A cold and rainy Saturday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium saw No. 12 Virginia win its ACC opener against No. 23 Louisville in dominant fashion by a score of 19-9. After a slow start in the first half, the Cavaliers (4-0, 1-0 ACC) could not be stopped in the second half as sophomore attacker Rachel Clark led the charge with seven goals.
The Cardinals (2-2, 0-1 ACC) opened up the scoring just 35 seconds into the game when junior attacker Kylea Dobson notched the first of her three goals off the opening draw control. Dobson would score her second just four minutes later to make the score 2-0. However, Virginia would respond with a step-down free position shot from graduate student attacker Ashlyn McGovern.
After two more scores from Louisville, Clark would net the first of her seven goals off another free position shot to cut the deficit to two at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Cavaliers tied the game when Clark dodged down the right alley and fired a shot toward junior Louisville goalie Sara Addeche, who initially saved the shot. Luckily for Virginia, the rebound fell at the feet of senior midfielder Jamie Biskup, who scooped the ball up and put it in the back of the net to tie the game a five.
The teams traded a goal a piece to make the score 6-6 at the end of the first half. Biskup and Clark were the stars of the game so far for Virginia, with each netting two goals.
“The effort and those goals that [Biskup] hit at the end of the first half, they are inspiring,” Coach Julie Myers said. “They give you life.”
To open the second half, junior midfielder Mackenzie Hoeg scored back-to-back goals for the Cavaliers for its first lead of the game. After this quick start to the half, Virginia would not look back, out-scoring the Cardinals 13-3 in the second half.
“I am proud of our effort and how we stuck together. Once we got our momentum from the second quarter, we didn’t lose another quarter,” Myers said. “We did a good job of breaking down a talented team.”
Later in the third quarter, Clark showed why she is considered one of the best players in the country when she scored back-to-back goals on two powerful right-handed dodges. Each dodge resulted in the ball finding the top left corner of the goal which made the score 11-8 at the end of the third quarter.
Virginia finally pulled away throughout the fourth quarter. Clark tallied three goals in the quarter as the Cavaliers went on an 8-1 run to close out the game.
Junior attacker Morgan Schwab made the score 17-9 with a little over four minutes remaining off a spectacular roll dodge from behind the goal to put the game safely out of reach for the Cardinals.
Back-to-back wins over ranked opponents should give the Cavaliers some momentum as they head into the thick of their treacherous schedule. North Carolina — the No. 1 team in the country — is looming, as well as No. 19 Richmond. After two consecutive victories against ranked opponents, however, Virginia seems to have built up the confidence needed to continue through the season.
The Cavaliers continue ACC competition Saturday when they take on Clemson at Klöckner Stadium. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
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