The No. 9 Virginia women’s soccer team won the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic tournament at Klöckner Stadium this weekend, defeating William & Mary 2-1 Friday and Dartmouth 2-1 yesterday. With these two wins, Virginia moves to 6-0-1.
After facing the then-No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions to open the season, William & Mary was not flustered by the level of play on Virginia’s side of the ball. The Tribe defense bent under the Cavaliers’ first half attack, allowing seven shots on goal among 12 shots in that half, but it did not break.
“They come in here, they are organized,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “They put a lot of numbers behind the ball ... so it may not be until later in the game when we’re trying to find some cracks here that we break open [the game].”
While the Cavaliers controlled the ball, as the Tribe managed only one shot in the first 45 minutes, Virginia was could not find the back of the net; however, in the first minute of the second half, senior defender Nikki Krzysik assisted freshman forward Lauren Alwine to the Cavaliers’ first score. Just 90 seconds later, Alwine assisted sophomore forward Meghan Lenczyk to give Virginia a two-goal lead.
“I think we are capable of scoring in bunches,” Swanson said. “I think we are capable of scoring in a multitude of ways.”
Just more than 8 minutes later, William & Mary managed to get one past senior goalie Celeste Miles. Neither team scored again as the game settled down; William & Mary failed to take another shot in the second half.
“We were very close in the first half to breaking it open,” Swanson said. “But you know it’s tough, these teams are good teams. ... I would have liked to have got some of those goals earlier, but it’s not like we weren’t creating chances.”
With just 8 minutes left in the game yesterday against Dartmouth, Virginia had another chance to go ahead 2-1. Dartmouth goalie Laurel Peak, however, stepped up to make the save and keep the game headed toward overtime. Despite Peak’s efforts, in the 87th minute, Alwine passed the ball downfield to Lenczyk, who got by the lone defender on a fake and scored. With this second game-winning goal, Lenczyk stamped the Cavaliers’ victory and the tournament.
“A lot of it was getting unlucky — not placing it in the corners of the goal,” Lenczyk said. ”And finally [after enough shots], a goal has to come.”
Lenczyk became a starter in the first of Virginia’s two away games in Georgia last weekend. After the game yesterday, Lenczyk leads the team in scoring, with six goals, already matching her total from last season. Her performance this weekend earned her a spot on the all-tournament team along with Krzysik and Miles. Alwine, with her two assists and one goal, was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“Offensively our team worked well together this weekend,” Alwine said. “But it was every single player that contributed to those goals — it was a team effort.”
Though Virginia seemed less impressive than in previous games, especially if the matches are compared along the goal differentials, Swanson remains outcome-oriented.
“Our performance today left a lot to be desired,” Swanson said, adding, though, “it was a win. I’m happy with the results. We are happy to win our tournament.”
The Cavaliers travel to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers next Sunday in their final game prior to their conference schedule.
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