The third-ranked Cavaliers finally have a moment to catch their collective breath. It’s been a year since the Virginia women’s soccer team was in the postseason, and once again, the team looks hungry for a championship.
Saturday night, they completed the final step of the first leg of the journey, the regular season. The Cavaliers (17-1, 9-1 ACC) confidently defeated visiting Pittsburgh (6-12, 2-8 ACC) 6-1 on Senior Night at Klöckner Stadium, where the Cavaliers celebrated seniors Danielle Colaprico, Morgan Brian, Campbell Millar and Mary Morgan.
“It’s definitely upsetting having it be our last regular season home game, but I think that we’re on a journey to win something big this year,” Colaprico said. “It was a little bittersweet, but I thought we played well tonight and got some good goals. We’re doing great.”
In her first game in a Virginia uniform in more than three weeks, following U.S. Women’s National Team duty, Brian opened the scoring when she set up a free kick from just outside the box in the 30th minute. Colaprico charged over the ball as a distraction, and Brian curled a perfect bending shot over the wall and firmly into the back of the net for her fifth goal of the season.
“Morgan is playing some of her best soccer in her career right now,” coach Steve Swanson said. “She was very good all through the camps, and the qualifiers, and so I think you’ve got a very motivated Morgan Brian, a very in-form Morgan Brian, and I think that showed tonight.
Colaprico, who was playing in her 91st game in a Cavalier uniform, was all over the field, tallying four shots and setting up her teammates to convert numerous others.
“I think it’s just doing whatever Steve wants me to do,” Colaprico said. “I played a little bit of outside midfield today, but he’s always telling me to pinch in and look for the ball. He just wants me to get a lot of touches on the ball and get the ball moving for us.”
Just six minutes after her remarkable free kick strike, Brian found another golden opportunity to help her team. Off a through ball from sophomore midfielder Alexis Shaffer, Brian took a touch to split the two Panther defenders and proceeded to calmly slot a lefty goal into the corner, moving her into fourth on Virginia’s all-time points list.
“I think anytime I’m helping the team win is good,” Brian said. “Especially when you have seniors scoring goals in their last game at Klöckner. … I think it was a great team win tonight.”
In the 55th minute, Brian had a chance for the hat trick on a free kick call that—to the dismay of Cavaliers fans—was awarded just one yard outside of the box. In identical fashion to the first goal, Brian curled a shot over the wall that just nicked the underside of the crossbar, bouncing down and staying just out of the goal.
However, just five minutes after the referee’s questionable free kick spot, junior forward Makenzy Doniak righted the supposed injustice to the delight of a raucous 1,694 fans at Klöckner Stadium. Off a pass from junior defender Emily Sonnett, Doniak blasted a left-footed shot across the box for her team-leading 13th goal of the season.
“We were playing really great soccer, especially with some of the players up top and our attack [was] good,” Brian said. “In practice it had been great all week.”
On a night marked by her extremely strong play, it was only fitting that Colaprico would get on the score sheet at some point. In the 66th minute, she did just that. Off an impressive individual run of play, the versatile midfielder rocketed a shot from outside of the box past the diving Panthers goalkeeper to extend Virginia’s already comfortable lead to four.
“I think I wanted it in the midfield,” Colaprico said. “Before the second half, Steve was telling me to look for my shot because I need to be a little more selfish, because I always lay it off to other people, so when I looked up I saw some space and just ripped it.”
In the 72nd minute, just before a Cavalier corner kick, Swanson subbed off three of his seniors at once, inciting a standing ovation for the trio of senior stalwarts, whose contributions to the Virginia program are nearly immeasurable.
While Brian, Colaprico, and Millar were no longer on the field, the offense was by no means finished for the night. In the 74th minute, freshman forward Veronica Latsko found a charging Shaffer, who beat the keeper upper-90 for her fifth goal of the season.
The lone blemish on Virginia’s performance in the regular season finale was a minor defensive slip up in the 81st minute that allowed Pittsburgh junior forward Roosa Arvas to find freshman forward Taylor Pryce for her fourth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to four. However, on a night marked by so much celebration, Cavalier fans hardly realized Pittsburgh had gotten on the board.
Virginia wasn’t finished scoring for the regular season, though. With just under four minutes remaining, Latsko set up another one of her teammates, freshman defender Stephanie Krouskos, who played a nifty chip shot just over the goalie for her first career goal, in a symbolic passing of the baton to a new age of Virginia soccer stars.
Krouskos’ goal came on Virginia’s 36th shot of the game, a record for this season and a fitting way to cap off a memorable campaign.
“I think it’s a good lead in for the ACCs,” Swanson said. “We’ve had a good week of practice, and we were able to get some rest, and I think we’ll have another good week of practice before we go for ACCs. We’ve got a good test ahead for us and we’re excited about that.”
The Cavaliers get time off before they head into potentially the most difficult conference tournament in the nation. The three other qualifying schools — Florida State, North Carolina and Notre Dame — are all ranked in the top 10. Virginia’s semifinal match will kick off Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina at 8 p.m. against No. 5 North Carolina.
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