UMW notebook: Field hockey takes home inaugural CFHC tournament title
While Mary Washington field hockey missed out on being one of 16 teams to make the Division III NCAA tournament as the field was announced earlier this week, the Eagles did end their season on a high over the weekend.
UMW was one of four teams in the inaugural Collegiate Field Hockey Conference (CFHC) tournament in Sewanee, Tennessee, defeating Centre College in the semifinals and Rhodes College in the final.
The Eagles (13-7) out-scored opponents, 12-4, in the tournament, building up a 6-1 lead in the final before a late Rhodes charge, which came up short in the end.
Grayson Scott scored four goals in the tournament final and five in the tournament overall while Emma Bernard scored a hat trick in the semis against Centre.
Men's soccer
Mary Washington solidified itself as the best team in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, winning the conference championship in extra time over Christopher Newport on Sunday, 3-2.
Carter Berg scored twice in the win, including the game-winner in added time after the Captains equalized in the 89th minute at 2-2.
This season's conference tournament was a tight one for the No. 1 Eagles, defeating Salisbury in penalties after being tied 1-1 after both overtime periods.
It took seven rounds of penalties to decide a winner, but after the Sea Gulls skied the net for a second time in the shootout, it clinched victory for UMW, set to host NCAA tournament action this weekend.
Women's soccer
UMW's playoff journey ended early in the C2C tournament semifinals, losing to UC Santa Cruz, the eventual tournament champions, 3-2.
That result marked the end of the season for the Eagles (9-6-4), who missed out on an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament as the full bracket was announced on Monday.
Mary Washington had a potential opportunity to equalize in the final minute of play after Ellen Shine scored her third goal of the season to make it a one-goal match, but the Eagles couldn't finish the comeback in time.
Mary Washington closed out the regular season on a high note after a straight-set loss Thursday against Christopher Newport.
The Eagles won two-straight matches, one in four sets against Averett and a five-set thriller against Berry (Ga.) to head into the C2C tournament with a 14-15 record.
Sunday's regular season finale was a tight one as UMW pulled out the fifth set, 15-13, but struggled offensively overall, recording 57 kills and hitting .169 as a team.
UMW will take on Salisbury in the conference semifinals on Friday evening, having gone 0-2 against the Sea Gulls and taken one set in two matches overall in the regular season.
Men's basketball
UMW men's basketball began its 2024-25 campaign over the weekend at the Virginia Wesleyan Tipoff Tournament, going 1-1.
The Eagles opened up with an 85-71 win over Kean as three players finished with 12 or more points, led by Zack Blue and Jadon Burgess, who both had 16 points in the win. UMW shot 52.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the perimeter against the Cougars.
That success didn't translate into Saturday's game against Virginia Wesleyan, a 65-48 loss where the Eagles shot 34 percent from the field and 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from three.
Mary Washington will head to Ohio this weekend for the Marietta Tipoff Tournament.
Women's basketball
Mary Washington women's basketball got its new season kicked off in Harrisonburg with the Eastern Mennonite Tipoff Tournament over the weekend.
The Eagles went 0-2, struggling to score as through two games, UMW is shooting 34.1 percent from the field and 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) from 3-point range. That included shooting under 30 percent overall against Eastern Mennonite and just 2 of 16 from beyond the arc.
That game saw Mary Washington take a 52-50 lead with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter, but went 0 for 5 from the field and 0 for 2 from the foul line the rest of the way.
UMW hosts Randolph-Macon for its season opener on Wednesday evening.
Both UMW men's and women's swimming came away with victories against Frostburg State on Saturday, a comfortable 163-99 victory for the women and a tight 132-130 victory for the men.
The Eagles had eight victories on the women's side, including multiple victories from Madison Kryszon and Spera Moy-Jacobs, and equaled that total on the men's side as Sam Roundtree led all swimmers with three individual wins in the meet.
Mary Washington heads to St. Mary's (Md.) for its next meet on Friday evening.
Alex Murphy
on X
Sports reporter
