Virginia Blasts No. 6 Maryland 4-1 in ACC Opener
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 14 Virginia women’s soccer team opened ACC play Thursday night with a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Maryland at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers, who won their ACC opener for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, improve to 7-1-1 overall (1-0 ACC). The Terrapins suffered their first loss of the season, falling to 6-1-2 overall (0-1 ACC).
Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) scored twice to lead the Cavaliers, as she posted her second multi-goal game of the season.
“That was a terrific win against a great Maryland team,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “That was a team that had only given up one goal all year and we put four on them. Our attack deserves credit for creating a lot of chances and finishing them. I thought this was our most consistent game of the season and we learned a lot from our mistakes last weekend. We can take a lot of confidence from this type of performance.”
Virginia took the lead in the 14th minute of play. Molly Menchel’s (Alexandria, Va.) cross found Gloria Douglas (Fayetteville, N.C.) at the top of the six-yard box, who trapped it and slotted it past the keeper for her fourth goal of the season. The Cavaliers took that 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Cavaliers doubled their lead in the 49th minute as Miller scored her first goal of the night. Her shot from the top of the 18-yard box was blocked by a defender but came right back to her, and she curled her rebound effort just inside the far post. Maryland cut the lead in half in the 56th minute as Olivia Wagner’s free kick from just outside the penalty area pinballed off a defender in the box and into the net for her fifth goal of the season. Virginia answered four minutes later with Miller’s second of the night and team-leading ninth of the season. She headed a shot off the crossbar, but for the second time on the night took her own rebound and scored on the second-effort. The Cavaliers closed out the scoring in the 77th minute as first-year Kaili Torres (Fleming Island, Fla.) scored her first-career goal.
Virginia outshot Maryland 18-6 and had a 3-0 corner kick edge. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) made two saves for the Cavaliers, while Yewande Balogun made one save for the Terrapins.
The Cavaliers, who concluded a season-opening nine-game homestand on Thursday, will play its road opener Sunday as they visit No. 18 Boston College. Game time at the Newton Soccer Field is 1 p.m.
#14 Virginia 4, #6 Maryland 1
#6 Maryland (6-1-2, 0-1-0) 0 1 – 1
#14 Virginia (7-1-1, 1-0-0) 1 3 – 4
Scoring Summary
1. UVa. Gloria Douglas 4 (Molly Menchel 4, Erica Hollenberg 6) 14′
2. UVa. Caroline Miller 8 (unassisted) 49′
3. Md. Olivia Wagner 5 (unassisted) 56′
4. UVa. Caroline Miller 9 (unassisted) 60′
5. UVa. Kaili Torres 1 (Gloria Douglas 6, Morgan Brian 3) 77′
Shots: UVa 18, Md 6
Corners: UVa 3, Md 0
Saves: UVa 2 (Chantel Jones 2), Md 1 (Yewande Balogun 1)
Fouls: UVa 10, Md 12
Attendance: 848