Despite giving up their first goal in over four games, the Virginia women's soccer team rolled to a 2-1 victory at Richmond last night. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Cavaliers, who haven't lost since their Sept. 5 upset on the road at Ohio State.
All of the pre-game discussions broached the subject of Virginia's impressive shutout streak spanning four entire games. At 417:56 in length going into the match with the Spiders, the mark was securely set at fifth place all time for Virginia women's soccer. But the Cavaliers' shot at making history fell by the wayside early in the game, when Richmond senior Bethany Shewmaker netted the opening goal at the 15:56 mark.
Receiving the pass on the right side from Icelander Edda Gardarsdottir, Shewmaker juked Virginia defender Jessica Trainor hard left in the box. She quickly shifted back to the right, pushing the ball with her backfoot away to create space for a shot and let it rip toward the top left corner of the goal.
Cavalier goalkeeper Anne Abernethy misdirected the ball in a vain attempt to make a diving save, but it caromed off the palms of her outstretched arms and sent the net flickering.
The streak dead at 433:52 and trailing 1-0 on the road, Virginia (8-1-1, 1-0 ACC) proceeded to put on a free clinic in ball control and foot skills. They sliced up the Spider defense with a series of back passes and diagonal cuts along the sideline, throwing in the occasional cross pass for the home run shot.
Junior Lindsay Gusick broke out of a three-way tie into sole possession of 10th place on the Cavaliers' career goals list with her score 28:01 into the game. Gusick's fifth goal of the year came off an Ariel Thompson through-pass that left Gusick open to put a hesitation dribble on the keeper, and send one home on the roll. The play gave Thompson her first career assist.
After a breakout freshman season that was followed by a second year plagued by injury and unfulfilled expectations, Gusick seemingly has had a fire lit underneath her since Virginia's surprise knockoff of then-No.2 Santa Clara Sept. 12. Notching her first points of the year with two assists in the win over the Broncos, Gusick has recorded at least one point in every match since, while scoring five goals over the same span.
"I talked to [coach Steve] Swanson, and he just said to concentrate on the little things -- do whatever you can to help the team," Gusick said. "If I get goals, that's great. But I want to do other things as well, so there's not really that much pressure" to score goals.
Virginia got the go-ahead goal 12 minutes later on team-scoring leader Kelly Hammond's seventh score of the season. Guarding a one-goal lead was the theme of the game from then on, as the Cavalier defense clamped down on Richmond's offensive attack. Virginia dominated the game, out-shooting the Spiders 7-3 in the first half and 9-4 in the second.
Swanson liked what he saw last night, stressing the team's resilience as the salient factor in the win.
"I was more pleased with the way we responded -- when we went down, came back and scored a goal pretty quickly and then we got the goal to go ahead at the end of the first half," Swanson said. "I think that was the thing that impressed me the most."
Richmond's best opportunity to increase their point tally came when the game was knotted at 1-1. The second of the Spiders' Icelandic tandem, Olina Vidarsdottir, blew past the Virginia back line in an apparent missed off-sides call. She had a one-on-one with Abernethy but failed to convert, sending the ball squirting wide left as the goalkeeper from Atlanta, Ga. came rushing out of the net.
Virginia's season continues this Saturday when they host Florida State in Charlottesville.
Read More
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 4 hours agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
Together, the rookies of the past became the champions of the present
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayVirginia's championship coaches often collaborate.
Matt Ganyard, resilient Renaissance man, has seen it all
By Theo Moll | 4 days agoFrom undergrad, to the Marines, to Darden and Virginia football, Matt Ganyard has surely been one of the most unique alumni in Virginia football history.
