Virginia Field Hockey has never advanced to the NCAA Championship game, despite three semifinals appearances. Today, in their fourth try, the Cavaliers put it all out on the field and opened with a 2-0 run against the defending national champions, No. 2 North Carolina. After taking the Tar Heels into sudden death overtime, the Cavaliers fell 4-3, thanks to a Carolina penalty corner.
The Tar Heels had responded to Virginia’s first half run with a 3-0 run of their own. The ‘Hoos hit the equalizer in the 52nd minute. All three of Virginia’s goals came from junior midfielder Paige Selenski , giving her 27 goals on the season. Heading into this game, she was ranked 5th in the country in goals per game.
North Carolina scored in the 5th minute of overtime on a penalty corner by Elizabeth Drazdowski to Meghan Dawson, who dribbled the ball into the circle to beat the keeper to the right.
Virginia concludes their season 18-4, with three of those losses coming to North Carolina. The fourth loss came from No. 1 Maryland.