The Virginia women’s soccer team has come a long way this season, showing marked improvement since the preseason en route to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a dominant victory against High Point last weekend in the first round. This weekend, Virginia had the chance to move into the Elite Eight, and the battle-tested Cavaliers leapt at the opportunity.
On Friday, Virginia (21-2, 9-1 ACC) took on Rutgers (13-6-1, 8-4-1 B1G) at home. The Scarlet Knights proved challenging — the Cavaliers did not get on the board in the first 45 minutes, but broke open the scoring after halftime to down the visitors, 3-0.
“We expected a very difficult game,” coach Steve Swanson said. “I think Rutgers is one of the most organized teams we’ve played. They do a good job of defending the ball and limiting chances. The first half we knew was going to be tough, but we stuck to the game plan and we tried to stretch horizontally.”
Two days later, the Cavaliers squared off against 14th-ranked Kentucky (16-6-1), a team playing in its first-ever Sweet 16 — and ultimately, it showed. Though Virginia struggled to get on the board early, once the offense broke through it was essentially no contest. Virginia cruised to a 7-0 victory and clinched a spot in next weekend’s NCAA Quarterfinals.
“I think Kentucky’s a great team,” senior midfielder Morgan Brian said. “They’ve gotten great results this whole season, they lost to [No. 1 seed] Texas A&M 1-0, and I think for us we played really well and finished our chances.”
An unlikely source keyed the Cavalier breakthrough after a frustrating first half on Friday. In the 50th minute, senior midfielder and captain Danielle Colaprico launched a corner into the box that was deflected by the Rutgers defense but fell conveniently to the head of sophomore defender Tina Iordanou, who knocked in her fourth goal of the season.
“I think we have great headers of the ball on this team,” junior forward Makenzy Doniak said. “Every corner is a chance on goal for us, that was a great chance, but a lot of girls can put it away with their head.”
Iordanou’s goal was the first of three in seven minutes for Virginia, as Doniak scored from 10 yards off an assist from junior forward Brittany Ratcliffe just 40 seconds later to double the lead.
As if two wasn’t enough, Ratcliffe delivered the dagger in the 57th minute when she beat her marker and fired a shot that glanced off the arm of freshman goalkeeper Casey Murphy and into the goal, leaving the 11th-best goalie in the country face down on the turf.
“That first goal was the turning point,” Swanson said. “You’ve got to give Tina credit there for getting on the end of it and finishing it.”
Though Virginia took 17 shots, the team could not find the back of the net after the third goal. Swanson sat many of his starters in the game’s final minutes in anticipation of Sunday’s game.
After the quick turnaround, Virginia — playing in rain and mid-30s temperatures — came out slowly, looking out of sorts and missing the typically simple passes that make up the core of its fast-moving, meticulously operated offense.
But as usual, Virginia needed just one crack in the defense to impose its will. In the 17th minute, the Cavaliers got just that. Seconds after a goal was disallowed due to offsides, Doniak charged the touch line on the left side, leaving her defender on the ground, and found Brian at the penalty spot for the midfielder’s program-leading 10th NCAA Tournament goal.
“I felt like we were right there, we just needed our first goal and that would open the gates for us,” Doniak said. “We had to settle down and play our style.”
Brian’s goal was significant for Virginia because it showed not only that she had gotten back to her supreme form after temporarily departing the Cavaliers to play for the U.S. women’s national team, but also that her remarkable success against High Point in the first round — when she tallied five assists and a goal — was not a flash in the pan.
“I’ve done it for four years now,” Brian said. “I think my first and second year [leaving the team] was a little more difficult, but a lot of these girls on the team have played together for a while and we’re hitting our stride at the right time.”
Brian and Doniak both added to their tournament tallies through the rest of the half, with Brian’s second goal of the contest doubling the Cavalier lead and Doniak’s 36th-minute rocket pushing it to three going into the break.
“Morgan’s unique in that the more you play with her, the more you realize she’s always looking to move forward,” Swanson said. “Mak’s latched on to that. ...Their chemistry has really developed over the years.”
As the teams emerged from the tunnel for the second half with a Virginia victory firmly in the grasp, all eyes turned toward Los Angeles, where No. 1 overall seed UCLA was taking on Pepperdine to determine the Cavaliers’ next opponent, as well as the location for next week’s Elite Eight game. Because the Bruins won, 1-0, Virginia will travel across the country for a premier matchup at UCLA’s Drake Stadium at 8 p.m. Friday night.
Though the seniors were relishing potential final moments in front of a crowd that cherished them dearly, the Cavaliers were by no means finished scoring. Virginia got on board just three minutes into the second half when Brian found a cutting sophomore midfielder Kaili Torres in the middle of the box to push the Cavalier lead to four.
“We just had to execute our game plan,” Ratcliffe said. “Just keep the ball, because at the end of the day if you keep the ball the other team will get tired.”
Four minutes later, Doniak got on the scoreboard once again, collecting a Meghan Cox pass in the middle of the box and proceeded to fire a blistering shot just under the crossbar.
Though the Cavaliers were up by five, they continued pushing, looking to cap off the weekend in style. In the 54th minute, Brian streaked down the left sideline, out-ran substitute sophomore goalkeeper Ayanna Parker and sent in a perfect cross to the back post for sophomore midfielder Alexis Shaffer, who headed in her sixth goal of the season.
Just 30 seconds later, in what has become routine for Virginia, the midfield and strikers combined for a goal. Colaprico found Doniak on the left side, and the junior forward charged toward the goal, finishing underneath Parker’s arm for her 19th tally of the season, completing her second-career hat trick and setting the Virginia single-season points record at 48.
“I think that’s one part of my game that’s really developed,” Doniak said. “It’s really changed as I’ve progressed on this team. I’m more of a playmaker up top, getting the ball, playing it back off. Steve has really developed that part of my game.”
Following the 54th-minute strike, Swanson subbed out Doniak, Brian and Colaprico, allowing the 729 fans in attendance to send the two senior captains off well after their 7-0 victory helped set a single-season program record for goals at 83, breaking the previous record of 78.
“Our confidence has grown as the season has grown but we don’t by any means think that we have less work to do and can’t get better,” Swanson said.
The Cavaliers’ final game at home of the 2014 season signals the end of an era for Virginia fans. After four years of unprecedented success, fans will no longer be able to cheer on Brian, Colaprico, midfielder Campbell Millar and forward Mary Morgan, and will have to find a way to fill the extraordinary void those four will leave behind. Their impact has been sweeping, exciting a Charlottesville fan base which, this season more than ever, has needed something to cheer for.
“I think [Morgan’s] given the community, and the game, a look at the way you can play,” Swanson said. “When you have skills like she does and can make decisions like she does, you don’t have to be the biggest or strongest player on the field. In any other era, we would be saying the same things about Dani, so to have them both here together has been a unique opportunity and has been great for the community and the fans.”
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