Tuesday's game against James Madison provided an opportunity for the Virginia women's soccer team to experience a letdown. Coming off of a victory over No. 16 Duke and awaiting Sunday's game at No. 2 North Carolina, the Dukes would have been easy for the Cavaliers to overlook. Kelly Hammond did not let that happen.
Hammond scored twice for the first time this season to lead the No. 4 Cavaliers (11-1-1) to a comfortable 5-0 victory over James Madison (5-5-3). Virginia's Lindsay Gusick also tallied twice, bringing her season total to 10 goals, while substitute Ariel Thompson added a late marker.
Hammond started the scoring in the 17th minute after Virginia had controlled play from the get-go. Shannon Foley sent a pass to Gusick, who found Hammond inside the box. Hammond slipped past two defenders and hammered a shot past James Madison goalkeeper Jessica Hussey to give Virginia a lead it would not relinquish.
Already down 1-0, things went from bad to worse for the Dukes. Defender Shannon Seipp received two yellow cards less than two minutes apart in the first half, the second on a near-tackle of Hammond, which reduced James Madison to 10 players for the remainder of the contest.
The first half ended with Virginia only ahead 1-0 despite out-shooting the Dukes 10 to zero, but the Cavaliers put the game out of reach early in the second half.
Less than five minutes after halftime, midfielder Sarah Huffman outworked two James Madison defenders to win the ball and found Gusick in front of the net for a tap-in past a helpless Hussey.
"I just try to do what I can," Huffman said of her workmanlike role. "My role is to get the ball, distribute it, and leave it to these guys [Gusick and Foley] to finish."
After taking a two-goal lead, Virginia spread the field to run down the clock, but did not hesitate to strike when the opportunity arose.
In the 61st minute, Hammond sent an angled ball from the left that hit Gusick in stride as she reached the top of the box. Gusick calmly tucked the ball away to the left of a sprawled Hussey to make it 3-0.
Gusick's second goal of the game moved her into clear second place on the Virginia career scoring list, only behind the legendary Angela Hucles. Gusick was not the only Cavalier who set a record on Tuesday, however.
Less than four minutes after Gusick's second marker, Cavalier midfielder Foley sent a ball across the face of the goal, which was dummied on expertly by Gusick. Hammond benefited from this unselfish act, as she buried her fifth goal of the season to increase the Virginia lead to four.
With the assist, her second of the game, Foley set the Virginia single-season record for assists with 12, breaking a mark set in 1995. Foley also increased her team-leading point total to 26.
"It's a nice honor," Foley said of the record. "Really, my assists are just my role on the team, and I couldn't do them without Huffy [Huffman] passing me the ball. It's a team effort."
Thompson closed the scoring with 35 seconds remaining on a rainbow of a shot that found the top corner of the net. Forward Sarah Curtis tallied her first career assist on Virginia's fifth and final goal of the contest.
"After the win on Saturday and with the game coming up [against UNC], they really came out tonight," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said of his team's strong effort against the Dukes. "I thought we started the game well, and obviously the game changed when they went down a player. I thought we did what we had to do to keep pressure on them, and keep the game by the scruff of the neck for us."
After taking care of business against James Madison, the Cavaliers will now turn their attention to Sunday's showdown with the powerhouse of women's soccer: North Carolina.
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