For 88 minutes it felt like déjà vu for the Virginia women's soccer team. Friday the Cavaliers lost a heartbreaker to Tennessee in the Virginia-hosted Nike Classic, despite dominating the game. They faced similar conditions Sunday when Dayton rolled into Klöckner and apparently did not get the script. The unranked Flyers kept the lead for a large part of the game despite being outshot 16-6 before Virginia's Noelle Keselica leveled for the Cavaliers in the waning moments of an entertaining match.
Things started brightly for Virginia, but the team failed to capitalize on unsteady Dayton defense, with the Flyers doing just enough to stymie Virginia's advance. Keselica finally made Virginia's early pressure count with a well-taken header, after eluding her markers to connect to a Sarah Huffman cross. Huffman showed great skill to turn inside before unleashing a shot Dayton keeper Niki Reed could only deflect into the path of an unmarked Keselica.
Dayton weathered subsequent Virginia pressure and, on rare occasions, made dangerous forays into the Cavalier half. On one particular possession, the Cavaliers failed to clear their lines following a corner, and 6-foot-1-inch Courtney Sirmans directed the ball onto cross bar. The rebound fell to Reba Sedlacek, who had no problems putting the ball in from about a yard out to level for the Flyers in the 25th minute of the match. Despite their early pressure and dominance, the Cavaliers found themselves a goal back, thanks again to a mix-up at the back in a dead ball situation. Virginia goal keeper Catherine de Vries was challenged by the ever-present Sirmans, who did just enough to put the ball out of reach of the Virginia goal tender.
"We always have to be careful at the back," de Vries said. "We need to be stronger on set pieces."
April Carvajal made no mistake with a point-blank header to give Dayton a shock lead with nine minutes left to play in the half. To its credit, Virginia lifted its game and threatened more, but the heroics of Reed, who finished the match with a game-high eight saves, did just enough to keep her team in a hunt for a shock victory.
Virginia came out of the gates running in the second half but had to contend with a Dayton team that had decided to close up shop and defend for the next 45 minutes.
"I thought the second half we battled," Keslica said. "I expected, in the second half, they would hang back, and I thought we did a good job with the ball."
Virginia Jess Fostedt missed a chance to level, shooting over the bar as Daytona tried to hang to a lead that was looking increasingly tenuous. Virginia's relentless effort on offense finally was rewarded when Becky Sauerbrunn found Keselica in the box, allowing the senior to finish. The Cavaliers looked the better side in overtime but had no luck finishing. Fostedt appeared to have given the Cavaliers what would have been a memorable win when she pounced on a rebound and shot past Reed, but the goal was called for offsides. This was another call in a long line of decisions that seemed not to go in favor of Virginia. Virginia coach Steve Swanson said he was disappointed but relieved about the result.
"We were fortunate to come out with a tie," Swanson said. "The positive is we dug down deep and kept fighting and showed a little bit of our character."
With the draw, the Cavaliers come to 3-2-1 for the season.
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