Unfortunately for the Virginia women's soccer team a regulation game lasts 90 minutes.
The Cavaliers (11-3-1, 3-2 ACC) played well early, but not long enough against a reigning national champion North Carolina squad. The top-ranked Tar Heels (13-0, 6-0) broke the game wide open in the second half and scored at will to take out No. 8 Virginia, 6-1, last night at Klockner Stadium.
After playing the undefeated back-to-back national champion Tar Heels to a 1-1 tie for the first two-thirds of the game, Virginia let the floodgates open as North Carolina made short work of the Cavalier defense.
"We played well for 65 minutes tonight," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "We forgot who we were playing against and we weren't as mentally strong as we needed to be. I thought we lost our discipline a little bit."
Twenty minutes into the second half, the Tar Heels took the lead on a goal by sophomore midfielder Jordan Walker. This was just the beginning.
"When [the Tar Heels] smell blood, they go after it," Swanson said.
Two minutes later, forward Elizabeth Ball added to North Carolina's lead, scoring off of a penalty kick.
Three minutes later, Ball dished it over to forward Alyssa Ramsay who fired in the Tar Heels fourth goal from outside the box. Ramsay successfully placed it up in the left corner, past the outstretched arms of Cavalier goalkeeper Jodi Clugston.
Then, one minute after the Tar Heels took their 4-1 lead they scored another goal. This goal came courtesy of senior midfielder Jena Kluegel.
"They've got some of the best attackers in the country," Swanson said of the North Carolina offense. "You can counter that by the shape of your squad defensively. I thought we did that, but then we forgot some of the things that made us successful in the first 65 minutes."
The North Carolina offensive onslaught didn't stop there, however, as with less than a minute left in the contest, Ramsay netted her second goal of the evening, putting the Tar Heels up, 6-1.
"We had a very different mentality in the last 25 minutes," Swanson said. "We got punished for that, and rightfully so, good teams do that to you."
"I don't think we played 90 minutes," freshman forward Lindsay Gusick said. "We played 65 minutes hard, but you are not going to beat UNC with just that."
The 65 minutes of hard soccer that the Cavaliers did play were quite effective. Virginia actually scored the first goal of the game.
Gusick scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season 14 minutes into the contest after intercepting a ball from Tar Heel goalkeper Jenni Branam.
The Cavalier offense attacked often in the first half, finishing the half with six shots, and holding North Carolina to seven.
"I think we came out knowing what we had to do," Gusick said. "Getting the goal early was great for us."
But it all changed in the second half, as Virginia was only able to muster two shots while the Tar Heels dominated with 10 for the period.
"Hopefully this makes [us] a little bit mad," Swanson said. "To know that [we] can play this well and not close the deal. That's up to us now mentally to come back and make it 90. The big thing now is to channel this into Sunday [against Florida State]. I'm confident that the players will rebound well."
Indeed, Virginia hopes to focus its anger into a victory this Sunday when it hosts conference rival Florida State in a 1 p.m. matchup at Klockner Stadium.
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