No. 4 Virginia (2-0-0) opened up the season with a bang this weekend, as the Cavaliers collected two comfortable victories.
On Friday, the women took on Liberty (0-2-0) with Virginia head coach Steve Swanson allowing his youth players to take on a large role. The youth answered the call and walloped Liberty with a score of 4-0.
With plenty of goals to go around, the Cavaliers saw four separate players on the score sheet with goals from sophomore midfielder Betsy Brandon, freshman forwards Meghan McCool and Taylor Ziemer, as well as senior defender Meghan Cox all getting in on the action. Virginia outshot Liberty 21-to-5 and got the win to allow senior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns to tie the school record for wins at 55.
On Sunday’s home opener, Virginia had yet another shutout, handling George Mason (1-1-0) with a final score of 2-0.
The victory allowed senior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns to set the school record for wins by reaching the magic number of 56.
“We’re proud of Morgan, but it’s hard to believe she’s a fourth-year already,” Swanson said. “That’s a tough record to break, so credit to her. We’ve been pleased with her performance. Last year she was coming off that hip injury and this year she is in a much different place. Hopefully that bodes well for her.”
Despite the score, the Cavaliers should have won a little more comfortably than they did. Virginia outshot George Mason 23-to-4 and were plagued by a lack of finishing all match. This lack caused the Cavaliers to struggle in adding to the two goals they scored in the first half.
“We were taking some shots today, but we weren’t finishing,” Swanson said. “That’s a credit to their keeper for getting her hand and feet on some things. We’ve left a lot of goals out there, so that’s something we have to work on. We did too much shooting and not enough finishing.”
It looked as though the goals would be flowing from the outset of the game when junior Veronica Latsko found the back of the net in just the second minute of play and senior Alexis Shaffer followed up with a goal of her own in the 30th minute, but the shots just weren’t falling thereafter for the Cavaliers.
Despite the mild frustration with not scoring as often as they would have liked, the Cavaliers were proud to record their second shutout in as many games and begin their season looking strong.
However, Swanson is still looking at his options when it comes to the starting lineup. With so many good players on the team, Swanson needs to make some tough decisions.
“We got a lot of players minutes this weekend, which is good, but we have to make some decisions now,” Swanson said. “We’re trying to open it up a little and get players minutes where we can.
Looking forward, Virginia will return to Klöckner Stadium Thursday to host Michigan State at 7 p.m. in a game that should represent a good test of ability for the Cavaliers.
As the season begins to move into full swing, coach Swanson needs to solidify the starting 11 to allow his players to solidify their chemistry.
“We have depth, but we have to see what positions people are suited for,” Swanson said.
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