The 12th woman in this game was the welcoming crowd of Klöckner Stadium. The record 1,249 fans who watched the No. 5 Cavaliers (9-1-1, 2-0 ACC) defeat Florida State (6-5-0, 1-1) cheered on a Virginia team that pulled out a thrilling come-from-behind victory, 3-2.
Down 2-1 with five minutes left in the second half, Kelly Hammond took a well-placed pass in the box from Noelle Keselica and blasted a goal over Florida State goalkeeper Kerry York to tie the game. That goal, the second of the day for Hammond, sparked the Cavaliers' final burst and got the crowd on its feet.
"Once we got that goal, it gave us life," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "The crowd really helped us. They lifted us up toward the end of the game. I really felt we could win it in the last four minutes, just because we had the momentum."
Virginia would keep the momentum for the rest of the game. With less than 30 seconds left, freshman substitution Ariel Thompson blasted a free ball into the corner of the net to notch her first game-winning goal of her career and give the Cavaliers the victory.
"I felt like everything was in slow motion," Thompson said. "It landed right and front of me and I just hacked at it."
Along with classmate Shannon Foley, the two freshmen came off the bench to provide boosts for the Cavalier team.
"The freshmen are doing awesome," Hammond said."Shannon coming in and being able to take people on is amazing.Ariel coming in bringing us speed and energy is awesome to have."
Swanson remarked on the potential for the freshmen to continue to succeed.
"I think they're both tremendous athletes," Swanson said. "They both cause problems for defenders. It's nice to have them coming off the bench to give us a spark. I think they deserve a lot of credit. The neat thing is they both will get a lot better. It's exciting for us."
Virginia drew first blood Saturday on a corner kick from Gillian Hatch that was headed in by Hammond to put the Cavaliers up 1-0. Awarded ACC Player of the Week last week, Hammond continued her strong play to notch her second two-goal game of her career and leaving her with nine goals on the season.
Florida State attacked aggressively against the stingy Virginia defenders, who had allowed a meager .49 goals per game coming into this contest. The Seminoles would tie the score when Camie Bybee shot a feed from Kristin Boyce past Virginia goalkeeper Anne Abernethy five minutes into the second half. Abernethy played solidly, with a series of three saves in the span of just over two minutes midway through the second half but was finally beaten by Boyce on a redirected corner kick at the 58 minute mark.
Florida State would tally 13 shots against the Virginia defense, marking the first time this season in which the Virginia defense has given up more than 10 shots in a game.
The win gives Swanson his 50th as coach at Virginia. He joins former coaches Lauren Gregg (133 wins) and April Heinrichs (52) as the only coaches to win 50 games as a Cavalier.
The Cavaliers will travel next to in-state rival James Madison tomorrow and will play host to No. 10 Wake Forest Saturday.
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