Near-miss for Cavs at home

Virginia desperately needed a marquee win Sunday afternoon to cap a roller coaster regular season.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, No. 1 Northwestern wasn’t keen on obliging.
After burning up around three minutes of clock with time winding down and the game deadlocked, Northwestern star Hannah Nielsen bypassed a set play for the Wildcats and caught Virginia’s defense out of postion. Nielsen, the nation’s reigning Tewaarton trophy winner, then wrapped around the Virginia goal to bury what became the game-winning tally with one minute and 31 seconds to play in Northwestern’s 11-10 victory over Virginia.
“It’s a heartbreaker,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “It would’ve been a huge win for us.”
No. 10 Virginia (10-6) got a final chance after Nielsen’s goal when Jenny Hauser nabbed a ground ball on a forced turnover. Hauser quickly raced up field before Virginia called a timeout to workout a final play.
After a few quick passes, the ball landed in Kaitlin Duff’s stick with 8.3 seconds left and the speedy junior drew a foul and a free position chance. Another whistle blew though on the restart as Duff was hit with an infraction for jumping the whistle.
“It looked to me like everybody kind of moved at the same time,” Myers said. “I was looking for Duff going to goal and all of the sudden everyone was stopped again. It did not seem that blatant but apparently it was.
“I’m sure the official wouldn’t have called it if she didn’t see something worth calling.”
Northwestern (15-0) took possession and burned the final seconds off before celebrating the squad’s narrowest victory of the season. Before Sunday, only North Carolina and Duke had clawed within single digits of the Wildcats, losing by five and six goals, respectively.
“This was a great challenge, and we knew they were going to give us a great matchup,” said Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.
The Wildcats appeared to be in even more dire straits in the first half when Virginia jumped out to a 6-3 lead on a Whitaker Hagerman free position shot with 6:21 to play.
A Northwestern timeout and four-straight goals in the final 5:30 of the first half ended that early Cavalier threat though as Northwestern managed to steal a 7-6 lead going into the lockeroom on a Nielsen finish with 4 seconds left.
“We came out of that timeout really strong,” Hiller said. “[The run] gave our girls confidence in terms of being down and being able to fight back.”
The Wildcats haven’t trailed at the half all season. Katrina Dowd paced Northwestern with a hat trick, while Nielsen dished out three assists to go with her two goals.
A rash of unforced turnovers by both squads dominated most of the game, with the Wildcats committing 16 mistakes and Virginia turning the ball over 14 times, including some key spots down the stretch.
“I think every possession carried so much importance for both teams that I think the mental aspect got involved,” Myers said. “It was hard work, you have to work so hard just to keep the ball moving.”
Blair Weymouth led the Virginia charge, playing with a sense of focus and determination against the Wildcats from the opening draw. Her first goal came on a one-man fastbreak, where two quick but controlled changes of direction left her with an open shot. The senior poured in four goals in what could be her final game at Klockner Stadium depending on how things shake out for Virginia come NCAA tournament time.
Duff finished with a hat trick and an assist, while Whit Hagerman had a pair of goals.
Virginia now has to zero in on Virginia Tech on Thursday in the opening round of the ACC tournament.
The Cavaliers will surely need a win over the Hokies and may need to beat Maryland in the semifinals in order to wedge their way into the NCAA field. A win over the Wildcats would have surely sewn up a bid and could’ve given Virginia a home opener in the tournament.