After a full week’s rest, Virginia women’s soccer showed no signs of rust Sunday evening as it steamrolled James Madison in Harrisonburg by a score of 3-0. The Cavaliers (5-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) controlled the rainy night from wire-to-wire, tallying 19 shots to the Dukes’ (1-2-2, 0-0-0 Sun Belt) three, none of which were on goal. The shutout is the team’s fourth in five games to begin the 2024 season.
Junior forward Maggie Cagle continued her hot start, netting her fourth goal of the season as she opened up the scoring in the 22nd minute. James Madison’s redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb played an errant ball from the goal that was picked off in Virginia’s attacking third, where sophomore forward Allie Ross left a pass for the cutting Cagle, who slotted away the clean look with confidence.
While Cagle has put constant pressure on opposing goalkeepers this season, two new Cavaliers provided goal insurance Sunday, as sophomore midfielder Ella Carter and senior defender Kiki Maki entered the scoring column for the first time in their collegiate careers. Late in the first half, graduate midfielder Alexis Theoret placed a beautiful corner kick right in front of the goal that deflected right off of the charging Carter, who watched the ball drop into the back of the net in the 41st minute.
“We moved the ball really well and were clean with possession,” Carter said postgame. “A lot of people stepped up and did what we need them to do.”
A number of Cavaliers did step up, including Maki, who delivered her goal in the 83rd minute. Similar to Carter, Maki found herself in the right place at the right time on a corner kick, kneeing the ball past the helpless DeCerb from close range and putting an exclamation point on the Virginia blowout.
“We were able to get on the end of the ball,” Maki said. “We had some good switches and kept the ball when we needed to.”
Coach Steve Swanson was pleased with the efforts of his team, especially with the high quality of opportunities created on the offensive end.
“We raised our level in the attacking phase and we were better in buildup,” Swanson said. “[James Madison] does a good job in staying organized and trying to keep the play on one side. We did a good job of switching the point and getting open on the opposite side.”
While the attack was the story of the night, the Cavalier defense put in yet another stout performance. Coming off an ACC Defensive Player of the Week award, sophomore goalkeeper Victoria Safradin saw little trouble against the Dukes who were unable to create a single shot on goal.
Graduate defender Moira Kelley and junior defender Tatum Galvin have been stalwarts on the Virginia back line as well, and they both logged over 80 minutes against James Madison, not allowing them to get any clean looks at the net. Rounding out the three-headed monster of the Cavalier defense was senior defender Laney Rouse, who contributed her first point of the season with her assist to Maki.
Virginia has now played five games in 2024 and holds an astounding goal differential of 14-1. They entered the season outside of the top-25 rankings, quickly crept into the No. 21 spot and then leapt to No. 7 this past week after a statement win over then-No. 3 Penn State and a blowout win over Utah Valley. The Cavaliers have quickly become national title contenders as they continue to breeze through non-conference play.
Cagle and company will look to build on this performance as they hit the road Thursday for another in-state bout against VCU in Richmond. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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