Courtesy: Matt Riley / UVa Media Relations Nikki Krzysik
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s soccer team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-1 opening round win over Loyola (Md.) Friday night at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers, who improved to 12-3-6 with the win meet William & Mary (15-4-2) in the second round Sunday.
“This was a good win for our team,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “We were able to get back to playing our style of soccer. In the first half we were a little ragged but we were tactically smarter in the second half. Give Loyola credit, they are a great team and had showed why they were good enough to get some results against ACC teams this season. I think in the second half our depth allowed us to wear them down.
The teams played to a scoreless first half with Virginia outshooting Loyola (10-6-5) 7-3 before the break. Virginia took the lead in the 51st minute as Nikki Krzysik (Clifton, N.J.) made a run forward, played a give-and-go with Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.) and slid a shot inside the far post for her third goal of the season. Less than two minutes later the Greyhounds answered. Theresa Ferraina dribbled to the edge of the box, cut back towards the middle and fired a shot into the net to tie the game. Virginia retook the lead three minutes later. Caitlin Miskel’s (Boca Raton, Fla.) cross was tapped by Lenczyk to Kelly Quinn (Dublin, Ohio), who fired the ball into the upper corner for her seventh goal of the season. In the 74th minute, Shannon Foley (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) received a ball on the far sideline, dribbled down the end line to the six-yard box before placing a shot into the net for her team-leading ninth goal of the year. Julia Falk (Clifton, Va.) closed the scoring in the 89th minute as she fired a cross from Amy Hemenway (Charlottesville, Va.) just under the crossbar for her fourth goal of the season.
“I think their depth did get to us in the second half,” said Loyola head coach John Byford. “They used a lot of players and we didn’t make a substitution. If we could have held the score at 1-1 for a little while longer, I think that it would have been closer at the end. (Quinn's goal) really took the wind out of our sails.”
Virginia outshot Loyola 19-4 in the contest and had a 6-1 corner kick advantage. Chantel Jones (Midlothian. Va.) made one save for the Cavaliers while Brittany Henderson made eight saves for Loyola.
The Cavaliers will meet William & Mary in the second round Sunday at Klöckner Stadium at 2 p.m. The Tribe defeated Georgetown 2-1 in the other first round game Friday in Charlottesville. The game will be a rematch of a 1-0 double overtime Cavalier victory on Sept. 23 at Klöckner Stadium.
NOTES: Virginia advances to the NCAA round of 32 for the 15th consecutive year ... only North Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, Penn State, and Notre Dame have also advanced to the round of 32 every year since the tournament expanded to 48 teams in 1998 (and later to 64 teams in 2001) ... Four of Julia Falk’s seven career goals have come in NCAA Tournament play ... Meghan Lenczyk had a career high two assists.
Full Scoreboard
Courtesy: Matt Riley / UVa Media Relations
