After controlling the ball for most of the contest and outshooting Villanova 20 to 5, the No. 7 seed Virginia women's soccer team fell to the Wildcats 4-2 in penalty kicks in yesterday's second round NCAA tournament match at Klöckner Stadium.
The game ended in a scoreless tie and went on to penalty kicks, where Villanova goalkeeper Chrissy Dolan twice thwarted the Cavaliers' attempts from six yards out, giving the Wildcat shooters the cushion they needed to advance. The defeat ended the Cavaliers' season and left the Virginia squad frustrated after dominating regulation and overtime play.
"Obviously, we killed them," Virginia senior goalkeeper Anne Abernethy said. "It was pretty blatant. It kind of sucks the way it worked out because we were definitely the better team. We outplayed them in every aspect."
Both squads scored on their first penalty kick, but Dolan made a diving save on Virginia junior defender Gillian Hatch's shot to keep the score tied at 1. Villanova freshman Valerie Grow then drove the ball into the upper right corner past Abernethy to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage with three kicks remaining for each team.
With the score 3-2 in favor of Villanova, Grow made another big stop, this time on Virginia defender Katie Bunch's low shot to the left side. Sophomore midfielder Kelly Breslin was able to clinch the game for the Wildcats on the next attempt, putting the ball in the left corner of the net.
Villanova now advances to play BYU in the quarterfinals. The result stretched the Wildcats' unbeaten streak to nine straight games. Three of their last four contests ended on penalty kicks, with Villanova on the winning side each time.
The Cavaliers had no problem getting near the Wildcat goal during the contest, consistently holding the ball in the Villanova zone for the majority of the game and causing trouble for the Wildcat defense.
"Virginia loves to attack," Villanova junior forward Laura Johnson said. "Those two outside defensive backs love to get forward and that's a nightmare for an offensive team that likes to go forward because our outside forwards had to drop back a lot. That makes it difficult to hold the ball up top."
Virginia's first good scoring chance came late in the first half. Junior forward Lindsay Gusick's header was knocked away by Dolan, off the crossbar and landed loose in front of the goal. Sophomore midfielder Kara Frederick got a foot on it, but the Wildcat defense was able to clear the ball out. Virginia hit the cross bar again in the 74th minute when senior midfielder Missy Somadelis missed from the right side.
The Cavaliers hit the iron three more times during the first overtime period, including on a header from senior forward Sarah Lane that hit the inside right post before falling into Dolan's hands.
"We had chances," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "We had 90 minutes of regulation soccer to put the ball in the back of the net and two overtime periods to do the same. If you're letting a team hang around, you leave yourself open to that."
On the other side of the ball, the Cavaliers were able minimize the Wildcats' offensive chances, holding them to only one corner kick all afternoon.
"I was surprised at how much we were able to keep them at bay," Swanson said. "I don't think they really got a lot of sniffs on goal except for restarts."
Abernethy's shutout was the 17th in her time at Virginia, making her the coholder of first place in career shutouts in the Virginia record books.
The Cavaliers were victorious in the first round of the tournament, advancing past William & Mary 4-2 on penalty kicks after the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
Junior midfielder Jamie Fabrizio scored Virginia's only goal of regulation. Bunch, Fabrizio, junior defender Gillian Hatch and sophomore midfielder Kelly Hammond all converted their penalty kicks. Abernethy's save of Tribe defender Anna Young's shot clinched the decision for the Cavaliers.
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