No. 6 Virginia Takes 4-1 Victory Over No. 12 West Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –For the third consecutive match freshman Diana Ordonez (Prosper, Texas) came through with a multiple-goal performance, tallying a brace that included the game-winning goal, as No. 6 Virginia (4-0-0) defeated No. 12 West Virginia (2-2-0) at Klöckner Stadium on Sunday (Sept. 1).
Ordonez struck the first two goals of the match before Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) added the third goal for the Cavaliers on the afternoon. An own goal provided the fourth goal of the afternoon in the Virginia scoring column as the Cavaliers picked up the win.
Through four matches this season, Ordonez has a team-leading eight goals. The win over the Mountaineers marked the third straight in the series for Virginia and the fourth time this season the Cavaliers have scored at least four goals.
“It was a good win against a strong West Virginia team,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “I thought our first half was very good especially in terms of our build up, decisions on the ball and our finishing. It took a lot of pressure off our defense the way we kept the ball. Obviously, we can learn some things from the second half since it was a bit more disjointed but overall it is the kind of performance we gain confidence from as we head into another tough test on Thursday.”
Virginia struck in the sixth minute of play with an Ordonez goal. Rebecca Jarrett (Washington Township, N.J.) played a ball ahead to Ordonez down the right sideline where the freshman collected the ball and turned in toward the box. Ordonez attempted a pass into McCool in the box, but the pass was deflected by a West Virginia defender. The ball came right back to the feet of Ordonez off the carom and she fired the shot, slipping it past the keeper on the ground and just in past the far post for the 1-0 lead.
Ordonez struck for a second time in the 16th minute off a long ball played over the top from Claire Constant (Arlington, Va.). Constant sent a long ball from the back line ahead toward Ordonez who was streaking into the box down the middle of the field. A Mountaineer defender attempted to head the ball away, but was unable to clear it and instead tipped it up in the air. Ordonez knocked the ball down with her chest, sidestepping a defender and burying the shot for the 2-0 Virginia lead.
The third goal came from Alexa Spaanstra in the 33rd minute. An outlet to the sophomore started the run as Spaanstra dribbled up the left side of the field before she cut in parallel to the top of the box. Splitting a pair of defenders, Spaanstra turned and fired her shot into the upper right corner of the goal to put Virginia on top 3-0.
An own goal by the Mountaineers in the 50th minute pushed the Cavaliers out to a four-goal lead.
West Virginia got on the board in the 72nd minute with a goal from Nicole Payne following a poor clearance by the Cavalier defense. The cross attempt was blocked, but the kick out went right to Payne who fired the one-touch shot back at goal for the score from 15 yards out.
The Virginia defense buckled down for the stretch run, holding the Mountaineers without a shot for the final 18 minutes of play.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Thursday night with a 7 p.m. contest against No. 13 Georgetown on ACC Network.
OF NOTE:
- This is the third multiple-goal game for freshman Diana Ordonez in the season’s first four games
- The goal by West Virginia was the first conceded by the Cavaliers this season
- It marked the fourth time in as many games this season that UVA has hit the four-goal mark
- Goalkeeper Laurel Ivory moved into a tie for sixth all-time at UVA in career wins (31)