Cavaliers Fall to No. 1 Notre Dame 7-5 in Preseason Opener
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MAPLE CITY, Mich. – The No. 10 Virginia women’s soccer team opened its preseason schedule Friday afternoon with a 7-5 loss to No. 1 and reigning NCAA Champion Notre Dame at Myles Kimmerly Park. The game concluded the Cavaliers’ week-long training camp in Michigan.
The game was played in three 30-minute periods. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and the Fighting Irish led 5-4 after the second period.
“It was a bit of a crazy game,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “We had some elementary lapses on defense that are easily correctable. Notre Dame is not the type of team you can make those type of errors against and they punished us for each one. On the other end, we moved the ball very well and scored some great goals. We can take a lot away from this game, from what we did well offensively and what we learned defensively.”
After Notre Dame scored the opening goal of the contest, freshman midfielder Morgan Brian (St. Simons Island, Ga.) drew the Cavaliers even. Early in the second period, Virginia took a 2-1 lead on a goal by freshman Danielle Colaprico (Freehold, N.J.). Following a Notre Dame goal to tie the game at 2-2, the Cavaliers retook the lead on Brian’s second goal of the afternoon. The Fighting Irish answered with three consecutive goals to take a 5-3 lead before sophomore Amber Fry (Northfield, Ill.) scored to make it 5-4 at the end of 60 minutes. Notre Dame took a 7-4 lead in the final period before junior Erica Hollenberg (Fairfax Station, Va.) closed out the scoring.
The Cavaliers conclude their preseason schedule on Sunday as they host George Mason. Game time is 7 p.m. and it is the second game of a soccer doubleheader with the UVa men’s soccer team opening its preseason schedule at 5 p.m. against East Tennessee State. Tickets are $6 for reserved seats, $4 for general admission and $2 for youth, seniors and faculty/staff. One ticket is good for both matches.