9, and also held a 5-3 advantage in penalty corners.  Senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Frey (Virginia Beach, Va.) made several great saves, five in fact, but was credited with the loss.

William and Mary returns to action on Friday night, Sept. 14, with a 7 p.m. match against the 11th-ranked Boston University Terriers at Busch Field.