No. 3 Virginia Downs George Washington 6-1
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia women’s soccer team scored three goals in each half on Sunday and got a career day from forward Rebecca Jarrett on the way to a 6-1 victory over George Washington (0-2-2) on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium.
Jarrett finished the day with five points after tallying two goals – including the second goal of the game which proved to be the game winner – and added an assist for five points on the afternoon.
The scoring started in the fifth minute when an initial ball from Haley Hopkins was deflected by the keeper who had come off her line and to the foot of Alexa Spaanstra. Spaanstra took the angle given her and slotted the ball in across the face of the goal and in the empty net for the score.
Virginia extended the lead in the 15th minute when Hopkins played the ball out wide on the right of the box to Jarrett. The senior forward dribbled in toward the six before slotting her shot between the keeper and the near post for the 2-0 lead.
Claire Constant followed up just two minutes later when Lia Godfrey took a pass from Jarrett and served the ball over the top to Constant near the back post. The 3-0 lead would hold at the half.
George Washington scored in the 48th minute, marking the first goal conceded by Virginia this season. Virginia responded immediately, however, as Jarrett found the net for a second time on the afternoon when she dribbled her way in through the defense and scored from 10 yards out to put the Cavaliers back on top by three at 4-1 less than a minute later.
Virginia would get two more goals on the afternoon as Hopkins scored in the 66th minute when Spaanstra played a ball forward to her in the box and she slid in, chipping the ball up to the left over the sliding keeper and into goal. Cam Lexow capped the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 87th minute, receiving the goal kick from the Colonials’ keeper and turning on the quick solo counter for the score as she sidestepped the keeper who had come off her line in defense.
NOTES ON THE GAME
• The two goals matched a career high for Jarrett, matching her 2019 performance vs. William & Mary (9/12/19).
• The two assists from Haley Hopkins tied a career high – matching a mark she hit twice in her time at Vanderbilt.
• The goal conceded by Virginia was the first this season and first since April 28, 2021 against SIUE.
• The 776:41 streak between goals was the third longest shutout streak in program history.
• With the win, Virginia is 14-1-0 all-time against George Washington and 5-0-0 at home.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON
“It was a good win. We were a little more consistent than we were on Thursday. We scored some good goals, but there are more we can do as a team. It’s still very early for us. I think everyone can see the potential this team has, but we have to get better in certain areas. That will be the focus this week heading into our next game on Thursday.”
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
The Cavaliers will be on the road for the next two games in competition at the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational at JMU. Virginia will open play against defending NCAA Champion Santa Clara at 8 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 2) before closing out the weekend against host JMU at 3 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 5).