For the third week in a row, the top-ranked Virginia women’s soccer needed a comeback to preserve its perfect season. The Cavaliers defeated Duke 3-2 in nail-biting fashion, scoring a goal in the 80th minute to put the Blue Devils away.
Virginia (10-0, 4-0 ACC) fell behind early in just the ninth minute when Duke junior forward Kelly Cobb opened the scoring — the third game in a row in which the Cavaliers have allowed the first goal. Duke (4-5-2, 1-3-1) doubled the lead 12 minutes later, as senior midfielder Kelly Kerr notched her third goal of the season, putting the Cavaliers down two for the first time all year.
Despite the score, the first half was not entirely dominated by Duke; Virginia actually led the Blue Devils 7-5 in shots at intermission, but proved unable to convert.
Immediately after halftime, however, the Cavaliers found their stride. Standout junior midfielder Morgan Brian put the Cavaliers on the board in the 47th minute when she finished a pass from junior Danielle Colaprico. Just two minutes later, Virginia knotted things up when sophomore forward Makenzy Doniak continued her hot streak — the team’s leading scorer has tallied four goals on the current road trip — after receiving a feed from fellow forward Molly Menchel.
Duke buckled down on defense for the majority of the second half to keep the score tied for the next 30 minutes. Virginia continued to attack, and was able to keep the Blue Devils on their heels until the 80th minute, when the Cavaliers took the lead for the first time in the match. Senior forward Gloria Douglas scored her first goal of the season when her team needed it most, ensuring that Virginia’s record remained unblemished.
Virginia will put its record on the line again Sunday, when Maryland comes to Klöckner to play at 2 p.m.
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