No. 1 Virginia women’s soccer traveled to Syracuse for its second conference match of the season Saturday night. In their first game since being named the top team in the country, the Cavaliers (8-0-1, 2-0-0 ACC) looked the part, as they shut down the Orange (4-3-4, 0-2-1 ACC) 3-0 to remain undefeated in their seventh shutout victory of the season.
On a night when Virginia received contributions from all over the pitch, it was the Cavaliers’ leading scorer, graduate midfielder Lia Godfrey, who broke the seal in the 37th minute of action. Godfrey trailed the attacking junior forward Allie Ross, who laid off a ball on the left side of the box that Godfrey was able to control in stride and send into the back of the net.
Godfrey leads Virginia in both total season goals, with five, and points, with 13, and she has now scored a point in all but three matches thus far. She continues to prove that she can score from all over the field and in a wide variety of ways, whether that be from set pieces outside of the box, by making well-timed runs with teammates or unassisted via her own shot-creating abilities.
Godfrey added an assist to her season total in the 74th minute, setting up junior midfielder Ella Carter, who struck again from outside the box for the second time in three games. Carter is fresh off an ACC Player of the Week award for the big role she played in taking down then-No. 2 Duke. Carter’s powerful, yet accurate, foot from deep is proving to be a valuable asset for the Cavaliers, adding another dimension to the Virginia offense.
Senior forward Maggie Cagle capped off the night with a penalty kick goal in the 84th minute. Cagle has now scored in three of the Cavaliers’ last four games after a slow start to the season, a good sign for Virginia, which will need contributions from one of their top scorers heading into the bulk of ACC play. Though the scoring Saturday night came from a familiar trio, it was very much a well-balanced attack. Virginia put up an impressive 23 shots, coming from 10 different Cavaliers.
“We moved the ball well at times during the game, and if not for the play of their keeper, we could have had more goals,” Coach Steve Swanson said. “It is always hard to win on the road in our conference, so we are happy with the result.”
More impressive, though, is that the Virginia defense held Syracuse to just two shots all night, only one of which was on target. Junior goalkeeper Victoria Safradin’s net remains squeaky clean through a combined effort of herself and the back line. The Cavaliers are one of just four teams in the country that have allowed two or fewer goals through nine games. This complementary style of soccer has been the recipe for the Cavaliers’ early success and has made their winning look effortless at times.
Virginia’s early-season success was clearly not a fluke, and they look to continue this dominance into the back half of the regular season. The Cavaliers are back on the road Thursday against Clemson, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
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