After picking up a win at West Virginia last week, No. 17 Virginia women’s soccer added another with a 3-0 triumph Thursday over Xavier. The Cavaliers (2-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) dominated the time of possession battle and consistently generated offensive pressure in the first half. Meanwhile, the Musketeers (0-2-0, 0-0-0 Big East) seldom challenged junior goalkeeper Victoria Safradin, who faced just six shots on goal, only two of which were serious threats. Safradin tied a career-high of six saves, but it was mostly a light and breezy evening for Virginia’s netminder.
However, there were several chances to score that passed the Cavaliers by. Namely, they did not capitalize on many of their nine corner attempts. A reason why came from the symptom of an inconsistent passing game — Virginia’s deliveries were crisp around midfield, but up close at the net, several passes careened away from the intended teammate. As a result, the Cavaliers left multiple potential goals off the scoreboard.
One of these missed opportunities came in the 42nd minute, freshman midfielder Addison Halpern had a golden opportunity from point-blank range but narrowly missed just to the right of the goalpost. Throughout the match, Virginia missed five shots on goal.
“We're happy to get the results,” Coach Steve Swanson said, “but know that our performance can be a lot better. And I still think it's a little bit early, but we did some good things tonight.”
However, even with the offensive miscues, Virginia’s defense was strong enough to keep a clean shutout. Xavier did finally manage to generate some offense of its own in the second half but could not manage to get past Safradin and the Cavaliers’ stellar interior defense.
Meanwhile, Virginia put on a show. It took just 14 minutes for the Cavaliers to net the game’s opening goal, coming from junior forward Allie Ross via an assist from junior defender Tatum Galvin and fifth-year midfielder Lia Godfrey.
Also of note from the first half, Halpern played all 45 minutes — joined only by veteran defenders. Meanwhile, Halpern flashed elite speed in her 74 minutes on the pitch, showing no signs of fatigue. Her 74 minutes were third on the team only behind the veteran defense duo of senior Kiki Maki and Galvin.
In the 35th minute, sophomore forward Sophia Bradley sprinted down the right side of the field, with most of Xavier’s defense trailing behind. She launched the ball, hard, right at senior goalkeeper Maria Galley, who tipped the ball away. However, the ball landed right in front of the diving Galley, and freshman midfielder Pearl Cecil was able to tap the ball in for her first career goal.
And while Cecil achieved a milestone moment, Godfrey was busy decimating the Musketeer defense. Godfrey starred, frequently slashing through gaps to find an open teammate, and in addition to her first half assist, she scored on a free kick in the 61st minute to build a resounding 3-0 lead. The goal came on a designed set piece, which she executed exactly as planned.
“We've got some pretty ambitious goals for our set plays,” Swanson said. “That was a great strike by Lia, but Lia has been training for that for years. It was good that she's picked her spot. I don't think the keeper had a chance. So that was good to see.”
By the time Godfrey made her exit to a home ovation in the 69th minute, the game’s fate was sealed. Xavier had mustered just six shots by that point compared to Virginia’s 16. The final minutes were uneventful as the Cavaliers cruised to a comfortable win.
“I still think we need to do a better job of keeping the ball,” Godfrey said. “Our technical execution, again, as I said, is always big as a part of your game.”
Missed opportunities aside, Virginia sits at a perfect 2-0 heading into Sunday’s match at Liberty at 1 p.m. In this early season stretch, the Cavaliers will have opportunities to reach midseason form before a slew of ranked opponents await. Virginia’s schedule does not become difficult until Sept. 4 against No. 14 Penn State.
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