Sept. 13, 2009
ATHENS, Ohio - The No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers came into Athens on fire Sunday, winning their first five games and riding into town after an 8-2 victory at Kent State on Friday. They kept up their offensive attack against the Bobcats, scoring five goals in the first half en route to a 5-0 win.
The Cavaliers struck early, with Piage Selenski scoring three minutes into the contest. The match then settled down for a few minutes as each team traded possession. Later on, the visitors found themselves peppering Courtney Seiders (Mt. Joy, Pa.) with multiple shots halfway through the period. Two of these shots, by Traci Ragukas and Haley Carpenter respectively, found the back of the net for the Cavaliers. Paige Selenski added two more in the first half--one of which via a penalty stroke--as the `Cats went into the locker room down 5-0.
Ohio came out of the locker room a different team and played a very solid second half. Jen McGill (Louisville, Ky.) made three saves in net and didn't allow any goals. The `Cats mustered four shots to Virginia's five in the second half, as well as creating two opportunities on penalty corners. Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) and Katherine Ballard (Charlottesville, Va.) led the way offensively for the Green and White, with each of them registering two shots. Sophomore Laine Greenawalt (Pottstown, Pa.) saw some significant time on the field and fired her second shot of the season.
"There's no surprise that they're ranked sixth in the country, but what is really frustrating is we just didn't play a good first half," said head coach Neil Macmillan. "In the second half we came out and showed that we can compete with teams like this. Until we start putting a full game together it's not going to be good for us."
The Bobcats now embark on a season-long seven game road trip, which begins on September 18 with Robert Morris and concludes on October 11 at Miami. The `Cats will then end the season with six consecutive home contests, five of which will be against teams in the Mid-American Conference.
