Virginia Field Hockey starts Strong with 5-1 Win Over Penn State

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The no. 3 Virginia field hockey team (1-0, 0-0 ACC) kicked off the 2025 season with an impressive 5-1 victory against No. 18 Penn State (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) on Friday (Aug. 29) at turf Field. It was a dominant performance to start the year.

Freshman Caroline Raynes and Lauren Sloan both scored their frist career goals in the win,adding to the offensive firepower.

Goals (Assist)

11:17 Virginia – Sloan Davidson (Mia abello)
13:24 Virginia – Caroline Raynes (unassisted)
15:44 Penn State – Natalie Freeman (Morgan Snyder)
32:13 Virginia – Suze Leemans (unassisted)
47:59 Virginia – Amelie Rees (Lauren Sloan)
58:51 Virginia – Lauren Sloan (Lauren Kenah)

How It Happened

The Cavaliers came out strong in the first quarter, capitalizing on two penalty corners.Senior Sloan Davidson opened the scoring, tipping in a pass from junior Mia Abello to give Virginia a 1-0 lead. Promptly following, freshman Caroline Raynes found the back of the net on another corner, scoring her first collegiate goal.

Penn state responded early in the second quarter with a goal from Natalia Freeman, assisted by Morgan Snyder. The rest of the second quarter saw limited action, punctuated by a green card issued to Penn State’s Anouk Knevers.

Graduate student suze Leemans didn’t waste any time in the second half, scoring just two minutes into the third quarter. Virginia continued to build momentum, with Amelie Rees scoring off a feed from Lauren Sloan. Sloan then sealed the victory with a goal of her own,assisted by Lauren kenah,bringing the final score to 5-1.