After ruining West Virginia’s home opener Thursday night by upsetting the Mountaineers (2-1-0), Virginia made sure its home opener was a celebratory event as the Cavaliers picked up a 2-0 win against Liberty.
Although the Cavaliers (3-0-0) dominated in possession, they initially struggled to find the back of the net. Liberty (0-2-2) redshirt freshman goalkeeper Tori Collar made some big saves to hold off No. 10 Virginia from converting its 25 shots and 13 corner kicks into goals for most of the game. However, in the 64th minute, freshman midfielder Taryn Torres finally scored as she picked up her second goal of the season and her first goal in Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers got on the scoreboard again in the 81st minute as junior midfielder Montana Sutton blasted one in from 22 yards out.
“We all needed to work together,” Sutton said. “It was definitely tough and we didn’t score until later on…But everyone’s effort and playing as a team is what it took to win at the end of the day.”
Torres also said teamwork played a key role in grinding out the win to teamwork
“It took trusting each other, trusting the team and trusting the coaches [to get the win],” she said.
The win against Liberty comes after Virginia battled it out against top-ranked West Virginia in a double-overtime match in which the Cavaliers emerged as the winner with a score of 2-1.
“This is our first Thursday-Sunday game…[so we can work on] coming off a Thursday game and playing a little bit stronger as a team,” Sutton said.
While the Cavaliers still have to adjust to the demands of a long, busy and challenging season, there have been some good signs for the team so far in its undefeated start to the season.
Sutton said some of the team’s strengths include teamwork, ball movement and competitive edge — doing “anything to win.”
The Cavaliers remain in Charlottesville for a series of home games, with the next game being Thursday night against Wisconsin. After hosting Richmond Sunday, Klöckner Stadium will be the site of two Top 10 matchups as No. 7 UCLA and No. 9 Penn State come to town in the following weeks.
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