Virginia women’s soccer fans remember the moment well: with close to seven minutes remaining on the clock, Florida State senior forward Jamia Fields froze one defender with an inside-out move and created enough space to uncoil a left-footed strike. The ball skidded between a pair of legs and beside Cavalier junior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns for a goal. Woefully, that’s all she wrote.
Nine months and one day removed from that 1-0 defeat at the 2014 College Cup final in Boca Raton, Fla., the now-No. 1 Cavaliers head out west with a 3-0 record in 2015. Defending champion and previous No. 1 Florida State fell 3-2 to in-state rival No. 14 Florida Sunday.
With a target fastened on its back, Virginia will either take care of business in the Golden State, Friday at No. 14 UCLA (2-1) and Sunday at No. 19 Pepperdine (3-1), or else suffer a similar fate as the Seminoles four days ago.
“We’re excited to go out to California,” senior forward Brittany Ratcliffe said. “UCLA and Pepperdine are really good teams. But even if the level [of our opponent] goes up, we just have to play our game because as long as we play Virginia soccer we’re going to do well.”
So far, the Cavaliers have outscored opponents — UNC Wilmington, Cal Poly, and Delaware — 16 to one. Virginia’s defense has been a reliable force thanks to the leadership and tenacity of its center backs, senior Emily Sonnett and junior Kristen McNabb, and Stearns in goal.
Concern, if any, rests with the offense and how much higher its shooting percentage could be at this point. Virginia has netted only 16 of its 91 total shots — 17.6 percent.
“In some ways, we’re generating good chances,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “We’re getting the ball to places where we can do damage. But in other instances, we’ve just got to be better on our conversion rate. We’re certainly not going to get 30 shots a game, so it’s how well can we convert the chances that we get.”
The Bruins and Waves have conceded an average of 5.3 and 7.8 shots per game, respectively. So the Cavaliers cannot rely on sheer volume of shots to produce goals this weekend.
Fortunately, Virginia should have its elite finisher and senior forward Makenzy Doniak back up top. Doniak — who tallied 20 goals a season ago — missed the final 35 minutes Friday and all of Sunday’s game with a pulled left hamstring, which Swanson has optimistically characterized as “day to day.” The Cavaliers understand how central “Mak” is to their team.
“It was definitely a little nerve-racking to be without her, because she’s so good,” freshman midfielder Betsy Brandon said. “She’s very powerful and obviously a top goal scorer. It’s very nice to have someone who can run on to anything and pull you out of any situation too.”
If for some reason Doniak has a setback and can’t lace up her cleats this weekend, Virginia has the depth to endure, which is perhaps its finest quality. In addition to a cast of emergent upperclassmen, including junior defender Meghan Cox and sophomore forward Veronica Latsko, the team benefits from a strong freshman class.
Freshman midfielder Courtney Petersen came off the bench and played more minutes, 71, than any field player in the 6-1 win over Delaware. She tallied three points — one goal, one assist — and has six on the season.
Other rookies — including Brandon, who’s started two of three games, forwards Lorato Sargeant and Ayan Adu, and midfielders Montana Sutton and Christiana Sullivan — have contributed quality minutes to the cause. Cavalier veterans love to see this youth movement.
“I think the more and more we play and the more we integrate our first years … like, you can tell when they come in the level doesn’t drop,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s hard to tell who’s a first year and who’s a fourth year. It’s awesome. That’s what we want, a deep team that can perform no matter who’s on the field.”
Swanson acknowledges that this depth and unity — 29 players with different personalities and roles who’ve come together already — are two strengths of his team. But, like any visionary leader, he’s quicker to point out several areas where his players must improve.
“We still have work to do,” he said. “At times, we are playing too slow for the way a defense is playing us. Our crossing isn’t as consistent as I’d like it to be. Our movement in and around the box isn’t as consistent as I’d like it to be. Our decisions on when to penetrate centrally … again, sometimes we are forcing it when we shouldn’t.”
The Cavaliers will get to where Swanson wants them to go — well, if that’s possible. As an assistant on the U.S. Women’s National Team this summer, Swanson probably even saw room for improvement among those world champions. But this refusal to be complacent is what makes Virginia’s soccer coach one of the best in this country.
Swanson’s players always seem to respond, whether at the professional or collegiate level. They put in the hard work and believe in the group. They embrace tests like the two that await Virginia this weekend on the West Coast.
“Big challenge, you know,” Swanson said. “I think we’re obviously going to get their best shots, certainly from what happened last year. It’ll be two good teams in three days. We’ll have our work cut out for us, but I think it’s what we need at this point in time. We’re ready to go.”
Kickoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m. (PST) Friday at UCLA and 1 p.m. (PST) Sunday at Pepperdine.
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