No. 1 Virginia women’s soccer capped off its 2015 regular season with a 6-0 victory Sunday night at Pittsburgh (10-7-1, 4-6 ACC). Freshman midfielder Betsy Brandon and junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer bookended Cavalier (15-1-1, 9-1-0 ACC) scoring with a pair of goals each.
Brandon, who acts as a defensive-minded possession-oriented midfielder, buried one home from point-blank range at 24:55 following a Virginia corner and botched Panther clearance. Junior defender Tina Iordanou tallied an assist on the play, her fifth of the season.
A little over three minutes later, déjà vu ensued as Iordanou again found the feet of Brandon, who slipped another ball past the Pittsburgh keeper in tight space for a second goal. Brandon’s back-to-back scores, in addition to senior defender Emily Sonnett’s goal-line stop earlier at 15:53, seemed to deflate the Panthers on an emotional senior night.
The Cavaliers would not let up on the offensive end. To close the half, Virginia’s trio of goal scorers — junior forward Morgan Reuther, senior forward Makenzy Doniak and junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer — combined to finish their chances at an impressive rate.
Reuther settled a pass from Doniak and finished well at 42:01. Around 90 seconds later, Doniak netted a shot inside the box. The Chino Hills, Calif. native has been on fire of late, scoring six goals over the past five games including Sunday. Doniak added another assist before halftime, when Shaffer’s long-range strike found the top corner as time expired.
Virginia had extended its lead to 5-0 in less than three minutes. Considering the Cavaliers have allowed only four total goals in the second half this season, Pittsburgh faced an insurmountable deficit the rest of the way. Sonnett contributed another forty-five minutes of top-notch defending, while junior goalkeepers Morgan Stearns and Jessie Ferrari combined for the team’s eleventh shutout.
To close the Virginia scoring fest, senior winger Brittany Ratcliffe dropped a pass off to Shaffer, who added another goal from outside the eighteen-yard box at 60:55. Shaffer leads a deep Cavalier attack with 10 goals. Her performance in 2015 has garnered national attention from media personal and opposing coaches.
She and Reuther carried the load during Doniak’s time off with a nagging hamstring injury. Doniak returned to action, and now all three are clicking. That is a threatening truth for opposing coaches and defenders.
The Cavaliers (15-1-1, 9-1-0 ACC) entered Sunday’s match having won seven straight since a 2-1 double overtime loss Sept. 24 to Notre Dame. Just like it did a season ago after falling 1-0 to Florida State on Sept. 28, Virginia has responded and caught its stride at the right time.
Friday evening in Cary, N.C., the Cavaliers will face No. 7 Clemson. Virginia beat the Tigers 2-0 on the road Oct. 8. The winner will advance to the ACC Tournament Final Nov. 8 against either No. 3 North Carolina or No. 2 Florida State.
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