No. 3 Virginia cruised past Radford Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, dominating both sides of the ball to lead to a 3-0 shutout at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers (17-1-3, 6-0-3 ACC) certainly made it difficult for the Highlanders (16-6, 7-3 Big South), recording 34 shots with 18 on frame while holding Radford to just five shots with three on goal for the night.
Sophomore goalkeeper Michaela Moran made her first start this season in place of junior goalkeeper Laurel Ivory, who hurt her jaw in a collision with a North Carolina player in the ACC Championship last weekend. Thanks to Virginia’s strong possession, Moran remained unchallenged through the first half of the match.
Virginia dictated the tempo early, firing five shots on goal in the first 11 minutes of play. With every attempt, however, senior goalkeeper Courtenay Kaplan managed to come up with impressive saves.
In the seventh minute, it looked as though the Cavaliers were going to get on the board early when sophomore midfielder Alexa Spaanstra drew a free kick from just outside the box. Spaanstra fired from the spot, but the ball deflected off of Kaplan’s hands. Senior defender Zoe Morse raced to retrieve the deflection as Kaplan was off her feet, but the senior’s strike went just shy of the right post as she couldn’t convert.
The Virginia backline of Morse, senior defender Phoebe McClernon and freshman defender Talia Staude were relentless on defense. The trio managed to stay one step ahead of Radford’s attack as they outpaced the Highlanders with every drive. Morse was particularly impressive — making a pair of nice one-on-one stops in the first half as Radford players attempted to break away and challenge Moran in the goal.
After maintaining possession through much of the first half, Virginia finally converted in the 23rd minute. Junior midfielder Sydney Zandi buried a strike for her fifth goal on the season to put the Cavaliers ahead 1-0. Freshman forward Diana Ordonez served up the assist as Zandi fired from the top of the box.
“They did a good job defending us,” Zandi said. “Our game plan was to get around them, get wide, and hopefully get a lot of crosses in — which I thought we were able to do.”
Sophomore forward Ashlynn Serepca doubled the score in the 36th minute off an assist by Staude. Staude played the ball in to Serepca just inside the six, and the sophomore slipped the ball between the legs of Kaplan to give Virginia a 2-0 advantage heading into the half. The goal was Serepca’s seventh on the season.
“I think we did a really nice job just staying patient and waiting for the opportunities to open up,” Serepca said. “It’s always tough, especially when a team wants to sit back on us, but I think we handled it well.”
Virginia continued to apply pressure after the break and tested Kaplan early in the half.
Senior forward Alissa Gorzak scored in the 57th minute to extend the lead to 3-0. Sophomore forward Rebecca Jarrett was a key part of the play as she passed the ball across the box to Gorzak, who was rushing in from the left side. Gorzak sent a one-touch into the left post for her first goal of the season.
While Moran was untested through the first 45, she faced three challenging attempts late in the second half.
Radford senior forward Nelia Perez broke away from Virginia defenders and faced Moran in a one-on-one opportunity in the 62nd minute. Perez fired a shot as Moran was backtracking but the sophomore keeper got her hands on it to make the stop. The forward offered another shot from close range in the 74th minute, but Moran was up to the challenge.
Moran was tested once more in the 76th minute as Radford junior defender Lily McLane struck from close range. The sophomore looked unphased as she came up with another save. Moran finished the match with three saves, securing the win and the clean-sheet.
“I don’t think there’s a player on the team that doesn’t believe in her and have confidence in her,” Coach Steve Swanson said of Moran. “I think it was good for her to get the minutes she got tonight, and even though she didn’t get a lot of action, I thought she did a good job. The more time she can get in the goal in a game environment, I think the more it’s gonna help us.”
Swanson thought his team played well but recognized that there are things they need to work on this week before facing Washington State.
“I thought we did some good things,” Swanson said. “I don’t think we were as sharp as we could have been around the box, but the biggest thing is [that] we got the result tonight and that was the most important thing. I thought we moved the ball well at times — I just don’t think we were as consistent in terms of our final pass. Our crossing just didn’t hit the mark as much as we needed it to in a game like this where there wasn’t a lot of space in the attacking end.”
Virginia hosts Washington State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 7 p.m.
Read More
Elijah Saunders can guide Virginia to victory
By Xander Tilock | 7 hours agoOne of Virginia's rising stars shares his story with The Cavalier Daily.
After striking turnaround, men’s soccer rockets into NCAA Tournament
By Michael Liebermann and Mofeoluwa Akande | 7 hours agoVirginia confronts a tricky draw as it looks to finally turn a high seed into a deep run.
Women’s basketball breezes by Alabama State for third consecutive win
By Sam Chun | 8 hours agoThe Cavalier offense shined, as four players scored in double-digit figures.
