Last night marked the first time the Temple women's soccer team visited Klockner Stadium to face off against Virginia, and after receiving an 8-1 thrashing courtesy of the Cavaliers, chances are they'll never want to come back.
Powered by a ruthless first-half offensive assault of five goals, No. 16 Virginia (5-2-1) pounded the Owls (5-4) with the strongest offensive effort from a Cavalier women's soccer team since 1995. The victory also extended the team's winning streak to four games.
"In the locker room, one of our goals was to come out really hard in the first couple minutes and really set the tone and capitalize on our opportunities, and I think we definitely did it," senior forward Darci Borski said.
Borski knocked in the first two Virginia goals of the night, heading a merciless Cavalier offensive attack that outshot the Owls by an unheard-of 21-1 in the first half alone.
At halftime, the Cavaliers were up 5-0 and wound up scoring a total of six unanswered goals before the lone blemish came early in the second half. Virginia still was able to place two more in the back of the net before the final whistle sounded.
The Cavs' leading scorer, senior forward Alyssa Benitez, was another major contributor in the offensive manhandling. She banged home her fourth and fifth goals of the season.
Other strong performances in the rout included freshman midfielder Noelle Keselica, who had a goal and two assists, and freshman forward Kara Frederick, who added a goal and an assist.
Additionally, senior midfielder Meredith Rhodes tallied two assists, and sophomore midfielder Jessica Trainor and freshman midfielder Julie Napolitano were responsible for the other Cavalier scores.
The lopsided victory continues a recent winning streak for the Cavaliers. They have pulled off four straight victories after a 1-2-1 start. Virginia Coach Steve Swanson is happy with the turnaround, but stresses that the team is not exactly where he wants it to be quite yet.
"I've always thought you need to go through a little adversity to bring your team together," Swanson said. "We went through a little bit, and we've come out of it and fought through it, and we're still coming together as a team. We're still learning, and I think that's going to take a little more time."
The Cavaliers now look toward their next opponent, Clemson, whom they will battle at home on Saturday in their first ACC contest of the year. The team is confident their strong showing last night will help their performance against the Tigers.
"It's good that we scored a lot of goals," senior defender and team captain Kelly Worden said. "It gives us momentum going into the game Saturday."
Clemson has proved to be a tough opponent in the past for the Cavaliers, as three years have gone by since Virginia was able to tally up a win against them.
Never in its history has Virginia won a regular season ACC championship or made it to the finals of the conference tournament. Swanson cited both of these as realistic goals for his team this year. A victory against Clemson, a team that has been a sharp thorn in the side of the Cavaliers in the past, would be a big step in making those goals a reality.
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