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Cavs dismantle Spiders

Virginia attack besieges Richmond keeper with 25 shots, six scores in rout

Just two days after eking out a 2-1 victory against No. 13 West Virginia, the No. 10 Virginia women's soccer team demonstrated its scoring prowess with a commanding 6-0 triumph against Richmond Sunday evening. A total of five players scored goals on the night, and eight Cavaliers (2-0) registered a point.

The Cavaliers initiated their scoring onslaught during the 21st minute of play when sophomore forward Molly Menchel tapped the ball in the net after receiving a crossing pass from sophomore forward Gloria Douglas. Junior midfielder Julia Roberts and freshman midfielder Danielle Colaprico added two more goals mere minutes after Menchel's score - the sophomore's first career goal.

"I thought initially [Richmond] was really trying to compress the midfield so there wasn't a lot of space to move the ball like we normally would," coach Steve Swanson said. "So we had to look behind a little bit more. Once we made that adjustment, things opened up a little bit more for us. We got the first goal, and things calmed down from there."

Richmond (0-1-1), meanwhile, could not manage to match the Cavaliers' early offensive momentum. The Spiders failed to attempt a shot on goal during the first half and ultimately only challenged Virginia senior goalkeeper Chantel Jones once during the entire game. In comparison, the Cavaliers bombarded senior goalkeeper Andrea Young with 25 shots - 14 of which came on target.

The Cavaliers used speed and crisp passing to keep the pressure on the Spiders' defenders throughout the match, particularly during the opening minutes of the second half. Just three minutes after the end of intermission, junior midfielder Kate Norbo converted on a one-touch shot from 10 yards out to secure a 4-0 lead for Virginia. Junior forward Caroline Miller increased the Cavaliers' lead to five goals during the 63rd minute when she received a pass from junior midfielder Erica Hollenberg before slotting a goal past Young.

"The key for us is to move it faster than they can defend, because if we're moving the ball around, then they're going to be defending the whole game," Jones said. "By the time they get on offense, they're going to be too tired to do anything with it. So our key was to move it as fast as we could and just to keep the pace up."

Richmond's best opportunity to challenge Jones occurred late during the second half when the goalkeeper laid out a charging Spider to set up a penalty kick opportunity. Jones did not receive a card from the referees, and the Spiders' penalty shot sailed wide left, thus allowing Jones to collect her 34th career shutout. The senior now remains one shutout away from tying the ACC career record.

With Jones anchoring the Virginia defense, Swanson was able to send many of his young freshman talents out onto the field for valuable playing time. Colaprico, who notched the Cavaliers' third goal of the night, continued to shine throughout her second career regular season game. The freshman eluded Richmond defenders with impressive dribbling skills and managed to chip in her second goal of the night during the 87th minute.

Virginia hopes that the infusion of youth will continue to propel the squad to success as it continues its nine-game home stand this Friday against in-state foe Liberty. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.

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