No. 4 Virginia continued its streak of dominance, defeating Old Dominion (1-3-0), 4-0, on a scorching hot day at Klöckner Stadium.
On the day of the game, the offense was paced by junior forward Veronica Latsko, who delivered an epic performance. Over the course of the 90 minutes, Latsko had a hand in all four goals on the day, stuffing the stat sheet with a hat trick of goals and an assist.
Latsko didn’t waste any time getting on the score sheet, as her opening goal came in the eighth minute when she collected the ball at the top of the box and fired it into the goal from 16-yards out.
Soon after, in the 11th minute, Latsko doubled the Cavalier (4-0-0) lead when she raced behind the Monarch defense off an excellent long assist from junior defender Megan Reid and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to put the Cavaliers up 2-0.
Getting the hat trick didn’t take too much time, as 10 minutes later in the 21st minute, Latsko was found in the middle of the box and buried home her third goal of the day to get her hat trick and give the Cavaliers a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Virginia coach Steve Swanson was pleased with how the Cavaliers looked throughout the game and was effusive in his praise of Latsko.
“Getting the two goals the way we did early was important for us,” Swanson said. “Sometimes in games like this, if you let a team stick around too long they get confidence. I was glad to see Veronica get [the hat trick]. She’s a tremendous athlete and player, and she’s improved a lot in her first two seasons here. It was good to see her get some goals and hopefully she can continue with that heading into a different part of our schedule.”
In the second half, the Cavaliers only managed to tally one additional goal when freshman midfielder Zoe Morse scored her first collegiate goal in the 61st minute. Latsko found Morse in the box and Morse calmly controlled the ball and booted it past the keeper to finish off the scoring.
The 4-0 win gave the Cavaliers their fourth straight shutout. Swanson has been pleased with how his team is gelling and is optimistic going forward.
Swanson has been trying to refine the team tactics and is pleased that his team’s organization has shone through over the past couple of games.
“We’ve worked hard on our organized attack and made strides there,” Swanson said. “That’s been good because we’ve played some teams that have sat back and been organized in their lower block. It hasn’t been wide open and we haven’t had to transition or get back in our organized defense much, so that’ something we have to work on for sure.”
Virginia will next face Oklahoma Friday in Klöckner Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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