Virginia Blanks VCU 5-0 in Preseason Finale

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Virginia Blanks VCU 5-0 in Preseason Finale
Cavaliers open regular season Friday vs. Marshall

Alexis Shaffer

Aug. 18, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The third-ranked Virginia women's soccer team concluded its preseason schedule Monday with a 5-0 exhibition victory over VCU at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers had five different goal scorers on the evening, including three making their first home appearance for Virginia.

Sophomore transfers Tina Iordanou (Upper Brookville, N.Y.) and Meghan Cox (Springfield, Va.), who came from Vanderbilt and James Madison, respectively, each notched their first goal as a Cavalier. First-year Veronica Latsko (Venetia, Pa.) added a goal and junior Kaili Torres (Fleming Island, Fla.) recorded a goal and an assist for the second straight preseason game. Sophomore Kristen McNabb (Montville, N.J.) also scored for Virginia.

"I think we looked at this game at where we are now compared to our first practice," said head coach Steve Swanson. "We made some progress tonight. We weren't all that sharp in our last exhibition against Michigan State, but I thought we were better tonight in terms of dictating tempo and making good decisions. A lot of players were able to get some quality minutes, so from that perspective, tonight was everything you could ask for in an exhibition."

The Cavaliers took the lead in the 13th minute as quick passing between Morgan Reuther (Chantilly, Va.) and Brittany Ratcliffe (Williamstown, N.J.) set up a one-time shot for Torres, who buried her second goal of the preseason. McNabb doubled the lead in the 23rd minute when she knocked in a rebound after Emily Sonnett's (Marietta, Ga.) header was saved. Six minutes later Latsko extended the lead to 3-0 as she took a pass from Torres, beat the keeper and placed a shot into the vacated net less than two minutes after entering the game.

Virginia added a pair of second half goals on headers off corner kicks from Alexis Shaffer (Cary, N.C.). Cox scored her goal in the 73rd minute and Iordanou followed with her goal in the 79th minute.

Overall, Virginia outshot VCU 29-1 and held an 18-1 corner kick advantage. Morgan Stearns (San Antonio, Texas) and Jessie Ferrari (Fairfax, Va.) each played a half in goal for the Cavaliers to post the shutout.

The Cavaliers' regular season schedule begins on Friday, Aug. 22 as they host Marshall. Game time at Klöckner Stadium is 7 p.m.

VCU 0 0 - 0
#3 Virginia 3 2 - 5

Scoring Summary
1. UVa. Kaili Torres (Brittany Ratcliffe, Morgan Reuther) 13'
2. UVa. Kristen McNabb (Emily Sonnett) 23'
3. UVa. Veronica Latsko (Kaili Torres) 29'
4. UVa. Meghan Cox (Alexis Shaffer) 73'
5. UVa. Tina Iordanou (Alexis Shaffer) 79'