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Aug. 30, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Gillian Hatch (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.) scored her first career goal on an 87th minute free kick to lift the No. 11 Virginia women’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over No. 18 West Virginia at Kl?ckner Stadium. The win in the season opener was by the same 1-0 margin in which the Cavaliers defeated the Mountaineers in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
“We have a strong rivalry with West Virginia and we got the tough game that we expected,” stated Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “We found out a lot about our team today with the effort they put forth. These two teams are so evenly matched it came down to who took advantage of their chances, and Gillian made one count for us.”
The game was a defensive struggle for the entire 90 minutes with each team only registering nine shots. West Virginia’s Chrissie Abbott and Virginia’s Noelle Keselica (Gaithersburg, Md.) had the majority of the chances, accounting for eight and five shots respectively. The lone goal of the game came late as West Virginia committed a foul outside the box. Hatch took the free kick that deflected off the Mountaineer wall and into the upper corner of the net.
Fourth-year goalkeeper Anne Abernethy (Atlanta, Ga.) made four saves in recording her 12th career shutout. Lana Bannerman made two saves for West Virginia.
The Cavaliers will host William & Mary in their next game on Monday, September 1. Game time at Kl?ckner Stadium is 7:00 p.m.
Virginia 1, West Virginia 0
| Scoring | 1 | 2 | F |
| No. 18 West Virginia (0-1, 0-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 11 Virginia (1-0, 0-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1. UVa Hatch 86:49
Shots: UVa. 9, WVU 9
Corners: UVa. 3, WVU 5
Saves: UVa. 4, WVU 2
Fouls: UVa. 9, WVU 7
Attendence: 656