The Virginia women's soccer team wasted little time extinguishing the Flames last night. The Cavaliers (4-1-1) got out to a quick, early lead that they never relinquished as they disposed of Liberty, 7-0.
"I think we wanted to put pressure on them and we did a good job of that," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "Getting a goal early always helps to do that."
Virginia freshman forward Lindsay Gusick's hat trick 12 minutes into the game proved to be more than the Cavaliers needed as they shut out the Flames (2-4) in Virginia's first home game in more than two weeks.
Five minutes into the game Tammy Westinghouse and Ashley Meeker assisted on Gusick's first goal ever as a Cavalier.
Gusick, however, was far from done. Five minutes after her first goal, she netted an unassisted goal. Two minutes after that, she struck again, this time on a breakaway off a pass from sophomore defender Melissa Somadelis.
Gusick "started off really well in the preseason," Swanson said. "I think she showed some signs of slowing down. This will be very good for her confidence."
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"It was a good game," Gusick said. "It was great getting my first goal, and even better getting two more."
Gusick took nine shots, six of them on goal. She also added an assist on a breakaway goal by Lori Lindsay with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
Westinghouse added another assist 28 minutes into the game as she and midfielder Erin Engelhardt set up forward Sarah Lane for a one-touch finish.
Westinghouse added another assist when she and junior Merideth Rhodes set up Engelhardt for a goal five minutes later.
The Cavaliers added a seventh goal in the second half when freshman Taylor Wood crossed the ball to midfielder Laura Gaworecki, who put the ball in the net.
In addition to Virginia's offensive explosion, the Cavaliers' stifling defense limited Liberty to just four shots, three of them on goal. The situation allowed Swanson to show off Virginia's depth.
"It was nice to get a lot of people in, to give some time to some players who haven't had a lot of playing time so far," he said.
On this chilly night at Klockner everything seemed to come with ease for the Cavaliers, which is something that couldn't have been said earlier in the season. This offensive onslaught was a welcomed change from the usually anemic Cavalier offense. Prior to yesterday's game, Virginia only scored eight goals in five regular season contests. Virginia's previous season-high scoring output was during Virginia's season opening 3-0 win over Mississippi on Sept. 1. The Cavaliers hope this is a starting point for more productive times to come.
"We've been struggling to score goals all year," Gusick said. "So it's great to get this kind of output."
"For us to come out and handle this game the way we did is a good sign," Swanson said. "It wasn't an easy game going in and we made it that, so you have to give our players credit for that"
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