No. 5 seed Virginia women’s soccer faced off against No. 1 Stanford in a rematch Thursday for a spot in the ACC title game. The Cardinal (16-1-1, 10-0-1 ACC) jumped all over the Cavaliers (12-3-4, 6-3-2 ACC) from the start and, despite facing a second-half comeback, had just enough juice in the tank to outlast Virginia, 3-2.
“I thought we showed our quality in the second half, but disappointed in the result of the first half,” Coach Steve Swanson said. “It really put us behind, obviously, but we showed a tremendous amount of heart coming back. We were knocking on the door for the third one. It’s tough to take.”
The flow of this game was very similar to their first matchup in Palo Alto, Calif., where the Cardinal outshot the Cavaliers in the first half en route to a 2-0 lead, followed by a valiant second-half effort where Virginia dominated the shots and possession but fell just short.
The Cavaliers, fresh off a hard-fought road victory over a physical No. 6 Florida State in penalty kicks Sunday night in the first round of the ACC Tournament, came out passive and sloppy Thursday. Meanwhile, Stanford, who earned a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed, looked extremely fresh and fast. Virginia could not keep the ball out of its defensive third, and a lapse in focus by junior midfielder Ella Carter while attempting to clear the ball led to a pickpocketing by Stanford sophomore midfielder Charlotte Kohler just outside the box. Kohler was able to easily beat junior goalkeeper Victoria Safradin on the broken play to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.
The Stanford attack stayed active, putting continuous pressure on the Cavaliers. In the 31st minute, graduate midfielder Lia Godfrey attempted to control the ball at the edge of the Virginia box, but once again, Kohler was able to steal the ball and capitalize on a clean look at the net, giving her a brace and the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers were outshot 15-5 in the first half and looked to just be limping into halftime while keeping the score within arm’s reach. It appeared that Virginia was able to successfully stop the bleeding and allow itself a chance to regroup at the break, when with four seconds to play, senior midfielder Jasime Aikey booted a rainbow shot toward the net from about 45 yards out. The unsuspecting Safradin mistimed her jump, and the ball grazed off her fingertips and into the back of the net, delivering a crushing blow to the Cavaliers.
Despite Safradin’s mishap at the end of the half, it was her play that even kept Virginia remotely in the match. She was given her hardest test of the season, making six impressive first-half saves while the defense failed to provide any relief and the offense could not generate any chances of its own. The entire Cavalier unit looked under duress, as the defense seemed to always be backtracking to keep up with Stanford’s attack, and the midfielders and strikers easily gave up possession directly or made errant passes in response to on-ball pressure.
“We just got to calm down and play soccer — it’s a big field, a lot of space, and I think we just turned the ball over too much in that half for a team like Stanford,” Swanson said at halftime. “If we can get [a goal] here in the first 10-15 minutes, hopefully we can give [ourselves] a shot.”
A shot is just what Swanson and his Cavaliers got, as in the 58th minute, Carter laid out a ball down the sideline for senior forward Meredith McDermott, who did not have to slow down her run and was able to net Virginia’s first goal of the match.
McDermott’s goal came in transition, but the second half was really a story of the Cavaliers dictating control in their attacking third, completely flipping the script from the first half. Virginia kept nine players on Stanford’s side of the field for nearly the entire half, allowing them to play underneath the Cardinal defense as opposed to over top as they did in the first 45 minutes, essentially mirroring Stanford’s first-half performance.
This half, it was the Cavaliers that outshot the Cardinal 15-5, suffocating Stanford. Despite the high volume of shots, the Cavaliers could not find the back of the net, coming as close as a Godfrey shot off the crossbar in the 73rd minute. While it was Kohler who owned the matchup in the first half, Godfrey came alive and showed why she was named ACC midfielder of the year, putting on a clinic, weaving between defenders and threading the needle on passes through the Stanford back line.
All of the chaos Virginia had been causing around the net through their relentless pursuit paid off when a Godfrey shot was deflected and hung in the air, with freshman midfielder Pearl Cecil tracking it from below. Cecil was shoved in the back by sophomore defender Lizzie Boamah in the box, awarding the Cavaliers a penalty kick. The cold-blooded senior forward Maggie Cagle delivered, pulling Virginia to within one goal with five minutes to play.
With both teams on their last legs, Stanford was able to hold onto the 3-2 lead and advance to the ACC title game. With the win, the Cardinal continue to have the number of the Cavaliers, as Stanford took down Virginia last month to dethrone them from the No. 1 position in the country.
The Cavaliers showed what they are capable of and why they have won so many games, behind a stout goalkeeper and an offense that can be technically sound and pick apart defenses when they control possession. But the inconsistency blunted the impact of both Safradin and the offense, and the slow start led to a cascade of mistakes, something that is costly in postseason soccer.
With the loss, Virginia’s ACC title hopes end, but it will likely receive a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will occur Monday, deciding the Cavaliers’ fate, with the first round games slated to take place Nov. 14-16.
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