Courtesy: Pete Emerson/UVa Media Relations Lauren Alwine
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s soccer team concluded the regular season Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Miami at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers got two second half goals and posted their fourth consecutive shutout to improve to 9-5-4 overall (4-4-2 ACC) and clinch a berth on the ACC Tournament.
“This win capped a tremendous weekend for our team,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “It has been a while since we had a couple good performances in a row and were rewarded with victories for them, so to win today after the Florida State win on Friday is a good feeling. This gives us a lot of momentum heading into the ACC Tournament.”
The first half was completely dominated by the Cavaliers, outshooting the Hurricanes 13-1 before intermission. However, Virginia couldn’t take advantage of those chances and the game remained scoreless at the break. The Cavaliers continued the pressure in the second half and it paid off in the 54th minute. Lauren Alwine’s (Elizabethtown, Pa.) shot rattled the post and the rebound came right to Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.), who scored her seventh goal of the season. Virginia continued to have the better of chances and added an insurance goal in the 81st minute. Kika Toulouse (Arlington, Va.) sent a free kick into the box that fell to Alwine, who slotted home her sixth goal of the season.
“We did a good job in the first half of getting a hold of the game and playing at a good tempo,” said Swanson. “We were knocking on the door and we just didn’t make that last play to get a better chance at goal. I was confident we would get one and in the second half we settled down a little a got better looks. Lauren blasted her shot off the post and it fell right to Sinead, who just buried it. That was the goal we needed.”
Overall, Virginia had a 24-5 shot advantage, and a 10-2 corner kick edge. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) made two saves in net to record her fourth consecutive shutout and her eighth of the season. Vikki Alonzo made four saves for the Hurricanes.
“This was like a NCAA Tournament weekend for us because of the results we needed to get,” said Swanson. “To get a pair of wins says a lot about our team and certainly helped our postseason chances.”
The Cavaliers travel to Cary, N.C. next week for the ACC Tournament. Play begins Wednesday with the quarterfinals at the WakeMed Soccer Park. Pairings and times will be announced on Monday by the ACC.
Full Scoreboard
Courtesy: Pete Emerson/UVa Media Relations