The Virginia women’s soccer team hosted a rematch with unseeded UNC Wilmington in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night. Back on Aug. 23, the Cavaliers crushed the Seahawks 8-0 to open the regular-season.
“To be fair, you can’t really look at that game,” coach Steve Swanson said. “We were supposed to play on a Friday night and we had a game canceled. ... We said, ‘Look, we don’t have a game Friday. You have a game Friday. We understand if you don’t want to play.’ But their coach said, no, he still wanted to play.”
Virginia snatched an early 1-0 lead that afternoon, as a low strike from star senior forward Makenzy Doniak found the left corner a little after one minute into the game. Friday night, it took the Cavaliers more than 50 minutes to break through.
Junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer settled a poor clearance and buried her 13th goal of the season.
“The ball kind of like bounced out, and I took a touch over a girl and volleyed it,” Shaffer said. “And next thing I know, it was in the back of the net.”
The lead was a long time coming for Virginia. Up to that point, the Cavaliers had fired 13 shots towards the goal. The closest call came in the tenth minute, when senior forward Makenzy Doniak drilled a point-blank shot right at Wilmington junior goalkeeper Carolyn Huddy.
Doniak stabbed at the ball again, and rebounded to sophomore forward Veronica Latsko. Out of position, Huddy saw the shot clang off the crossbar and out of the box.
“I think they came out very hard,” Doniak said. “They had teeth, and they were able to maybe get us off our game a little bit. Also, we were struggling to finish the ball.”
Leaving behind the wasted chances in the first half, Doniak and her teammates took the field in the second half ready to put the ball in the back of the net. Ten minutes after Shaffer volleyed one home, Doniak looped a header over a Wilmington defender who stood on the goal line and into the top shelf.
Up 2-0, Virginia coasted to its eighteenth win of the season. The Cavalier offense produced a total of 28 shots. Senior center back Emily Sonnett and her unit allowed a single shot, while junior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns did not have to make a single save.
Post-game, Virginia turned its attention to the next challenge.
“Now there are only sixteen teams left, so you’re going to have to play well,” Swanson said. “We got to get a quick turnaround, but I think this is no different than say the weekend we had a couple weeks ago at the ACC Finals.”
Two days after the 2-0 win, Virginia faced No. 11 Southern California on a blustery Sunday afternoon in Charlottesville. Doniak, a native of Chino Hills, California, knew firsthand from her high school days the kind of talent the Trojans possess.
“I know a lot of players on that team,” Doniak said. “I think they are a great team, and it will definitely be a challenge for us. It’ll be a good match.”
An athletic Southern California back line held the Cavaliers scoreless for 42 minutes before Doniak chested the ball down to her feet and smacked it past redshirt junior goalkeeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme.
“I think it gives your team confidence, you know,” Swanson said. “They were sitting back a little bit so now the onus is on them… It changed the dynamic of the game.”
Opponents beware: Virginia has not lost a game this season in which it has scored first. The Cavaliers often follow up a first goal with another one in no time. The Trojans, however, prevented that Sunday and were it not for Stearns, would have produced an equalizer in the final 20 minutes.
“It was the first time really in a little bit that we’ve gotten penetration in our defensive box, so we had to kind of remember what that’s all about,” Swanson said. “But Stearns I thought was there when we needed her.”
Stearns saved three shots in the minutes leading up to the play of the game, arguably of the season. At 80:30, Shaffer did what she does best, finish.
“It was kind of a counterattack,” Shaffer said. “Veronica [Latsko] had the ball out wide. I just made a run into the box. She played me a great ball, and I just finished it near post… They were definitely getting chances back and forth, so I think that goal really helped us.”
Doniak and senior forward Brittany Ratcliffe shielded the ball at the far corner flag to run out the clock. A frustrated Southern California player booted the ball halfway to Davenport Field. The announcer counted down the seconds, and another great Klöckner crowd rose to honor its beloved team.
“[I feel] kind of comfortable, just because we have been here for the past three years,” Stearns said. “But I think that comfort comes with an understanding that we’ve had to work hard to earn that… We’ve earned the right to play on Friday and train tomorrow.”
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