On a picturesque fall day at Klöckner Stadium, the women’s soccer team took on the Boston College Eagles, hoping to close out its regular season home schedule with a win. The Cavaliers’ Senior Day festivities started early with a celebration of their senior class and culminated with a 3-2 triumph.
“Boston College (10-7-1, 2-7-0 ACC) took us out of our game and for a lot of it we were not sharp,” coach Steve Swanson said. “We were fortunate to get a win today. We have to learn from this. We’re down to the last few games and teams are battling for their ACC and NCAA Tournament lives. We have to rise to that.”
Senior Day was an emotional time for many of the players, as they see off a senior class that contributed a lot to the team.
“It’s pretty surreal that it’s here,” senior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns said. “I’ve watched three senior nights ahead of me and it’s always a really emotional and exciting day, but for that to be you as the person walking out with your family … and it’s even more special that I got to play against my sister one last time, so a lot of emotions and it’s really exciting”
However, the celebration couldn’t last long as in the sixth minute, Boston College senior forward McKenzie Meehan scored her 12th goal of the season — firing the ball into the center of the goal from eight yards out to give Boston College the 1-0 lead.
After the Golden Eagles jumped out to the early lead, Virginia (12-3-2, 5-2-2 ACC) responded by turning up the pressure in search of the equalizer. The Cavaliers thought they had a breakthrough in the 33rd minute when they were awarded a penalty kick, but senior defender Kristen McNabb failed to convert from the spot as sophomore goalkeeper Alexis Bryant made a diving stop to temporarily preserve her clean sheet.
With Boston College continuing to put on the pressure, Virginia had a couple of quality chances, but failed to convert before the half. The Cavaliers went into the break down 1-0, although they outshot Boston College 14 to 4.
In the 52nd minute, a massive collision in the box between Bryant and sophomore midfielder Hana Kerner resulted in another penalty kick for the Cavaliers, after a lengthy stoppage of play to make certain both players were fit to continue. Shaffer stepped up to the spot, but this time, she made no mistake and powered the ball into the right corner of the goal to even the score at 1-1.
The Cavaliers broke the tie in the 57th minute when redshirt freshman midfielder Jasmine Wright unleashed a powerful shot from the top of the box that rocketed into the bottom right hand corner of Boston College’s goal to move the Cavaliers ahead 2-1.
Virginia kept the pressure on and finally found an insurance goal in the 74th minute when senior defender Kristen McNabb redirected in a header from sophomore midfielder Montana Sutton’s corner kick to give the No. 8 Cavaliers some breathing room.
Just six minutes later, Boston College responded and put more pressure on Virginia by converting a free kick in the 80th minute to cut the lead in half, setting up a tense final ten minutes.
The Cavaliers endured the Golden Eagles’ desperate push and effectively closed out the game, moving them into a tie for fifth place in the ACC.
“We finished some goals in the second half, which made a difference obviously,” Swanson said. “We came back from a goal down, which was something we hadn’t done all year. We had some production off the bench. Jasmine and Montana did a good job and deserve a lot of credit.”
McNabb also praised her team’s resilience, but knows they must play better going forward.
“We didn’t play our best,” McNabb said. “I don’t think we came out sharp and we knew this team was going to be desperate and fighting for their life, but I think it’s a big positive that we came back and found a way to get the go-ahead goals.”
The Cavaliers will close out their regular season schedule with a match against Louisville, scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
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