With this past week free of matchups and its ACC schedule just around the corner, the Virginia women's soccer team was hoping to use the extra rest time to build momentum against American in its third straight home game. Although the Cavaliers managed to defeat the Eagles, 2-0, the victory was characterized by lackluster performances.
"We are very excited to get the win," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "I thought American sat back and defended really well and was looking to get the counter goal on us ... but there are some things we have to get better at."
Virginia's offense perhaps suffered from a lack of many of the team's key offensive players. Senior Jess Rostedt, sophomore Lauren Alwine and freshman Caroline Miller failed to appear in the game at their usual forward positions.
"We have a couple people with some little nicks," Swanson said. "I think it was the prudent thing to do given where they are at."
In addition to the Cavaliers' frontline losses, American implemented a slow, defensive style of play to prevent Virginia's offense from finding its rhythm.
Even though the Cavaliers outshot the Eagles 10 to 1, the game remained scoreless at the half. American sophomore goalkeeper Arianna Efstathiou had a stand-out game with six saves, allowing only two goals on 17 shots.
"I thought [Efstathiou] played well," Swanson said. "Some of our decisions about when to cut loose and when to unload could have been better, but I think defensively they were solid."
Junior midfielder Sinead Farrelly eventually found her chance to unload in the 48th minute, 18 yards directly in front of the goal. Taking aim at the upper corner, she caught Efstathiou out of position and struck the back of the net.
"I never shoot the ball," Farrelly said. "I was aiming for the upper 90."
The Cavaliers' second goal came off a cross from junior midfielder Lindsey Miller to senior forward Meghan Lenczyk in the 89th minute of the game. Although the team had many shots, it did not find many quality chances against the Eagles, Farrelly said.
"We usually get close ones," Farrelly said. "Many of our tries were dribble shots to the goalie ... not good enough for our team."
Virginia now prepares for its first conference match Thursday against N.C. State on the road.
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