Cavalier Women's Soccer Falls to Texas A&M in NCAA Round of 16
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Nov. 17, 2006
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Virginia women’s soccer team had its run in the NCAA Tournament come to an end Friday night with a 2-1 loss to Texas A&M at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. After upsetting two top-ten caliber teams to open the tournament, the Cavaliers couldn’t pull off a third win against one on the road.
“In this game, when you are playing in this environment against a team this strong, you must play well for 90 minutes,” head coach Steve Swanson said. “I thought we had the better of play for a lot of the game, but they had a span of three minutes where they scored twice and we couldn’t overcome that.”
In the first half, the Aggies took the lead in the 20th minute as Ashley Pistorius one-timed a cross from Laura Grace Robinson into the net to give Texas A&M the lead. Three minutes later, the Aggies added a second goal as Amy Berand sent a ball over the top that found Elisabeth Jones, who scored on the breakaway. The Cavaliers cut the lead in half in the 39th minute, as Kristen Weiss (Brecksville, Ohio) sent a cross that found Jen Redmond (Morristown, N.J.), who slid and one-timed the ball just inside the far post. Virginia nearly tied the game in the 40th minute as Nikki Lieb (Villanova, Pa.) had her point blank shot saved off the line and her rebound hit the post. The score would remain 2-1 in favor of the Aggies at halftime.
In the second half, both teams had chances to score early in the half, but neither could advantage. In the 85th minute, the Cavaliers had a chance off a corner kick, but Jess Rostedt’s (Kent, Ohio) shot was saved off the line. The Aggies were able to hold off the Cavaliers for the rest of the game to secure their 2-1 win.
The Cavaliers outshot the Aggies 14-11 in the contest and had a 5-0 corner kick advantage. Christina de Vries (Westlake Village, Calif.) made three saves in net for Virginia, while Kristin Arnold made four in net for the Aggies.
“I am proud of our team,” Swanson said. “They could have packed it in down 2-0, but they kept fighting and got back into the game. That’s what we kept doing all season. We had a lot of adversity, and each time we got back up and kept fighting. That is something for our team to be proud of.”
The Cavaliers conclude the season with a 12-8-2 record, while Texas A&M (17-5-1) advances to play the North Carolina-Tennessee winner in the quarterfinals next weekend.
#18 Texas A&M 2, Virginia 1
Virginia (12-8-2) 1 0 1#18 Texas A&M (17-5-1) 2 0 2
Scoring Summary1. TAMU. Pistorius, 15 (Robinson) 20’2. TAMU. Jones, 3 (Berand) 23’3. UVa. Redmond, 4 (Weiss) 39′
Caution SummaryTAMU: Robinson (YC-90)
UVa TAMUShots: 14 11Corners: 5 0Saves: 3 6Fouls: 9 6
Weather: 60 degrees, clearAttendance: 1,958
Game Notes: The game marked Virginia’s ever contest in the Lone Star State … the game was the final career game for de Vries, Kara Frederick, Lieb, and Weiss … de Vries ends her career with the Cavalier records for career shutouts (31) and goals against average (0.780).