The Virginia women’s soccer team hosted Howard (13-8-2) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — five days removed from a taxing penalty-kick loss to No. 1 Florida State in the ACC Tournament Final.
Rested and ready after a lighter week of practice, the Cavaliers jumped out to an early two-goal lead. Senior forward Makenzy Doniak kept the ball in play along the end line, created a more favorable angle and slipped a shot past Bison freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Diotte at 7:53. Anticipating the linesman would raise his offside flag, Howard defenders were nowhere to be seen.
Doniak took advantage of the one-on-one opportunity and netted her ninth goal over the past five matches. The Chino Hills, Calif. native tallied her tenth around nine minutes later. Showing great patience, sophomore forward Veronica Latsko cut back and found junior forward Kaili Torres, who combined beautifully with Doniak. In the blink of an eye the ball rested in the back of the net.
The Bison struggled to accomplish anything with the ball at their feet. Virginia pressured opposing defenders and midfielders into booting hopeless balls down the field that senior center back Emily Sonnett usually collected. The Cavaliers entered the break up 2-0 but felt they could have put the game out of reach having outshot Howard 15-0.
“It’s tough the way these games are,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “You let teams hang around a little bit. We got punished for that kind of very early in the year … But I felt confident the way we were moving the ball and the way they were working defensively that things would open up as the game wore on, just because of the fatigue factor.”
Almost three minutes into the second half, a Howard goal stunned Virginia and its crowd. Sophomore forward Kela Gray drilled a shot off the crossbar, and sophomore midfielder Whitney White poked home the rebound.
“We kind of came out in the second half like not as we planned,” Virginia junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer said. “It was kind of a slow start, and so getting scored on, you know that’s not what we planned, what we intended … We needed that to make sure just to keep pushing through.”
Less than thirty seconds later, senior winger Brittany Ratcliffe crossed a ball into the box that bounced around and ended up with Shaffer. Doniak smartly stepped in front of a Howard defender, so her teammate had space to shoot. Shaffer — who earned All-ACC Second Team honors this month — struck low into the left side netting for a momentum-snatching goal.
“I guess getting my goal helped the team move forward, gave us a little bit of confidence and motivation to keep pounding this team, because the game was not over,” Shaffer said. “We still had a whole half left.”
Virginia dominated from then on out. The Bison did not produce another shot, as Sonnett and junior defender Kristen McNabb controlled that half of the field, while the Cavalier offense produced four more goals to extend the lead to 7-1 before the final whistle.
Sonnett floated a ball towards the back post, which junior defender Meghan Cox headed low for a score at 57:06. Ayan Adu placed a shot into the right corner at 57:57 for the first goal of her Virginia career. Latsko netted the final two goals of the night, a sliding poke past Diotte at 78:01 and a left-corner strike at 79:23.
“I think [Latsko] is a pretty great spark for us on the team and up top,” Doniak said. “Her work rate is unbelievable. And I think as her role increases more as we go on in the tournament she will become even more important for us, and I think her play will get better. The chemistry with us to will improve.”
Many Virginia players who stepped onto the field Friday night contributed quality minutes, and those few reserves who did not see action cheered on their teammates through the cold and wrapped coats around starters who subbed out of the game.
“Our mentality is one game at a time and focusing on our next game,” Doniak said. “Steve prepared us well, and now we are looking on to the next game.”
Virginia hosts a second-round matchup Friday versus UNC-Wilmington (15-6-1). The Cavaliers routed the Seahawks 8-0 at home Aug. 23.
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