No. 12 Virginia Advances With 3-0 Win Over No. 11 Pepperdine
Nov. 17, 2017
LOS ANGELES – The No. 12 Virginia (13-5-4) women’s soccer team continued to advance in the NCAA Tournament, picking up a 3-0 win over No. 11 Pepperdine (15-3-3) on Friday night at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus.
With the win, Virginia advanced to the Round of 16 for the 13th consecutive season. It was the first time this season that a team scored more than one goal on the Waves.
With the win, the Cavaliers advance to face second-seeded and No. 4 UCLA. UCLA and Virginia faced each other earlier this season in Charlottesville. The Bruins picked up a 2-1 win over the Cavaliers in that match.
Veronica Latsko (Venetia, Pa.), Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) and Ayan Adu (Ashburn, Va.) scored the goals for the Cavaliers, while goalkeeper Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) posted her ninth solo shutout of the season.
“It was a really great performance; we started the game well, we managed the game well and we finished the game well against a very good Pepperdine team,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “It was a great performance. We executed our game plan and it was a great team effort. I’m really proud of our players because they have worked really hard and steadily improved. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come and we continue our strong play in our next game.”
Virginia wasted no time getting on the board, scoring on the first shot of the game for either team in the seventh minute. The Cavaliers converted off the set piece as Taylor Ziemer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) connected with Latsko in the box for the goal. Ziemer drove the service low into the box where an unmarked Latsko was able to head it in from three yards out for the 1-0 lead.
The Cavaliers continued to produce good pressure in the attacking third throughout the rest of the first half, putting together a 7-to-3 edge in shots on the way to the halftime lead.
The lead grew to 2-0 in the 66th minute when Brandon struck from 19 yards out. Brandon took the ball at the top of the box with her back to the goal, she settled the ball at her feet, turned and sent it in. Brandon tucked the shot in the upper left corner, past the hands of the leaping Pepperdine keeper to extend the Virginia advantage.
Virginia added a third goal in the 88th minute when Adu scored her first goal of the season. Latsko chased the ball down in the corner on the near side of the field and sent it back to Hana Kerner (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) just inside the box along the end line. Kerner dribbled in a few steps and sent it across to Adu, who knocked it in from just outside the six-yard box to cap the scoring for the Cavaliers.