Cavalier Women's Soccer Advances to NCAA Third Round with 1-0 Win at West Virginia
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Nov. 17, 2002
MORGANTOWN, WV – In a battle on a muddy field in a constant rain in Morgantown, W. Va. the Virginia women’s soccer team eliminated the tournament’s No. 5 seed West Virginia 1-0 Sunday. Junior Sarah Lane (Wheaton, Ill.) scored the game’s lone goal just seconds before halftime as the Cavaliers shut out the Mountaineers to advance to the third round.
For most of the first half, the teams slopped through the mud with both teams finding little success putting passes together. After over 44 minutes of battling scoreless in the rain and mud, the Cavaliers struck seconds before halftime. After a through ball was sent into the West Virginia box, the ball bounced off the keeper and out of the box to Sarah Lane. Lane took a touch and fired a shot into the vacated net from 25 yards out with five seconds remaining in the first half. Virginia outshot West Virginia 7-4 in the first half and took the 1-0 lead into the break.
West Virginia came out in the second half and the better of play outshooting the Cavaliers 14-2 in the second half. However, the Virginia defense and sophomore goalkeeper Anne Abernethy (Atlanta, Ga.) kept the Mountaineers off the scoreboard. Abernethy finished with a season-high six saves as she posted her sixth shutout of the year.
“You couldn’t play soccer today, it was just a battle,” Virginia head soccer coach Steve Swanson said of the conditions. “It was going to be a game where one break could win the game. We got one on a great goal by Sarah and we played well defensively at the other end. I couldn’t be prouder of this team and how they played in these conditions against a quality team.”
Virginia advances to the third round against Penn State, a 2-1 winner over Maryland in other second round action on Sunday. Location and gametime will be announced later.
| Scoring | 1 | 2 | F |
| Virginia (13-6-2) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| (5) West Virginia (18-3-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1. UVa. Lane 44:55
Shots: UVa 11, WVU 18Corner Kicks: UVa 2, WVU 5Saves: UVa 6, WVU 7Fouls: UVa 17, WVU 12Attendance: 623