Virginia women’s soccer had a frustrating performance Sunday against Notre Dame at Klöckner Stadium. The contest, which was rescheduled from Saturday because of inclement weather, did not go well on either side of the ball for the No. 14 Cavaliers (8-2-0, 1-2-0 ACC), who lost 1-0 to the No. 16 Fighting Irish (7-1-1, 1-0-1 ACC).
The game started off in exhilarating fashion — neither team held anything back from the moment the whistle blew for kickoff. The first big chance came for Virginia in the 24th minute when senior midfielder Lia Godrey made a run down the left side, juking out her defender and laying the ball back for junior forward Maggie Cagle, whose one-time shot barely skimmed outside the post.
Just a few minutes later, sophomore midfielder Ella Carter played an incisive pass through the middle of the field that found junior forward Maya Carter at the edge of the box. Carter tried to finesse her long-range attempt over the goalkeeper but was denied by the crossbar. Notre Dame was also denied by the crossbar when senior midfielder Sophia Fisher’s shot was tipped onto the woodwork by Virginia’s sophomore goalkeeper Victoria Safradin in the 34th minute.
Although the Cavaliers failed to find the back of the net in the first half of play, it was a welcome sight to see the team playing with so much energy early in the game, especially coming off their biggest loss of the season — a 3-0 defeat to Wake Forest last week. A notable bright spot for Virginia was freshman forward Sophia Bradley, who routinely took her defender on, created space for her teammates and delivered quality crosses.
The second half started in nightmarish fashion for the Cavaliers. Just over a minute into play, a through ball played by Fighting Irish freshman midfielder Grace Restovich found freshman forward Annabelle Chukwu, who beat her defender and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner. In a half that Virginia controlled, the scoreboard showed it the other way.
Chukwu continued to come alive for Notre Dame in the second half, using her strength and speed to effectively press the Cavalier backline and force quick decisions in the midfield. She also was lethal in one-on-one situations, regularly beating her first defender. This fact was on full display in the 50th minute when Chukwu managed to glide by two Virginia defenders, coming face to face with Safradin who made a nice save to keep the deficit at 1-0.
The Cavaliers’ passing movements, which were impressive in the first half, became sloppy and errant in the second half. Passes were often inaccurate or weighted incorrectly, allowing the Fighting Irish to exploit opportunities in transition. The consistency of play in the first period was nowhere to be found later on, something that Coach Steve Swanson realized was a big problem.
“I think there's a lot that we can learn from these games,” Swanson said. “And I think we have to get hardened, meaning we have to get better at what we're doing consistently over 90 minutes to beat good teams.”
Safradin held strong to keep the game tight in the second half, but the affair ended with a 1-0 scoreline that moves Virginia to 1-2-0 in conference play, with both losses coming at home. Virginia will look to get back in the win column Friday against No. 8 North Carolina, and graduate midfielder Alexis Theoret thinks a strong mentality will be of great importance in the team’s road battle in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“I think that we have to go into it, going to Dorrance Field like we are going to win,” Theoret said. “And I think that Coach [Swanson] is right — we’ve got to go in with no fear and [feel like] we have nothing to lose.”
Kickoff against the Tar Heels is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted live on ACCNX.
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