Cavaliers Top NC State 2-1 in Home Finale
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 7 Virginia women’s soccer team concluded the home portion of its regular season with a 2-1 win over NC State Thursday night before a senior night crowd of 1,049 at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers overcame allowing an early goal to improve to 12-3-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the ACC, while the Wolfpack fell to 7-11-0 and 1-8-0 in the conference.
“This was a difficult game and we needed to put in some hard work to get a result,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “Credit NC State for playing very well. It isn’t an easy thing to do, to play organized, disciplined soccer when you don’t have much to play for. The goal today was to get a win. We got that win and we need to learn some things from today as we move forward.”
The Wolfpack jumped out to the early lead in the fourth minute. After a foul near midfield, NC State keeper Kim Kern took the free kick and sent it into the area. The ball eluded every player in the box and found the back of the net to give the Wolfpack the early advantage. Virginia drew even 10 minutes later off its own long free kick. Cavalier goalkeeper Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) took a free kick near midfield that found Erica Hollenberg (Fairfax Station, Va.) at the top of the box, who took a touch and slotted home her second goal of the season, and her second in as many games. Jones’ assist was her first career assist.
The Cavaliers continued to pressure in the second half and got the go-ahead goal in the 67th minute. Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.) sent a through ball to Gloria Douglas (Fayetteville, N.C.), who buried her fourth goal of the season, the third that was a game-winner.
“It is tough to bounce back after allowing an early goal in the way that we did,” said Swanson. “I was pleased with our response. We weren’t our sharpest tonight, but we created enough chances to get the win.”
Overall, Virginia had a 25-7 edge in shots and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. Jones made three saves in goal for the Cavaliers, while Kern made nine saves at the other end for the Wolfpack.
The Cavaliers conclude the regular season on Sunday as they visit Clemson. Game time at Historic Riggs Field is 1 p.m.
No. 7 Virginia 2, NC State 1
NC State (7-11-0, 1-8-0) 1 0 – 1
#7 Virginia (12-3-2, 6-2-1) 1 1 – 2
Scoring Summary:
NCSU. Kim Kern 1 (unassisted) 4′
UVa. Erica Hollenberg 2 (Chantel Jones 1) 14′
UVa. Gloria Douglas 4 (Sinead Farrelly 7, Meghan Lenczyk 5) 67′
Shots: UVa 25, NCSU 7
Corners: UVa 7, NCSU 0
Saves: UVa 3 (Jones 3), NCSU 9 (Kern 9)
Fouls: UVa 10, NCSU 16
Offsides: UVa 2, NCSU 0
Attendance: 1049