The Virginia women's soccer team relied on a familiar face in last night's game against Brigham Young. Co-captain Lori Lindsey led the tired Cavaliers in a come-from-behind victory in overtime against the Cougars, 3-2.
Six minutes into the overtime period, sophomore midfielder Erin Engelhardt set up Lindsey perfectly for a header right in front of the goal. The goal from Lindsey, who had stitches over her left eye from a header collision in Tuesday's game, gave Virginia (6-2-1) the victory over BYU (6-3-1).
"Erin made a great run," Lindsey said. "She was able to catch up to it and get the cross in. I just headed it as hard as I could."
In the second half, Lindsey collided with Cougar goalkeeper Jennifer Waldron. Her second collision in three days left Lindsey shaken up and bleeding from a cut on her mouth.
"Tuesday I got stitches, now I'm dizzy and spitting blood," the battered co-captain said. "But it was a great win for us."
"In the beginning of the season I said 'she's our engine,'" Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "Now she needs a little oil change."
Virginia had just one day's rest after hosting William & Mary on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers were also in action last Saturday at Clemson and lost, 4-0. So much competition led to obvious signs of fatigue for Virginia in the game against BYU.
"We didn't have much legs tonight," Swanson said. "It was a really slow first half."
"My body hurts," Lindsey said. "We've had so many games in such a little period of time. It's tough because everyone's legs are real heavy."
Despite the slow start, the Cavaliers were able to get on the board first. In a sign of what was to come later, Engelhardt set up Lindsey in the 18th minute of the game to put Virginia up, 1-0.
The Cavalier lead was short-lived, as Cougar forward Kim Devine sent the game into a halftime tie when she tapped the ball in after it was deflected by Virginia goalkeeper Anne Abernethy.
Devine struck again 18 minutes into the second half to give BYU a 2-1 lead.
The Cavaliers answered back when freshman forward Lindsay Gusick scored to propel the game into overtime. Gusick, a recent sparkplug for Virginia's offense, was set up by midfielder Kelly Worden.
"I thought Gusick was dangerous tonight," Swanson said. "She caused problems for them. That second goal gave us a lot of confidence heading into overtime."
Lindsey's overtime drama completed the excitement of the Cavaliers' victory over the Cougars.
"Anytime you can come from behind it's going to give you confidence," Swanson said of his team's performance. "I don't think you can find out a lot about your team until you can get good results against quality teams. This is something that we can build on - I think now we have a little momentum going. We've got to get rested and get ready for George Mason."
The Cavaliers will take on the Patriots in Fairfax on Sunday at 4 p.m.
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