A blustery evening at Klöckner Stadium that saw winds reach as high as 30 mph, didn't thwart Virginia (9-4-2, 4-2-1 ACC) as they advanced past in-state rival Virginia Tech (5-7-2, 1-5-1 ACC) 2-1. The victory added another point for Virginia in the Commonwealth Cup standings, which the Cavaliers now lead 1.5 to 0.5.
Goals haven't come easily for the Cavaliers lately. After the previous four games, in which Virginia scored only one goal, a scoreless first half this game seemed to add fuel to the fire. In the first half, Virginia mustered four shots, only one of which was on goal. The first half saw disorganization from each team's offense as the teams seemed flustered by the swirling winds and the erratic shots that it caused.
At halftime, Virginia coach Steve Swanson was able to inspire his team.
"I told them to calm down, clean up the passing, and make better decisions on the field," Swanson said.
His team responded fast and furiously. In the 52nd minute sophomore forward Jess Rostedt received a pass 25 yards out on the flank with her back turned to the goal. When she turned and faced the goal she proceeded forward with an unstoppable momentum.
"I got the ball and looked at the defender and she wasn't putting pressure on me," Rostedt said. "I turned and went inside. The defenders dropped. I shifted to the left and cut it to my right and then shot it into the corner."
Just five minutes later in the 57th minute, Rostedt played a ball between two defenders to senior forward Kristen Weiss who gathered the ball cut inside the box and put it in the back of the net from 12 yards out.
Virginia Tech freshman forward Emily Jukich was able to add a Hokie goal in the 88th minute to put the game at 2-1. With only minutes remaining, Virginia Tech was unable to add the equalizer before the clock reached zero
This win not only adds another notch to the #15 Virginia win record but also earns Swanson milestone victory number 200. Swanson is only the 25th NCAA division I women's soccer coach to reach this plateau. Previously Swanson coached at Dartmouth and Stanford.
"I've been really blessed to be at three wonderful institutions," Swanson said. "I've had some amazing players play for those programs and I've had some wonderful assistant coaches. It's a reflection of the institutions I've been at, the people that have played for me and the great assistant coaches that have been part of my staff."
The Cavaliers have an eight day rest before they take on opponent Boston College at home on October 20th. The Cavaliers look forward to the break to fine tune their play on the field and catch up on school work off the field.
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