Godfrey's Strike Lifts No. 3 Virginia Past No. 9 Santa Clara

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Sophomore Lia Godfrey hit her first goal of the season to deliver a victory for the No. 3 Virginia women’s soccer team (5-0-0) on Thursday (Sept. 2) as the Cavaliers defeated No. 9 Santa Clara (2-1-2) by a score of 1-0 at Sentara Park.

HOW IT HAPPENED
A foul in the 70th minute of play near the top left corner of the box set up a free kick opportunity for the Cavaliers when Samar Guidry was taken down as she wove through the defense, resulting in the chance for Virginia. Lia Godfrey lined up the kick and bent it in past the near post to give the Cavaliers the lead.

NOTES ON THE GAME
• With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 5-2-1 all-time against Santa Clara and have won back-to-back meetings in the series. The last meeting before Thursday night came in the 2013 season at Klöckner Stadium.
• Lia Godfrey’s game winner was the second of her career. She hit her first game-winner against George Mason last season.
• With the win, Laurel Ivory picked up her 56th career win to take over second place in wins all-time at UVA, passing Chantel Jones and now only trails UVA career-leader Morgan Stearns (69).
• Ivory also posted her 35th career shutout and is second in that category behind Jones (47).

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON
“It was a good win. I thought we played some good soccer in the match. Santa Clara is a difficult team to break down and that was evident. For us to come out of here with a win against an opponent like this says a lot about our team at this point in time. But, we’re still assessing and learning and growing. We still need to improve.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will return to action on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 5) when the Cavaliers close play at the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational against host JMU at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast through FloSports and is available on a subscription basis.