CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Trailing just 2-1 to No. 1 North Carolina, the No. 16 Virginia women's soccer team had its upset hopes dashed in the 60th minute of their first ACC game of the season.
A breakaway goal by Carolina forward Meredith Florance, who placed her shot just under Cavalier freshman keeper Jody Clugston, sealed the fate of the Cavs (1-1, 0-1 ACC) Friday night at Fetzer Field.
Three more goals by the Tar Heels (3-0, 1-0) followed on the momentum of Florance's unassisted breakaway, making the final score 6-1. UNC freshman forward Alyssa Ramsey, who at one point verbally committed to play for then-Virginia coach April Heinrichs, added to the Tar Heels' slew of goals with one score and three assists.
The lone Cavalier goal came in the 54th minute off junior midfielder Lori Lindsey's direct kick. Lindsey's shot from about 20 yards out went untouched into the top corner of the net past UNC goalkeeper Jenni Branam, an alternate for the 2000 U.S. Olympic women's soccer team.
|
Yet Carolina's five-goal win disguised the challenge Virginia posed to the Tar Heels for two-thirds of the game.
"I thought Virginia played very well," Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said. "I thought [the game] was much closer than the score indicated."
Branam said the Cavs posed a definite threat to the Tar Heels, especially on the attack.
"Virginia has a good offense and it gave our defense a huge challenge," she added.
And defying the UNC defense is no easy task. The Cavaliers were the first team since Notre Dame in 1997 to match the Tar Heels in shots on goal.
The Carolina defense sets up in a flat-back three formation, a complex configuration that necessitates veteran experience and careful communication among the defenders.
In contrast, the Cavalier defense -- junior Ashley Meeker and sophomores Brooke Stastny, Meredith Rhodes and Kelly Worden -- is younger and has had less experience playing together as a unit. Breakdowns in coverage and fatigue were apparent in the backfield late in the game, but Virginia coach Steve Swanson is hopeful the defense will continue to mesh over the course of the season.
"They've come a long way," said Swanson. "Are they the finished product? No. But I feel good about this group."
But unfortunately for the Cavs, the top-ranked Tar Heels cut them no slack. Ultimately it was North Carolina's ability to capitalize on Virginia's mistakes that dealt the Cavaliers a loss in their first ACC game of the season.
"The one thing [the Tar Heels] do awfully well is punish you when you make mistakes," Swanson said. "We made a few mistakes: not clearing the ball well enough, not being spaced well enough in the back."
The Cavaliers get a chance to improve tonight when they host Alabama-Birmingham at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m.
"I don't blame anyone because it was everybody," co-captain Lindsey said. "It was the second game of the season and it's going to get better"
Read More
Virginia collapses late, loses in dramatic fashion to NC State
By Emory Huffman | 13 hours agoThe Cavaliers now have a losing record in ACC play.
No. 25 Virginia falls thanks to No. 8 Florida State’s multitude of early-inning runs
By Victoria Blankenship | 13 hours agoThe Cavaliers were not ready for how quickly Florida State would strike Sunday afternoon.
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 23 hours agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
