No. 4 Cavaliers Top Liberty 5-0
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CHARLOTTESVILLE The fourth ranked Virginia women’s soccer team recorded its fourth consecutive shutout, downing Liberty 5-0 Friday night at Klckner Stadium. Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.) had two goals and Shannon Foley (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif,) had two assists to lead the Cavaliers to their fifth win of the season.
“I think we got a little impatient in the first half,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “They did a good job of minimizing our space and we had to adjust to that. The first goal settled us down and in the second half I thought we did a much better job of taking what they gave us. I was happy a that a lot of players were able to get some minutes and our depth really came through for us tonight.”
The Cavaliers (5-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute of play. Farrelly stepped in front of a clearance attempt, controlled the ball and fired a shot from 15 yards out into the far side netting. That score would be the only goal of the first half, as Virginia led 1-0 despite a 10-2 shot advantage.
The second half, the Cavaliers tallied four goals to make the final score 5-0. In the 57th minute, Kelly Quinn (Dublin, Ohio) dribbled to the end line before firing a cross through the box that Caitlin Miskel (Boca Raton, Fla.) tapped in for her first goal of the season. In the 63rd minute, Farrelly made the score 3-0 as she headed in a cross from Foley. It was Foley’s 31st career assist, giving her sole possession of the Virginia school record. Foley added another assist five minutes later as Quinn headed in her corner kick to make the score 4-0. Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.) concluded the scoring in the 79th minute, on the first career assists for Kristin Bowers (Burke, Va.) and Amy Hemenway (Charlottesville, Va.).
Virginia outshot Liberty 24-4 in the game and had a 12-2 corner kick advantage. Cavalier goalkeepers Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) and Celeste Miles (Garland, Texas) made three saves to combine for the sixth Cavalier shutout this season. Ashley Nyholt made seven saves in net for Liberty (0-5-0).
The victory was the 300th all-time win in school history. The Cavaliers join North Carolina, Connecticut, Santa Clara, Notre Dame and Portland as the only programs to reach the 300 win milestone.
The Cavaliers will conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule on Sunday, as they host No. 24 William & Mary (5-2-0). Game time at Klckner Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
#4 Virginia 5, Liberty 0
Liberty (0-5-0) 0 0 0
#4 Virginia (5-1-1) 1 4 5
Scoring Summary
1. UVa. Farrelly, 3 (unassisted) 19’
2. UVa. Miskel, 2 (Quinn, 1) 57’
3. UVa. Farrelly, 4 (Foley, 4) 63’
4. UVa. Quinn, 3 (Foley, 5) 68’
5. UVa. Lenczyk, 3 (Bowers, 1; Hemenway, 1) 79’
UVa LU
Shots: 24 4
Corners: 12 2
Saves: 3 7
Fouls: 12 4
Cautions: none
Weather: 76 degrees, clear
Attendance: 945
NOTES: Farrelly’s two goals are a career-high … Foley now leads the team with five assists, and extended her school record for a career to 32 … the Cavaliers have shutout six of their first seven opponents of the year … with Bowers and Hemenway recording their first career assists, the Cavaliers have now had 17 different players record a point this year … the Cavaliers are 5-0-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 20-0 … Virginia has now won 15 consecutive games against in-state opponents, outscoring them 59-1 in those games.