CHARLOTTESVILLE – Morgan Brian (St. Simons Island, Ga.) scored twice to lead the No. 5 Virginia women’s soccer team to a 2-0 win over Miami in the regular season finale Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium. With the victory, the Cavaliers (13-3-2, 7-2-1 ACC) finish second in the ACC and will host Maryland in an ACC Quarterfinal game on Sunday.
“It was work for us for a while tonight and credit Miami for that,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “I thought we played well in the second half. We settled down and made better decisions. In the first half, we were in a little bit of a hurry. Once we calmed down, we took it to them in the second half and scored a couple of nice goals.”
The Cavaliers and Hurricanes (9-7-1, 3-6-1 ACC) played a scoreless first half, as the best opportunity came in the eighth minute when a Miami defender blocked a shot from Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) that then hit off the outside of the post.
In the second half, the Cavaliers pressured the Hurricanes the entire time and broke through in the 80th minute. Julia Roberts (Frederick, Md.) sent in a free kick that Brian headed in to give Virginia the lead. Three minutes later, Brian corralled a ball in the midfield, dribbled to the top of the box and slotted home her eighth goal of the season.
It marked the fourth consecutive game with a goal for Brian, the longest such streak by a Cavalier since Meghan Lenczyk had a four-game streak in 2008. Brian has scored five of her eight goals of the season in the past four games.
Virginia outshot Miami 19-2 for the game, holding the Hurricanes without a shot over the final 55 minutes of play. The Cavaliers also had a 3-1 corner kick edge. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) didn’t need to make a save to record her 10th shutout of the season. It was Jones’ 43rd career shutout, which puts her one away from tying the NCAA career record, set by Erin Guthrie of Rutgers (2006-09).
The ACC Quarterfinal between the Cavaliers and Terrapins is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia won the regular season meeting between the teams 4-1 at Klöckner on Sept. 15.
“It was work for us for a while tonight and credit Miami for that,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “I thought we played well in the second half. We settled down and made better decisions. In the first half, we were in a little bit of a hurry. Once we calmed down, we took it to them in the second half and scored a couple of nice goals.”
The Cavaliers and Hurricanes (9-7-1, 3-6-1 ACC) played a scoreless first half, as the best opportunity came in the eighth minute when a Miami defender blocked a shot from Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) that then hit off the outside of the post.
In the second half, the Cavaliers pressured the Hurricanes the entire time and broke through in the 80th minute. Julia Roberts (Frederick, Md.) sent in a free kick that Brian headed in to give Virginia the lead. Three minutes later, Brian corralled a ball in the midfield, dribbled to the top of the box and slotted home her eighth goal of the season.
It marked the fourth consecutive game with a goal for Brian, the longest such streak by a Cavalier since Meghan Lenczyk had a four-game streak in 2008. Brian has scored five of her eight goals of the season in the past four games.
Virginia outshot Miami 19-2 for the game, holding the Hurricanes without a shot over the final 55 minutes of play. The Cavaliers also had a 3-1 corner kick edge. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) didn’t need to make a save to record her 10th shutout of the season. It was Jones’ 43rd career shutout, which puts her one away from tying the NCAA career record, set by Erin Guthrie of Rutgers (2006-09).
The ACC Quarterfinal between the Cavaliers and Terrapins is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia won the regular season meeting between the teams 4-1 at Klöckner on Sept. 15.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for adding to the Virginia Online Soccer News discussion.