Field Hockey Finishes Regular Season with Upset Win Over Duke

The 2011 Field Hockey season has not gone as the players, fans or coach Michele Madison would have hoped. But according to Madison, the team never gave up. 

That never give up attitude was on display Saturday as Virginia hosted the sixth-ranked Duke Blue Devils on the turf field in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers and Blue Devils traded scores in both halves and ended regulation in a 2-2 tie. After two scoreless overtimes, the game came down to penalty strokes.

The penalty stroke session started off evenly, with both teams making their first three strokes. When the fourth and fifth Duke players missed their strokes, the Cavalier players streamed onto the field and celebrated their first ACC win of the season (take a look at a celebration photo here).

Junior Britt Knouse and Freshman Rachel Sumfest scored the two goals in regulation for the Cavaliers. Sophomore Elly Buckley assisted on both goals. The penalty strokes by Virginia were made by Freshman Jess Orrett and Sophomores Carissa Vittese, Chloe Pendlebury and Buckley. Nice to see the youngsters being involved in the big win.

In an ironic twist, the Blue Devils will get another shot at the Cavaliers on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championships. Virginia is the sixth seed, while Duke is the third seed. That game will be at 3:30pm in College Park, MD. If Virginia manages to beat the Blue Devils a second time, they'll face second seed and host Maryland at 3:30pm on Friday. The Championship match is Sunday at 1pm.