The Cavalier women's soccer team certainly had history on its side in last night's matchup against Maryland. Before yesterday's contest, No. 13 Virginia had a 19-1-2 all-time record against the Terrapins. In the 19 years that the two schools have played each other, Maryland had never won a game in Charlottesville.
This trend continued as Virginia (8-2-1, 2-1 ACC) squeezed out a 1-0 win over the Terrapins (5-4-1, 1-3) at Klockner Stadium.
"I though we played very well from start to finish," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said.
Virginia got on the board with a little over 20 minutes left in the game. After Virginia defender Taylor Wood hit streaking forward Sarah Lane with a pass, Lane set up freshman forward Lindsay Gusick for a header that put the Cavaliers on top, 1-0.
"Sarah made a great run down the line and I was just trying to get myself open," Gusick said. "I was trying to place it well, and it went in."
Gusick has been a major factor for the Cavaliers of late. The freshman forward has scored six goals in Virginia's last six games and led the Cavaliers last night with four shots.
"I think she's got a knack for just getting open," Swanson said. "That is something hard to teach. Her confidence is really helping. It's nice to have somebody who can be a goal scoring threat like that."
Gusick seems to have come out of nowhere for the Cavaliers. All of her 13 points for the season have come in the last six games. For her outstanding play, Gusick was named to the Soccer America team of the week.
"It's kind of surprising," Gusick said. "I want to keep it going. It's not everything, I want to help the team in other ways too, but it's good."
The strong Cavalier defense made sure that the one goal was all that Virginia would need to get past Maryland.
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"I thought we played good team defense," Swanson said. "I don't think they got much of a sniff on goal which is a credit to the players."
The Cavaliers limited the Terrapins to just four shots on goal for the game.
"We had control of the game from start to finish." Swanson said. "I feel like there's a lot of improvement and we're getting consistent, which is good."
The Cavaliers hope to extend their four-game winning steak on the road. They begin a three-game road trip on Saturday night when they travel to Harrisonburg to take on James Madison in a 7 p.m. matchup.
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