Miami women’s field hockey upsets No. 4 UVA in 2025 NCAA DI tourney
Mia Abello (Virginia), Malena Sabez (Miami) and Justina Intzes (Miami) scored for the respecitve team on Friday.
Mia Abello executed a glamorous, textbook shot straight from the top of the circle on an attack penalty corner three minutes into the Cavaliers’ game against Miami Ohio to rev up the scoreboard in Charlottesville, Virginia during the First Round of the 2025 NCAA Division I field hockey tournament.
On the other end of the quarter, with just over two minutes remaining in play, the Redhawks’ stat leaders Malena Sabez and Justina Intzes knotted things up on an attack penalty corner that Riley Mazzalupi earned.
Following the insert, a backdoor pass to Sabez from Intzes allowed Sabez to draw two Virginia corner defenders to overcommit, which allowed her to create the space she needed to set up her shot. She ripped a powerful reverse that hit the inside pad of Cavaliers goalie Nilou Lempers.
The ball bounced into the cage to make the score 1-1 going into the second quarter. The game winner was scored with 21 minutes remaining in the game.
It was again Intzes, who scored using a drag flick on an attack penalty corner with just over six minutes remaining in the third.
Miami Ohio will play the winner of Northwestern versus Yale.
Miami field hockey
The Redhawks may not have been the flashiest team during the regular season, but they have set a precedence in the Mid-American Conference.
They beat Massachusetts, a 2024 Final Four contender and new to the MAC after moving from the Atlantic-10 earlier this season, to win their eighth-straight MAC Tournament Title and 17th-consecutive conference championship overall.
Miami went ranked and unranked over the course of 11 weeks with their first appearance in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association in week one. They were ranked No. 20.
They disappeared from the poll in weeks two, three, and four. They returned in weeks five through 10, as they slowly moved up from 18, to 15, to 13 and finishing the season at No. 11 and 15-4.
The Redhawks are attack penalty corner stat leaders making them a threat in the circle.
Scores:
No. 1 North Carolina 2, Saint Joseph’s 1
No. 2 Princeton 3, Fairfield 1
No. 3 Harvard 8, New Hampshire 2
Miami (OH) 2, No. 4 Virginia 1
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