Hopkins' Hat Trick Helps No. 8 UVA Down FDU

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Haley Hopkins delivered her first hat trick for the Cavaliers on Sunday (Aug. 28), scoring three times in the first 14 minutes, to help No. 8 Virginia (4-0-0) to a 5-0 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (0-4-0) at Klöckner Stadium.

GOALS
6’ – UVA: Haley Hopkins (penalty kick)
9’ – UVA: Haley Hopkins (Alexa Spaanstra)
14’ – UVA: Haley Hopkins (Alexa Spaanstra)
27’ – UVA: Laney Rouse (unassisted)
56’ – UVA: Lia Godfrey (unassisted)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia got off to the hot start with a hat trick from Haley Hopkins in the first 14 minutes of the game. It started with a penalty kick in the sixth minute before Alexa Spaanstra and Hopkins would connect twice over the next eight minutes.

The first of two connections came in the ninth minute with a ball played through the midfield  by Spaanstra ahead to Hopkins making a run on goal. Hopkins picked it up in stride and struck across the face of the goal and in past the back post. The second connection came in the 14th minute when Spaanstra took a shot that was deflected to Hopkins and who put the deflection in the net for the hat trick.

The fourth goal of the half came from Laney Rouse as she collected a ball that FDU knocked to her on the right wing in a clearance attempt. Rouse took the shot from just outside the box and put it in the upper 90 on the far side.

Virginia’s fifth goal came in the 56th minute when Lia Godfrey scored on a free kick from 25 yards out. 

NOTES ON THE GAME
• The Hopkins hat trick was the first for UVA since Diana Ordoñez against Rice (5/5/21) in the NCAA Tournament.
• Alexa Spaanstra’s two assists moved her to sixth all-time in assists at Virginia with 31 for her career.
• Junior defender Laney Rouse scored her first collegiate goal with her strike in the 27th minute of play.
• Michaela Moran made her first start since Washington State (11/22/19) in the second round of the NCAA tournament that year and picked up her fifth career win with the victory on Sunday.
• Junior defender Samar Guidry made her first appearance for the Hoos after missing the start of the season in duty with the U.S. U-20 YNT at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON
“We certainly started the game well and it was nice to see some goals go in, but as the game wore on we were not able to keep a consistently high tempo in terms of our ball movement which led to transition moments for them (FDU). I do think there are some good takeaways from this game on both sides of the ball. We are obviously still growing as a team, so taking the lessons away from games like these are very important for our growth.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will continue to play at home on Thursday (Sept. 1) when the Cavaliers host JMU as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Kick is set for 5 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.