RALEIGH, N.C. -- Move over, John Stamos. Take a seat, Dennis Miller. Shut your mouth, Terry Bradshaw. Because when it comes to long distance connections, the Virginia women's soccer team proved Friday afternoon that they know more about the subject than any one of those B-list celebrities.
The No. 7 Cavaliers (7-1-1, 1-0 ACC) got scores from over 25 yards from Kelly Hammond, Gillian Hatch and Jamie Fabrizio, en route to a 7-0 thrashing of NC State (5-3-1, 0-1).
"Anytime you can finish like we did today, you're going to win games," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "That was as good a finishing as I've seen. Ever. And [the NC State] coach said the same thing. It was amazing."
Virginia converted on an impressive 41 percent of their 17 attempts for the game, while allowing only three shots for NC State. The shutout was the Cavaliers' fourth straight and extends their streak to 418 minutes without allowing a goal. The Cavaliers will look to crack the 500-minute barrier tonight, as they travel to Richmond to take on the in-state rival Spiders (1-4-2).
"We're playing a lot better team defense," Hatch said. "We're working well together and getting used to each other and it's getting better each game."
It was Virginia's offense, however, that was the showcase Friday. The Cavaliers tallied five first-half scores -- including two in the first seven minutes -- to get a hold of the game early.
"One of our team goals was to score early and set the tone for this game, and we did just that," Hammond said. "We came out really hard and did what we needed to do in the first half to put them away."
Hammond opened the scoring six and a half minutes in, converting on a pass from sophomore midfielder Sarah Huffman. Just 35 seconds later, Noelle Keselica also found the back of the net to put the Cavaliers up by a pair. Freshman forward Ariel Thompson put in another one for Virginia, her fourth score of the season, to give the Cavaliers a three-goal cushion in the 32nd minute.
Hammond got the ball above the box on a give-and-go from freshman midfielder Shannon Foley with less than 11 minutes left in the first half and decided to pull the trigger on the long range shot. The ball sailed into the back of the net for another Virginia score.
Just five minutes later, junior defender Gillian Hatch let one go from even further out and placed the shot just well enough for it to fly past NC State keeper Kim Selz and into the goal, putting the Cavaliers up 5-0 going into the half.
"We've been working on finishing in practice," Hatch said. "It just all came together today really well."
Foley scored a goal of her own less than two minutes into the second half, drilling a low shot into the right corner of the net. Fabrizio capped the Virginia scoring late in the second half with a well-placed shot from about 40 yards out.
The seven-goal win was Virginia's largest margin of victory in an ACC matchup since 1994, when the Cavaliers demolished Wake Forest by a 9-0 count. Virginia did not expect the game against the Wolfpack to be this easy, however.
"I don't care what the records are," Swanson said. "You don't go into these games expecting this kind of result, that's for sure. We have a lot of respect for NC State -- they are a good team. Like I said, I think we just did a great job finishing today."
With such a strong long distance scoring prowess, the Cavaliers might score themselves an advertising deal. Or, at the very least, a few more ACC victories.
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