No. 10 Virginia Grabs 5-3 Win At Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 10 Virginia women’s soccer team (7-2-1, 5-2-1 ACC) spread the ball around on Sunday (Nov. 1) with five different goal scorers on the way to a 5-3 victory over Syracuse (1-7-0, 1-7-0 ACC) at the SU Soccer Stadium.
Freshman Lia Godfrey (Fleming Island, Fla.) and sophomore Diana Ordoñez (Prosper, Texas) both tallied a goal and two assists to lead the offensive effort on the afternoon with four points each. Rebecca Jarrett (Washington Township, N.J.), Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) and Anna Sumpter (Charlottesville, Va.) joined Godfrey and Ordoñez in netting goals. Jarrett also added an assist on the afternoon.
“First of all, I thought Syracuse fought very hard throughout the game and their team deserves a lot of credit,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “We obviously had a hard time stopping their set plays and that was a big factor in the game. We played much more consistent in the second half, but we still need to improve our play in both boxes. We are looking forward to the ACC Tournament coming up.”
Virginia got on the board in the ninth minute when Jarrett found Spaanstra on a run in the box. Jarrett made her run into the six and drew the defense to her before laying the ball off for Spaanstra who made a run at the back post for the open-net goal.
The Cavaliers extended the lead moments later when Sumpter converted off a pass from Godfrey in the 11th minute. Godfrey dribbled toward the top left of the box before playing a through ball to Sumpter who took the shot and slotted it to the right of the keeper for the 2-0 lead.
The Orange found the net in the 12th minute when a free kick into the six was headed over the Virginia keeper by Janna Tivnan.
Ordoñez pushed the Virginia lead back out to two goals in the 32nd minute when Godfrey again made a nifty pass through the defense ahead to Ordoñez just outside the six and the freshman finished to put the Cavaliers on top of the Orange by a score of 3-1.
Another set piece from Syracuse cut into the Virginia lead as Shannon Aviza came flying into the box off a corner kick by the Orange and got her head on the end of the service to put it in past the near post in the upper corner.
The 3-2 lead for Virginia held at the half.
Jarrett pushed Virginia back out to a two-goal lead in the 52nd minute. Godfrey raced down the field with the ball and sent it ahead to Ordoñez in the box where the sophomore played it back to Jarrett 20 yards out. Sitting dead center of the box, the junior forward fired her shot into the upper right corner to put the Cavaliers up 4-2.
The lead grew to 5-2 when Godfrey scored off an indirect free kick in the 61st minute. Syracuse kicked a ball back toward the keeper who slipped and made a desperation move at the ball, swatting it away with her hand. The infraction set up the indirect free kick at the right edge of the six-yard box. Ordoñez played the ball back to the top of the six for Godfrey who fired the ball over the defensive wall at the Syracuse goal line to extend the Virginia lead.
Virginia would hold the Orange without a second-half shot until the 85th minute. The home team converted a final goal in the final minute of play as a collision in the box with six seconds remaining set up a penalty kick for Syracuse that the Orange would convert successfully.
The Cavaliers will now await the announcement of seeding and brackets for the upcoming ACC Tournament that will begin on Nov. 10 at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C.