Oct. 13, 2013

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The No. 5 Virginia field hockey team suffered its first loss of the season to a non-conference opponent as William & Mary earned a 2-1 victory on Sunday (Oct. 13) at Turf Field in Charlottesville.

William & Mary took one shot in the first half, with Pippin Saunders scoring a goal off that shot 7:49 into the contest. William & Mary added to the 1-0 lead with a second goal with 8:56 remaining in the game.

Junior Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) tipped in a pass from senior Carissa Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) after a penalty corner 1:45 later to pull the Cavaliers back to within one. With 2:12 remaining in the game, the Cavaliers got another penalty corner and appeared to score the game-tying goal on the play, but the goal was whistled off by the referee because the ball did not travel out of the circle on the insertion before the shot was taken.

"The play at the end was unfortunate, but that wasn't why we lost the game," said head coach Michele Madison. "If we had played with that urgency the whole game, I think the result would have been different. We need to be a little more hungry on our attack opportunities and a little bit smarter with how we play the ball in the attacking circle."

Virginia outshot William & Mary, 18-5, including an 11-1 first-half differential. Virginia had 12 penalty corners, with the squad's lone goal coming off one of those opportunities. The Tribe had one short corner, scoring their second goal off of it.

William & Mary improved to 6-7. Virginia fell to 14-3. It was the first time this season the Cavaliers lost to a non-conference opponent and was also the first lost this year for UVa to an unranked team.

LeBlanc's goal was her second in as many games. She also scored the game-winner on Friday night in Virginia's 2-1 double-overtime victory over Boston College. Vittese's assist was her fifth of the season.

Junior goalkeeper Jenny Johnstone (Paisley, Scotland) made two saves. William & Mary's Cate Johnson logged eight saves.

The Cavaliers have one home game remaining on the schedule as they host No. 7 Duke (10-3, 2-1 ACC) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. The game will be preceded by the annual Senior Day celebration. Admission is free for all 2013 Virginia field hockey regular-season home games.