Add a point for Virginia in this year's Commonwealth Cup. The Virginia women's soccer team continued its dominance over Virginia Tech as it defeated the Hokies 2-0 Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium. The matchup proved to be a hard-nosed fight as the Hokies gave the Cavaliers just about all they could handle. In the end, however, Virginia was just too much for Virginia Tech to handle as junior defender Nikki Krzysik added a goal to secure the win for Virginia in the 80th minute. Virginia (10-1-4, 4-0-3 ACC) is now 8-0 all-time versus Virginia Tech.
Freshman midfielder Sinead Farrelly scored Virginia's first goal of the match when she gave the Cavaliers the lead for good midway through the first half.
"She [Farrelly] played great tonight," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "She's really stepped her game up. She has had to take on a play-making role due to [others'] injuries."
The match, however, was highlighted by another standout performance by Virginia's backline defense and goalkeeping. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chantel Jones added yet another shutout in a superb effort Thursday. Jones recorded three saves and now has 10 shutouts on the season. Farrelly, Krzysik and junior midfielder Jen Redmond led the way offensively. Redmond played especially well, as the midfielder assisted on both Virginia goals.
The first half got off to a relatively slow start as the opening 10 minutes featured no goals despite good offensive pressure for the Cavaliers. In the 11th minute, Krzysik played a free kick from just past midfield to senior midfielder Julia Falk. Falk played the ball towards the goal with her head but Virginia Tech redshirt junior goalkeeper Ashely Owens made a nice play to save the attempt. About 15 minutes later, junior defender Sarah Senty got off a quality shot to the upper left corner but it was saved again by Owens.
Virginia finally got on the board in the 34th minute on a goal scored by Farrelly. After receiving a well-played ball from Redmond, Farrelly got her foot on the ball and lofted the ball over the head of an out-of-position Owens. Farrelly's goal gave Virginia a 1-0 lead that would hold up for the rest of the half.
"To get the first goal was huge for us," Swanson said. "They had to chase after that the rest of the game."
At the start of the second half, Virginia escaped two dangerous Virginia Tech scoring opportunities. Fortunately for Virginia, Jones and the Virginia back line combined to thwart both chances. Later, Virginia almost put home its second goal in the 59th minute, but sophomore forward Caitlin Miskel's attempt was stopped by Owens at the last minute.
Krzysik added Virginia's second goal of the game in the 80th minute off a free kick pass from Redmond. The junior set up a free kick approximately 20 yards from the goal and played a perfect pass to Krzysik, who redirected the ball off her head and into the back of the net. The goal was Krzysik's second of the season.
Virginia came into the game with an excited and positive attitude and closed the game out with the same sentiment.
"It was great," Redmond said. "We came in excited with the atmosphere and Virginia Tech gave us a great game"
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