When they fell into last place in the ACC standings after Friday night's loss at Marlyand, the Virginia women's soccer team found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Last night, the Cavaliers (7-4-2) were able to air out their cellar-dweller frustrations on a hapless James Madison squad with a 7-3 pummeling, notching only their second win in the past five games.
Before JMU (7-5-3) could blink, Virginia already had put in four goals less than 20 minutes into the game, leaving the Dukes with little hope of pulling off the upset on a cold, rainy night at Kl
ckner Stadium.
Entering halftime with a 5-1 lead, the Cavaliers faltered midway through the second half and allowed JMU to score two goals in three minutes to pull within two goals.
Virginia senior forward Alyssa Benitez responded quickly to the Dukes' counterattack by scoring her second goal of the night off a give-and-go in the box from junior forward Sarah Lane to put the Cavaliers up by three. The goal soon was followed by another Virginia tally by freshman midfielder Noelle Keselica.
"We were in a position at that point where they were getting back into the game scoring two goals very quickly," Benitez said about the importance of her score. "I think getting that goal and Noelle getting her goal really helped us secure our lead and keep them from getting into the game."
The first four Virginia goals all came in a 10-minute span, including two from sophomore Lindsay Gusick. Her second goal, assisted by freshman midfielder Kelly Hammond, was off a double-header combination from a corner kick, and put Virginia up 3-0.
"Kelly won a great ball, and I was back there trying to get something on it, and it went in," Gusick said. "It was great to get a goal coming back but even better getting a win. We needed a win pretty badly."
Sophomore midfielder Jessica Trainor lit the Cavaliers' first-half offensive firestorm. She banged one home less than 10 minutes into the match off a pass from Hammond who finished with two assists on the night. Other key performers for Virginia included sophomore defender Jamie Fabrizio, who had three assists, and senior forward Darci Borski who netted her fifth goal of the season. Sophomore defenders Katie Bunch and Gillian Hatch, along with junior forward Sarah Lane, each had one assist apiece.
Virginia coach Steve Swanson was pleased with his team's play last night, but said he hopes that in the future, the team can avoid the mental mistakes that plagued them in the second half last night.
"In the second half we stopped doing what we were doing in the first half," Swanson said. "We seem to have problems focusing over the entire 90 minutes. But, from my perspective, it was tremendous to get a result like today."
The Cavaliers certainly will need big numbers when they travel to No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday. Virginia needs a strong performance against the Tar Heels in order to avoid getting used to its last-place position in a conference where it has historically posed a formidable force.
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